A September Carol

[EmilyMiller]

On the third day of September, New Jersey gave to me…
Five J-hanging monarchs (caterpillars)
Four goldfinches
Three hummingbirds
Two bluebirds (one a fledgling)
And an Emily in ecstasy

 

[Rob_Royale]

And an Emily in ecstasy

Makes me wonder what you're doing on the porch.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Makes me wonder what you're doing on the porch.

In the kitchen, making food, and looking out the window .

What else did you think ?

 

[Trionyx]

I don’t think it was the birds that were humming…

 

[PennyThompson]

Sweater weatherrrrrrr

 

[JohnBJohn]

I haven't had much luck with the monarchs this year. I usually have a dozen or more of them hanging around the front yard and house. This year I only saw a few. I'll need to rip out and replant more milkweed.

 

[SmilingLez]

September brings its catalog
of creatures,
but some windows
show more drama
than wildlife.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I haven't had much luck with the monarchs this year. I usually have a dozen or more of them hanging around the front yard and house. This year I only saw a few. I'll need to rip out and replant more milkweed.

We lost count this year. We had the milkweed we bought last year, plus more plants we grew from their seeds. We now have three clumps, having consolidated various stray, self-seeded plants into a third one.

We had up to twelve fifth instar caterpillars in just one of the three clumps at one point given how far they travel to J-hang, and how sneaky they are at hiding, locating 5 pre-pupating caterpillars means there are probably at least twenty-plus we’ve seen through to that stage.

 

[Seurat]

We lost count this year. We had the milkweed we bought last year, plus more plants we grew from their seeds. We now have three clumps, having consolidated various stray, self-seeded plants into a third one.

Our milkweed has gone wild in front, and the butterflies love it. The monarchs love the butterfly bush in back, visible from the family room, with lots of pairs seen. It needs a drastic cut back though. Its almost a tree, and is so big it's killing itself.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Our milkweed has gone wild in front, and the butterflies love it. The monarchs love the butterfly bush in back, visible from the family room, with lots of pairs seen. It needs a drastic cut back though. Its almost a tree, and is so big it's killing itself.

We have swamp milkweed which doesn’t grow as crazy. We got some regular as well, but our psycho rabbits ate that. I swear they all have myxomatosis. One was trying to bite through the metal wire skirt we put around both our native plant enclosures after they repeatedly chewed through the plastic netting.

 

[JohnBJohn]

We lost count this year. We had the milkweed we bought last year, plus more plants we grew from their seeds. We now have three clumps, having consolidated various stray, self-seeded plants into a third one.

We had up to twelve fifth instar caterpillars in just one of the three clumps at one pointz given how far they travel to J-hang, and how sneaky they are at hiding finding, locating 5 pre-pupating caterpillars means there are probably at least twenty-plus we’ve seen through to that stage.

That's awesome! I ripped out my front lawn and replaced it with natives about 6 years ago. With the grass lawn, I never had monarchs hanging around the yard. After I put in mostly natives, we'd always have a couple hanging around and dozens of caterpillars. It was wonderful! This year we didn't have much at all.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's awesome! I ripped out my front lawn and replaced it with natives about 6 years ago. With the grass lawn, I never had monarchs hanging around the yard. After I put in mostly natives, we'd always have a couple hanging around and dozens of caterpillars. It was wonderful! This year we didn't have much at all.

We managed to see two emerge from pupation last year. We’re gradually replacing the invasives the previous owners planted with natives, but it’s a multi-year task. We are one of the few lots around here who don’t spray our lawns (we do the perimeter of the house only - else the ants are crazy) so we have lots of insects and so lots of insectivorous birds (plus cute, curious cicada killers) and lots of seed eating birds from not dead heading. And we have planted hummingbird-friendly flowers rather than having feeders.

We have a pair of local ravens, which is super cool. I love corvids.

And rabbits, fucking rabbits . Need to buy a crossbow.

 

[deathlynx]

We had one in spring which we watched through the whole process. It was extra special because we don't usually get them around here. They fly through, but never seen the pupation.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

We do have grasses, but we encourage wildflowers and end up as many as fifty species over the course of the year. Our hare is still around, but the groundhog from under the porch is missing. We had to remove an enormous ash tree that we had left as a habitat tree. It provided a feast for woodpeckers until it was carted away. Our neighboring house was demolished last year and a huge excavation into the bedrock was dug. This year the house is going up. The shrubs and trees that were cut down were favorite haunts of avariety of burds. Some have shifted to our yard, but we think most have been driven awa by the construction.

 

[MrPixel]

And rabbits, fucking rabbits . Need to buy a crossbow.

That, and deer, right?

We've been visited the past two weeks at the studio by a wild bunny, an adolescent. I was mowing in the courtyard; the grass was tall. Making a pass, I look down next to me to see this OMG pair of big eyes looking up at me. I offered a friendly "Hello!" and it paused for a couple of seconds to assess the situation still staring up at me, then quickly hopped off under the fence.

But, alas, have sad news to report. Last week my wife and her friend discovered our not-quite-a-pet resident woodchuck lifeless in the middle of the street, victim of a car encounter. It had been living under our toolshed for several years, and had grown accustomed to our voices in evident curiosity. I don't know if it's been the same woodchuck for the 13 years or the offspring of the first one, but it or its parent have been a constant presence. I buried him behind our building.

A couple of months ago there were three woodchucks hanging around the shed, the "strangers" smaller. We concluded our guy was definitely a guy, and had a couple of girlfriends sharing his burrows. We saw them hanging together on at least three occasions. So maybe our late fella had a last hurrah, and with any luck one of his pups will move into Dad's place.

 

[Comshaw]

On the third day of September, New Jersey gave to me…
Five J-hanging monarchs (caterpillars)
Four goldfinches
Three hummingbirds
Two bluebirds (one a fledgling)
And an Emily in ecstasy

View attachment 2677596

Absolem is that you? Where's your hookah, dude?


Comshaw

 

[Seurat]

And rabbits, fucking rabbits . Need to buy a crossbow.

I feel the same way about groundhogs. They've completely wiped out our back gardens year after year; A neighbor up the street refuses to do anything about the warrens in their yard, and every spring the little shits spread their devastation throughout the area. We had three foxes this year to help keep the population down. I just hope they remember and return next year.

 

[sirhugs]

And rabbits, fucking rabbits . Need to buy a crossbow.

"Fucking rabbits"?
Might they be stray plot bunnies?
@anthrodisiac has a home for them on a nice Hyperdimensional Farm.

 

[EmilyMiller]

The big guy in the first photo is now:

 

[JohnBJohn]

We managed to see two emerge from pupation last year. We’re gradually replacing the invasives the previous owners planted with natives, but it’s a multi-year task. We are one of the few lots around here who don’t spray our lawns (we do the perimeter of the house only - else the ants are crazy) so we have lots of insects and so lots of insectivorous birds (plus cute, curious cicada killers) and lots of seed eating birds from not dead heading. And we have planted hummingbird-friendly flowers rather than having feeders.

We have a pair of local ravens, which is super cool. I love corvids.

And rabbits, fucking rabbits . Need to buy a crossbow.

I ripped out my front lawn by hand during covid. We couldn't go out anyways, so there was tons of time on the weekends and I'd often get an hour or so in after work. The worst thing to remove, besides the grass, were the lilies and a huge bird of paradise plant. I ended up using an electric chain saw to hack up the corm enough to remove.

The yard was nice and neat when I started, but now, several years later, I have random milkweed and california poppies everywhere. It's a bit messy, but that's nature!

The backyard is full of fruit trees, which I share with the local birds and some 4 legged critters.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Another pupa discovered. But not sure this monarch caterpillar was the brightest…

 

[EmilyMiller]

Another pupa discovered. But not sure this monarch caterpillar was the brightest…

View attachment 2679065

If Polywood wants to send me some free furniture, then I’d be OK with that

 

[KittyOfSteele]

In the kitchen, making food, and looking out the window .

What else did you think ?

I want to say "posing for the gardener," but then I figured out either you're the plant mom, or your husband is the plant daddy.

We managed to see two emerge from pupation last year. We’re gradually replacing the invasives the previous owners planted with natives, but it’s a multi-year task. We are one of the few lots around here who don’t spray our lawns (we do the perimeter of the house only - else the ants are crazy) so we have lots of insects and so lots of insectivorous birds (plus cute, curious cicada killers) and lots of seed eating birds from not dead heading. And we have planted hummingbird-friendly flowers rather than having feeders.

We have a pair of local ravens, which is super cool. I love corvids.

And rabbits, fucking rabbits . Need to buy a crossbow.

A stray cat writer can fetch those plot bunnies. *Meows in approval.*

 

[EmilyMiller]

I want to say "posing for the gardener," but then I figured out either you're the plant mom, or your husband is the plant daddy.

We are proud parents of a lot of caterpillars

 

[Booboobear84]

We are proud parents of a lot of caterpillars

Soon to be butterflies?