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It's all about our discoveries in our private Shady Oaks Sanctuary for birds, pollinators and wildlife. We gauge our success by the diversity of species we observe and document with our photography.
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ALL ABOUT WARBLERS!! 9-7-22
Warblers are moving through! And yes, these are all warblers...
Black-throated Green Warbler
Ovenbird
Wilson's Warbler, female
Magnolia Warbler
American Redstart
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Canada Warbler, female
Black-and-white Warbler, female
Blackburnian Warbler, the Firethroat!
Blackburnian Warbler (what a contortionist!) joined by a Chestnut-sided Warbler
Words cannot describe!
To see all the warblers since the last post: Warblers since 8/29/22
If you'd like to see all the birds since the last post, including scruffy Eastern Bluebirds: Birds since 8/29/22
May this bring a bit of cheer to you...
8-28-22 Late August musings
The Songbird and Butterfly Garden is a riot of color in August!
This summer, there is a White Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis 'alba'). This is not a plant that I purchased, but a naturally occurring strain. It has a touch of pink in it.
In August, 2011, this hummingbird sipped nectar from the flowers of the first one that grew in the garden.The bird may have pollinated the seeds of the plant that is growing right now! Perhaps the seeds have lain dormant, and rain exposed them this year.
Meadow Phlox (Phlox paniculata) and Rose Mallows (Hibiscus lasiocarpus) are also in bloom.
A week ago, the first Chestnut-sided Warblers showed up, all first year females.
A Least Flycatcher was also seen perched and fly-catching from a limb in a Shingle Oak (Quercus imbricaria).
The Chestnut-sided Warblers continued to come into the bubbler area all through the day. There were at least two, maybe five or six.
The next evening, we saw another Monarch in the garden, this time it was a female. So, the following morning, I spent more time looking around the garden. Maybe I'd missed something!
To my surprise, there were two good-sized Monarch caterpillars on the Marsh Milkweeds! Obviously, a female had visited, perhaps 10 days earlier, to lay the eggs. Other insects were also busy in the garden.
In one patch of milkweed, a Praying Mantis was hiding in plain sight.
Two native bees were on the Ironweed (Vernonia arkansana).
A skipper species sipped nectar on Eastern Blazingstar (Liatris scariosa).
A walking stick was on the railing as I passed by.
We were finishing dinner when the birds started fussing. Dan saw the large bird land near the base of the Pond Cypress. All this fuss was for a Barred Owlet! It was our first confirmation of a young bird this year. We'd been hearing the family hootenanny quite often at dusk, at dawn and during the night.
As you watch those Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, adult and immature alike, chase each other from feeders and flowers, here are some interesting words to consider that were posted on MOBirds today from Lanny Chambers, licensed hummingbird bander.
"The next week is historically the annual peak for Ruby-throated Hummingbird numbers in Missouri. Bear in mind, this is mainly due to the flow of southward migration, and many of today's birds are not the same individuals you saw yesterday. As for the "4X rule," I think it may be conservative; at my home I almost never see more than two hummers at one time (i.e., in a chase), yet a couple of days ago I banded nine in one afternoon, without a single recapture of a previously-banded bird. So, even yards without hordes of hummingbirds are probably feeding many more individuals than is obvious. A friend and fellow bander in Colorado was feeding 9 gallons of syrup daily last time I talked with him two weeks ago, and expected to reach 12 gallons by Labor Day. A rough rule of thumb is 1,000 birds per gallon per day. Imagine filling 25 30-ounce feeders twice every day!
Keep your feeders clean, and watch for Rufous or other western hummers passing through between now and late December. Some of you will remember the Allen's Hummingbird that visited me on Thanksgiving Day 2008."
Thank you, Lanny! Typically, I clean and change the feeders every fourth morning. That schedule in this heat and humidity seems to prevent black mold from starting up around the ports.
Enjoy the birds, more migrants will be showing up soon!
8-21-22 Late summer sightings
What is August without some fun?
A scruffy Brown Thrasher popped into view one morning, Eastern Wood-Pewees are still being seen. Blue Jays are a part of the daily action!
These young Common Grackles were investigating the pond, one to get water and the second found a spider in that web for its lunch!
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are busy from dawn until dusk, protecting their patch of flowers or a feeder and checking out the bubbler.
Another migrant arrived on Monday, 8-15-22. It was a young female Baltimore Oriole. The bird was thirsty!
A Waved Sphinx moth (Ceratomia undulosa) flew in while I was photographing that same day. Its host plants are ash, oak, hawthorn and fringe tree. Fully grown caterpillars pupate underground and the adults probably do not feed.
Yesterday morning, the Eastern Blazingstar (Liatris scariosa) was blooming nicely and so was the Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). Still, there was no evidence yet of Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed.
A bit later when I checked, there was the first Monarch of the year! It was flying about, sipping nectar and then resting on a coneflower head when I found it again.
It was a nice, fresh looking male as indicated by the thinner veins with the black spots or swollen veins on the hind wings. Last photo shows both sexes for a comparison.
Today has been a busy day with the cool front that came in overnight. I'll save those stories until next time!
8-8-22 Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillars and more
It's August, and daylight is a bit less each day, nearly an hour lost since the Summer Solstice.
However, it seems there is more activity in this condensed time frame.
There is always something going on in a native garden!
We were having breakfast one morning when I noticed the spicebush (Lindera benzoin) near the pond had a folded leaf. Caterpillars! I found quite a few on the different plants in the east beds.
Here is a female Spicebush Swallowtail laying eggs in 2020. I've been seeing one around, they're quick about it.
Eastern Wood-Pewees have been busy catching flying insects in the woodland and near the pond.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird numbers are picking up.
Northern Cardinals are still feeding their begging young. The two males look a bit worse for the wear as they are losing feathers in summer molt.
A young Red-bellied Woodpecker has been teasing sunflower hearts out of the feeder with its tongue.
Dan's weather station has recorded 17.67" of rain since 7-1-22. Our whole yard is basically a rain garden, but this has been really challenging. It has been so hot, birds are still coming in to cool off, bathe and get sips of water. An American Robin and Northern Flicker were in the basin today, and a Blue Jay drank at the bubbler.
There are some bright spots. Our little grove of Pawpaws (Asimina triloba) now has one tree with fruit.
Ironweed is blooming, and the hummingbirds have been drinking nectar from the purple blossoms.
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinals) is a favorite of the hummingbirds, too. But look carefully and you'll see a tiny syrphid fly hovering on the right side of the brilliant red spire.
Today, a Tiger Swallowtail was on the Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). But when will we see the officially endangered Monarch?
Take care, stay cool!
Be on the lookout! 7-26-22
First, let's talk about the "Passion Butterfly".
This is Missouri's native Passion flower, Passiflora incarnata, photographed at Shaw Nature Reserve in August 2004, It's a lovely flowering vine and some of you may have it in your gardens.
Recently, we were visiting family and stayed in a guesthouse on a property in the Central Valley of California. The property is a good size with a garden of herbs and fruiting plants and trees such as raspberries, peaches, plums and apricots. This walkway was covered with a different species of Passion flower vine and it was attracting Gulf Fritillary butterflies, aka the Passion Butterfly.
The female butterflies lay eggs communally. The video shows a small area of one vine, all three vines were busy with butterfly activity! We had never before seen so many butterflies of one species in one place. We were in awe.
Our grandsons were as fascinated as we were. They easily counted over 25 caterpillars in seconds. Some were very small. Our younger grandson told us he learned about the Monarch and saw the different caterpillar stages but never saw an egg. Challenge accepted! We looked for them.
The closer we looked, the more we found! Eggs are pale yellow when first laid. The tiny caterpillar had eaten its way out of the egg case and had begun to feed on a flower bud. Eggs are laid on every part of the plant, much like the Monarch does with milkweed.
We found caterpillars just forming a chrysalis, some completed and one that was empty.
Morning temperatures were around 55 - 60 degrees and the butterflies rested until the air warmed. Then they were busy nectaring in the garden, on plants like the lavender. One butterfly was found in its final resting place on a table.
This butterfly is rarely seen in the St. Louis area, but my friend, Dennis Bozzay has found them in his garden, twice! Thanks, Dennis for sharing your beautiful photos.
Two photos by Dennis Bozzay
The first time Dennis recorded one was on 10-14-17. It was finding nectar on Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica). This plant is not recommended in areas where it will not die back in the winter because it can harbor a parasite of Monarchs. To find out more about its effects:
Two photos by Dennis Bozzay
Dennis' second sighting of a Gulf Fritillary was on 9-5-18. Keep a lookout for this butterfly over the next few months, you may get lucky, and see one, too. Here's more on the species:
We returned on the hottest day of the year at 101.9 degrees. Monday, 7-25-22 was a very busy day in the woodland. A cool front had pushed through so birds were very active. It was still really dry so birds were constantly at the water.
A deeply marked male Northern Parula was at the bubbler early. It is a nesting migratory species in Missouri, and we've been seeing them.
American Robins were grabbing berries off the Rough-leaf dogwoods (Cornus drummondii). Then, I noticed two small birds at the bubbler. One flew into the hydrangeas for cover and the second bird was in and out.
Tennessee Warblers!? Well, they're a migrant that usually doesn't show up until September. I checked for the earliest date they had been recorded in fall which was "August 9 or 10, 1985" and my sighting was two weeks earlier than that date. So, I filled out my eBird checklist to report it. It was confirmed by Josh Uffman and the Missouri documentation form was then completed. These Tennessee Warblers gave us a new state record.
To see every bird species recorded in Missouri, download this free pdf:
The Status and Distribution of Birds of Missouri
Birds were busy all day long. Eastern Bluebirds, a Gray Catbird and for the first time, a juvenile Hairy Woodpecker came to the bubbler. That's a big bill for that little bird! Young Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are now chasing each other and a Blue Jay was seen eating the fruit of Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium).
Rain!
Last night, the rain came in torrents. Flash flood warnings woke us during the night. Yesterday, the sump puddle was barely 2 feet wide, this morning we had a slowly draining lake. But we're okay and grateful for the rain. It had just let up as I wrote this and our weather station measured 5.65" of rain since midnight. At 3:30 am, the rain rate was 12.5" per hour. Some places in the area had twice as much. A deluge!
We hope you all are safe!
Keep your eyes peeled now for butterflies and migratory birds, many species are on the move.