Hummingbirds Are An Exception

Hello Everyone,

As everyone in the country knows, Texas has been in a horrible drought this year.  Up until last week in which we got a couple of brief showers, we hadn't had any rainfall in about six months.  Needless to say, that has made it difficult to do any kind of horticulture or work with my butterflies.  It's just been to hot and dry. 

This year's 4th or 5th generation of Monarch's have already left Canada now and are on their way to Mexico.  Last year, I noticed that they began to appear in our area close to Corpus Christi in the first two weeks of October.  It will be interesting to see if they come through at the same time this year or not.

In other news, a couple of weeks ago, my sister-in-law Heather sent an email out to everyone about remembering to have our hummingbird feeders out because they are migrating through, and it being so dry, they need our help.  I'm so glad she did that, because I had taken mine down due to repairs and painting on my house and had forgotten to put them back up.

Well, I went ahead and put them back up again, and to my surprise, two hummingbirds were feeding from them the very next morning!  Fast forward to this morning and there are eight feeding together and getting along pretty well.  I filled up the feeder yesterday afternoon, and it is almost empty this morning.  I have two feeders, but one seems to work better than the other.  The other one tends to leak.  I plan to get a few more feeders when I have the chance.  They are facinating to watch.

I came across this video on YouTube which shows hummingbirds eating out of people's hands.  I think you will enjoy it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=EUEZkwJulBY&feature=fvwp

Additionally, I have posted below some pictures and a video clip of my feeder.  I hope you enjoy them.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, normally I don't encourage birds to reside in my yard because they tend to eat butterflies.  However, the hummingbird is an exception since they eat only nectar.



I hope you enjoy the hummingbirds and Monarch butterflies that will be migrating through your area this fall.

Happy Monarching!


Caleb
savethemonarch1@gmail.com

(Hummingbirds feeding at my house - 09/19/2011)

(Up to eight hummingbirds were feeding together at this one feeder!)

(Someone's getting a cool morning drink of nectar.)



New Butterflies Emerged Today!

06/10/09

Well, yesterday, five Monarch butterflies emerged from their chrysalises here in our home! We are so excited. We have 4 males and 1 female. But this experience is not our first in rearing Monarchs, so let me back up a moment and give you a little background.

My family and I moved here to South Texas in 2008. Prior to that, we had lived in South Georgia. There, I raised over 2,000 Monarchs in less than 2 years. I was a high school teacher back then, and we had a nice program going at the school that I taught at. However, due to a lifelong debilitating bout with crippling arthritis, I had to quit my job. Additionally, my wife and I had a new baby girl in the family. So, my wife felt it best to relocate to be closer to family for help and support, so off to Corpus Christi Texas we moved, where my wife was born and raised.

Both my wife and I were saddened by the fact that we had to suspend our butterfly rearing project. It brought such great joy to all who were involved with it, both children and adults.

Well, last fall, I had artificial hip revision surgery, and I am currently recooperating from that. The arthritis is in all parts of my body now, and it greatly limits what I can do. However, my wife and I decided to try and rear a few Monarch Butterflies here and there, and yesterday morning, our first 5 emerged! What joy!

We purchased some Milkweed plants from a local nursery, and to our delight, there were caterpillars and eggs already on the plants. Our joy soon turned to sadness and our first 5 caterpillars mysteriously died when they tried to pupate. They all died at the exact same time in their final stage of pupation. This prompted me to do some research on the internet, and I found out that there is a certain predatory fly called the Tachinid fly that lays it's eggs on caterpillars. They feed on the insides of the caterpillar but do not kill it until around the time it pupates.

So, the first 5 were a loss. We were off to a bad start. However, a couple of days later, we notice more caterpillars on the plants. They must have been eggs when we bought the Milkweed. We immediately took the plants inside and placed them in a protective pavillion. There were 8 in number, and 5 emerged yesterday. One fell as it was pupating and died. It looks like the remaining 2 will emerge in the next day or two. We are thrilled!

Lastly, we got a few more Milkweed plants. Again, they have caterpillars on them, so here we go again. Sometimes, it seems the hardest part in rearing Monarchs is keeping sufficient Milkweed for the caterpillars to eat. They have such big appetites.

So, our Texas count for rearing Monarchs in 2010 is 5 and counting. We'll keep you posted.

Warm Regards,

Caleb Warren

SaveTheMonarch1@gmail.com

Help Save Monarch Butterflies

Dear Reader,

Thank you for visiting my "Help Save Monarch Butterflies" Blog. In it you will find useful information about Monarch Butterflies such as their life cycle, why they are threatened, how to raise them, and how to help them make a comeback in the environment. As you will learn, planting Milkweed is a crucial part. To date, I have sucessfully reared over 2,000 Monarchs, and I look forward to sharing what I have learned with you.

If you are interested in rearing Monarchs yourself, there are a number of websites in which you can find rearing aids and information. These include, but are not limited to: http://www.monarchwatch.org/, http://www.insectlore.com/, http://www.educationalscience.com/, http://www.livemonarch.com/, & my own websites located at http://savethemonarch.calebwarren.com/, and http://shop.calebwarren.com/. Also, if you happen to live in the Corpus Christi Texas area, you can get rearing supplies from me locally.

I always welcome feedback. Please let me know what additional features on my websites and Blog would be helpful to you.

All of my work is strictly volunteer and of a non-profit nature. My efforts are solely dedicated to helping the Monarch make a comeback. All monies go right back into the project. Hopefully, you will come to love this creature as much as I do and want to help.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at: savethemonarch1@gmail.com

Warm Regards,


Caleb Warren