Nothing can be more delicate than a Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on a large pink Rhododendron blossom. This regal butterfly can be found in New Zealand or Australia in our winter or Maine in summers. This is obviously a female, the male is more orange. (Jane Knox/Brunswick)With the logger gone, there’s a lot of browse – he didn’t clean up plus the new growth has been phenomenal. I’ve seen three deer at a time back there. This deer was pretty early morning. (Tony Nazar/Wilton)The Cedar Waxwing was building a nest in the fir trees just north of our house. (Tom Oliver/Wilton)Buttercups fill our fields like a golden rug, more luxurious and brighter with each rain. (Jane Knox/Brunswick)The Prairie Warbler was in Augusta behind the airport. (Tom Oliver/Wilton)The Black-Throated Green Warbler was on the rail trail behind Franklin Memorial Hospital. (Tom Oliver/Wilton)Moving on. (Tony Nazar/Wilton)Turkey poults (Tom Oliver/Wilton)The turkeys were in our dooryard. (Tom Oliver/Wilton)Bluebirds at our house. (Tom Oliver/Wilton)Like the old woman living in a shoe, she had so many children she didn’t know what to do. Either this is an awfully large family to feed or an extended family an older brother and sister helps keep this still fuzzy brood with its baby feathers in tow but not for much longer. (Jane Knox/Brunswick)
Man, Tony Nazar and Tom Oliver are fantastic! So precise and clear! How do you do it?!!! Jane
Thanks to all for sharing your photos. What a pleasant surprise this morning.
Thanks for making my day even better than
it already is… :)
Thank you for sharing all these pictures – the baby turkeys are adorable!
Beautiful photos…….
Excellent photography, I enjoy it every week. Keep them coming.
Beautiful Pics…so enjoy looking at the pictures weekly…thank you for sharing..
We are all so lucky to have these amazing photographers share with us weekly.Thank you.
thank you so much – what a wonderful selection of wildlife photos..I look forward to every Sunday
Love the pics,as always!! Oh,Jane,that isn’t a Monarch,that’s a Swallowtail. Monarchs are orange. Thank you all.
A very nice collection of birds. The deer look a little on the thin side but it’s still early Summer. Plenty of time to fatten up.
Beautiful pictures, keep sharing the good work!
Dear “a voice”
The male monarch is orange but the female is yellow. Thanks for your response. Jane
Thanks especially for the small birds most of us don’t see.
Jane, that is a tiger swallowtail, Papilio glaucus; larvae feed on tree leaves and show up in the spring, also overwinter in dormancy. Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) are migratory and will not show up until at least July this far north. They overwinter in Mexico and those adults never arrive this far north, but successive generations. They feed on milkweed, creating a bitter toxin which makes them distasteful to predators, allowing the bright orange color to be an advantage (warning to would-be predators). Viceroy butterflies are easily edible, but their strikingly similar appearance affords them protection. Unfortunately, milkweed grows largely on field edges, where once benign corn grew; but now genetically engineered corn containing Bt toxins spreads its poisonous pollen on the wind and wreaks environmental havoc on several species, most critically Monarch butterflies. Over the last 15 or so years, Monarch arrivals in Maine have declined dramatically, initially due to severe frosts in the region of Mexico during their overwintering, but now unable to fully rebound due to Monsanto’s GMO corn. We used to collect Monarch chrysalis cases late every summer and watch them change color and hatch, but now we have a hard time finding any, even after sighting adult butterflies around the milkweed. As to color, butterfly sexes for these are identical, although some moths can be sexed by the size and shape of antennae. Great pictures all around anyway!
Dear Tony,
I stand corrected. My information on line bout the colors of the male and female must be incorrect. However, the shape of the images of the tiger swallowtail as well as the clear pattern of dots and lines did not seem to match the image I shot leading to my confusion. Thanks for your compliment.
If anyone is still interested As of June 6, 2013
Monarch Migration to Maine was just updated.
During the past week Monarchs entered three new states and provinces: Maine, Connecticut and Manitoba.
The northernmost monarch was reported on Tuesday at latitude 50˚N in Manitoba! This link gives some great photographs and updated information:
Beautiful. I am looking forward to visiting my Nieces, BroInLaw, and Sister in New Sharon and extended family in Carthage and Weld in late July for a 10 day vacation. Webb Lake… I’m winking in your directioooon. :)
…and we have HEAPS of Monarchs out here in San Leandro, California (Bay Area). We too are in line with their migration path/s.
They are so pretty.
This has become an anticipated feature in the Bulldog! Beautiful work, thanks to all.
Man, Tony Nazar and Tom Oliver are fantastic! So precise and clear! How do you do it?!!! Jane
Thanks to all for sharing your photos. What a pleasant surprise this morning.
Thanks for making my day even better than
it already is… :)
Thank you for sharing all these pictures – the baby turkeys are adorable!
Beautiful photos…….
Excellent photography, I enjoy it every week. Keep them coming.
Beautiful Pics…so enjoy looking at the pictures weekly…thank you for sharing..
We are all so lucky to have these amazing photographers share with us weekly.Thank you.
thank you so much – what a wonderful selection of wildlife photos..I look forward to every Sunday
Love the pics,as always!! Oh,Jane,that isn’t a Monarch,that’s a Swallowtail. Monarchs are orange. Thank you all.
A very nice collection of birds. The deer look a little on the thin side but it’s still early Summer. Plenty of time to fatten up.
Beautiful pictures, keep sharing the good work!
Dear “a voice”
The male monarch is orange but the female is yellow. Thanks for your response. Jane
Thanks especially for the small birds most of us don’t see.
Jane, that is a tiger swallowtail, Papilio glaucus; larvae feed on tree leaves and show up in the spring, also overwinter in dormancy. Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) are migratory and will not show up until at least July this far north. They overwinter in Mexico and those adults never arrive this far north, but successive generations. They feed on milkweed, creating a bitter toxin which makes them distasteful to predators, allowing the bright orange color to be an advantage (warning to would-be predators). Viceroy butterflies are easily edible, but their strikingly similar appearance affords them protection. Unfortunately, milkweed grows largely on field edges, where once benign corn grew; but now genetically engineered corn containing Bt toxins spreads its poisonous pollen on the wind and wreaks environmental havoc on several species, most critically Monarch butterflies. Over the last 15 or so years, Monarch arrivals in Maine have declined dramatically, initially due to severe frosts in the region of Mexico during their overwintering, but now unable to fully rebound due to Monsanto’s GMO corn. We used to collect Monarch chrysalis cases late every summer and watch them change color and hatch, but now we have a hard time finding any, even after sighting adult butterflies around the milkweed. As to color, butterfly sexes for these are identical, although some moths can be sexed by the size and shape of antennae. Great pictures all around anyway!
Dear Tony,
I stand corrected. My information on line bout the colors of the male and female must be incorrect. However, the shape of the images of the tiger swallowtail as well as the clear pattern of dots and lines did not seem to match the image I shot leading to my confusion. Thanks for your compliment.
If anyone is still interested As of June 6, 2013
Monarch Migration to Maine was just updated.
During the past week Monarchs entered three new states and provinces: Maine, Connecticut and Manitoba.
The northernmost monarch was reported on Tuesday at latitude 50˚N in Manitoba! This link gives some great photographs and updated information:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/spring2013/update060613.html
Beautiful. I am looking forward to visiting my Nieces, BroInLaw, and Sister in New Sharon and extended family in Carthage and Weld in late July for a 10 day vacation. Webb Lake… I’m winking in your directioooon. :)
…and we have HEAPS of Monarchs out here in San Leandro, California (Bay Area). We too are in line with their migration path/s.
They are so pretty.
This has become an anticipated feature in the Bulldog! Beautiful work, thanks to all.