Having a wingspan up to seven inches, this butterfly certainly earns the name Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes). It also holds the title of largest butterfly in North America.
Giant Swallowtail, ventral side
The larval host plants of Giant Swallowtails consist of many trees in the citrus family including, here in Virginia, the Common Hop Tree (Ptelea trifoliata). These caterpillars have a clever camouflage, mimicking bird droppings. They live as caterpillars three to four weeks.
Giant Swallowtails will take part in an activity known as puddling, taking salts and minerals from moist soil or sand, and manure. They only live as adult butterflies six to fourteen days. During that time they seek nectar from flowers such as Azalea, Bougainvillea, Japanese Honeysuckle, Goldenrod, Dame’s Rocket, Bouncing Bet, and Red Clover.
Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton). I love so many butterflies. This is one of them. It’s the official state insect of Maryland. I was able to capture this photo of a Baltimore Checkerspot at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland.
The Baltimore Checkerspot larval host plant is White Turtlehead. If that plant is not available caterpillars will often choose viburnum, English plantain, or penstemon as a substitute. I took this image of a Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillar at Buck Hollow in Shenandoah National Park.
I’m a sentimental sort. Thinking back to my Mom’s gardens when I was little. The flowers that I’m able to remember are quite special to me. Nearly all of them don’t fit into what I select for my gardens now. Natives have become a main focus in choosing what gets planted at my cabin. That was not given much thought years ago.
Rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) is one of the flowers that comes to mind. Those gardens in our yard, giving Mom such pleasure. Cheverly Manor.
I’m sure the fact that Rose Campion was from northern Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East never occurred to Mom. She was going with her heart, designing her gardens in a way that spoke to her sense of garden design. Now I’m adding sentimentality to what is important to me, along with natives.
The larval host of Zebra Swallowtail (Protographium marcellus) is any of the eight species of the genus PawPaw (Asimina). I’m in the process of replacing three PawPaw trees that I recently lost. An important quest for me.
Exquisite Zebra Swallowtails depend entirely on PawPaw trees for their very existence. No PawPaw trees, no Zebra Swallowtails.
They’re native to eastern United States and southeast Canada, the state butterfly of Tennessee.
As adults these butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers such as blueberry and blackberry blossoms, lilac, milkweed, redbud, verbena, and dogbane. They also get minerals from moist sand and soil. But they need those PawPaw trees to get started. I’ve got them ordered. Soon to be put in the ground here at the cabin, and OH! Those blooms. I love ’em!
Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis). A butterfly that lives in a broad swath of North America. Most of the eastern United States, central Plains states, and the southwest mountains; northern Mexico.
Its larvae survives exclusively on the many species of Hackberry trees, trees in the genus Celtis.
Hackberry Emperors over winter as larvae curled up in a Hackberry leaf, which falls to the ground in autumn becoming leaf litter. A good reason not to rake up that leaf litter!
As an adult the Hackberry Emperor Butterfly eats fermenting fruit (or corn as in this picture), dung, carrion, and sips tree sap. They also wouldn’t hesitate to sip sweat from your arm to consume the salt.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). A bird that I seldom see. In part perhaps because they will sit in dense shrubbery sitting perfectly still, like a frog that is trying to convince you that, “You can’t see me.” They do this as they are watching and waiting for a meal to come by. Few birds will eat hairy caterpillars but this doesn’t stop the Yellow-billed Cuckoos who will consume thousands of caterpillars per season. They also eat cicadas, tent caterpillars, webworms, katydids, crickets, and even frogs and lizards. They may hop to the ground to catch the frog or lizard that they spot, or fly from their perch to catch a flying insect, midair.
Flying to South America in the winter, returning late April to early May. I look forward to at least hearing the Yellow-billed Cuckoo this summer. Both males and females make a soft cooing sound which reminds me of a Mourning Dove. Another sound, to me a more distinctive sound, a hollow sounding, rapid, harsh, rattling ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-kow-kow-kowp, kowp, kowp, kowp, slowing down at the end. A sound that I can’t say sounds like any other bird. It would be such a delight to see one of these Blue Jay sized birds, but knowing their shy nature I’ll be quite happy to at least hear one.
A wonderful sight in late June early July. Blooms of Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) when there are few other flowers blooming in the woods.
Black Cohosh is a herbaceous perennial native to eastern North America. Quite plentiful here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Rising above their leaves on tall stems to six or eight feet. Those clusters of flowers on their tall stems make me think of spirits of long ago residents of these mountains. Spirits from the past, back again to look over their land, their roots. Watching to see that we care for their mountains with love and wisdom.
Right now, in late April, leaves of Black Cohosh have reached up from their underground rhizomes. Extending to a height of two or two and a half feet. Leaves waiting. Waiting for tall stems to form.
Tall stems that in turn form racemes. (A raceme is a flower cluster with the separate flowers attached by short equal stalks at equal distances along a central stem.) The stems can grow to be six or seven feet tall, and the portion of it that is the raceme, can be about twenty inches.
Flowers without petals, without sepals. Many long stamens surrounding a stigma, all snow white. The flowers have a unique unpleasant aroma that attracts flies, gnats, beetles, bees and some butterflies. Both the Spring Azure Butterfly and the Appalachian Azure Butterfly rely on Black Cohosh as its larval host.
I’m looking forward summer and greeting these visions of the past.
Apple blossoms. What a fragrant delight. And they bring in a host of visitors that provide great entertainment just to sit and watch. It’s been really breezy today. Petals have been flying like snow. Apple blossom season won’t last much longer.
Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) are one of the many species of butterflies that make the apple tree seem alive with action. Both nectar and pollen lure the insects in.
Another of the insects that answer the apple blossoms call are moths. This one, a Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis).
Birds get the call too. This is a female or juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) that uses the branches of the apple tree as a resting spot. In this image it’s sitting on a grapevine with the apple blossoms in the background. I’m wondering, if I’ll find a hummingbird nest in the apple tree if I search carefully.
This a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum). What a surprise I had to see these birds eating the blossom petals. Amazing to find that they enjoy eating the petals.
A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is making sap wells in the apple tree’s bark. This enables them to consume both the sap that collects and insects that are also attracted. The sap wells are the very small round holes in the bark. If you look closely you can see claw marks from bears climbing the tree.
After the blooms come the apples and the bears. I guess this critter thinks that the apples are his to be taken. This is a yearly tradition. I sure appreciate the bear coming by for a photo op.
My first sighting this season was yesterday. The state insect of Virginia, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus). Native to eastern North America. The butterfly I saw yesterday had just emerged from its chrysalis. Brand new.
This is what a chrysalis looks like. Though NOT an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail chrysalis, it looks to a large extent like one. One major difference would be more rich brown and less bright yellow. The shape is basically the same. This is a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) chrysalis.
In the autumn an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar will form itself into a chrysalis. NOT a cocoon but a chrysalis. Cocoons are used by moths. Chrysalises are used by butterflies. In ten to twenty days or over the winter the caterpillar makes incredible changes. As if by magic it will become a butterfly — to live just six to fourteen days.
Mainly males, after emerging, often will gather at puddles to take in sodium and minerals which tend to be lacking in the adult’s diet and are necessities for reproduction and flight. This is called “puddling.”
Speaking of reproduction, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails generally have two broods each year. Females lay their eggs on such trees as Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina). Those eggs will hatch in four to ten days as caterpillars. The earliest stage of the caterpillar looks just like bird droppings. The mature caterpillar is green, with eye spots, and a pale “neck ring.” Further to the front is a little purply-pink head.
Although most females look nearly like males, mostly yellow and black, there is a black form of the female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. This is a method of protection. The black form is a mimic of the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) which has a disagreeable taste. Predators have learned to avoid both the Pipevine Swallowtail and the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail’s black form. The portion of females with this coloring is more common in areas where there are more Pipevine Swallowtails.
The caterpillar becomes a chrysalis which becomes a dazzling butterfly. And so it goes. On and on.
A male Downy Woodpecker has a red spot at the back of his head
The Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens. A permanent resident here and in most places in their native range. That range, with the exception of the desert southwest and the tundra of the north, is nearly all of Canada and the United States. But in the northern portions of their territory, some may wander a bit south for the winter. Or if in the higher elevations may come to a lower elevation.
A female Downy Woodpecker has no red, only black and white
They are little woodpeckers. In fact, they are the smallest woodpecker native to North America. The size of a White-throated Sparrow. Little. Downy Woodpeckers are nearly identical to the Hairy Woodpecker, who is about the size of an American Robin. NOT little. Keep that in mind when you see one of these black and white beauties. I’m accustomed to seeing the Downy Woodpecker, and on the occasion that I see a Hairy Woodpecker, the size difference is enough to make me say, “Whoa!” For me, there is no mistaking one from the other, the size difference is quite striking.
Another difference that you might find helpful is the size of their bill. The Downy Woodpecker’s bill about 1/3 the size of its head. Think CUTE. The Hairy Woodpecker’s bill is about the same length as its head, from the base of the bill to the back of the head.
Though Downy Woodpeckers mainly eat insects, beetle larvae and caterpillars, they also eat berries, acorns, peanuts, sunflower seeds and grains. During the winter, when I’m able to feed the birds, Downies are frequently at the suet feeder.
During the warmer months the bears up here in the mountains, want to join in with the birds, getting their food, so I restrict my bird feeding, reluctantly, to the winter.
But I keep three bird baths full, one with a dripper. Without feeding them I still get to see the best of the warm weather birds. Pure delight.
