Bats can squeeze in the tiniest openings. As a result, it’s not uncommon for me to get a bat in my house on occasion. At least it wasn’t for many years, before white nose syndrome became a problem in our region.

My memory certainly isn’t the best, but in my mind, a bat in [...]]]>

Bats can squeeze in the tiniest openings. As a result, it’s not uncommon for me to get a bat in my house on occasion. At least it wasn’t for many years, before white nose syndrome became a problem in our region.

My memory certainly isn’t the best, but in my mind, a bat in my house was a summertime happening. So I was quite surprised when I was visited by one last night, on April 2.

I tried my usual non-aggressive ploy: open both my doors and turn on every light in the house. This usually works because the bat doesn’t really want to be in my house any more than I want him there, and he really doesn’t like all those lights. So he uses his sonar to find those open doors and gets out quickly & easily, completely unharmed.

It worked like a charm last night. I was glad it didn’t take long, because at that point the outside temperature was about 45^o, and I didn’t want those doors to stay open for long.

Once the bat was outside, I began to worry a bit. Did we really have enough bugs already for him to eat? Sure, we had a March that set all kinds of records for high temps, but I haven’t seen that many bugs yet.

When I realized that the phoebe in my yard has found plenty to catch on the wing my mind settled down a it. But then again, phoebes aren’t struggling for survival the way bats are.

What do you think – will that bat be okay?

Butterfly identification is a learning process.  It is easier to start with the large, brightly colored species and gradually work down to the small, drab ones.  Here is what to look for on some of the most common species of butterflies in North America.

Tiger Swallowtails

Just about every area has at least one [...]]]>

Butterfly identification is a learning process.  It is easier to start with the large, brightly colored species and gradually work down to the small, drab ones.  Here is what to look for on some of the most common species of butterflies in North America.

Tiger Swallowtails

Just about every area has at least one of the five kinds of tiger swallowtails found in North America.  It is a large butterfly, bright yellow with black wings edges and black stripes that run parallel to its body.  Its tiger stripes give it its surname while swallowtail describes the narrow black wing extensions that trail behind it.  Plant some wild cherries, such as chokecherry or black cherry (the caterpillar’s host plant), in your yard and thrill to the sight of these spectacular beauties taking nectar at your garden lilies.

Black Swallowtail

These large black-and-yellow butterflies are at home in towns and gardens.  Black swallowtails are found throughout the eastern two-thirds of North America.  Plant a patch of parsley or dill in your garden and there is an excellent chance that you can watch the brilliant green and black-striped caterpillars grow to adulthood – even if your garden is the terrace of a high-rise apartment in a major city!  Males of the two swallowtail species are drawn to the tops of hills, where they wait for females.

Cabbage White

Our small white butterflies are almost all cabbage whites, an abundant and widespread species.  One of only two non-native butterflies in North America, the cabbage white is now perhaps our most common butterfly.  Its caterpillars feed on a wide variety of plants, including mustards and of course, cabbage.  Look for black dots on the wings, one for a male and two for a female.

Orange Sulphur

Replace the white of the cabbage butterfly with lemon yellow to orange color and you have the orange sulphur.  The sulphurs are medium-sized butterflies whose colors range from white to orange.  This species is one of the most abundant in North America, sometimes swarming in vast numbers in alfalfa fields.  It is found throughout the United States and most of Canada.  Its close relatives, including the common and widespread, clouded sulphur, are pure yellow above, with no trace of orange.  The related giant sulphurs are much larger, almost the size of swallowtails, while the related “yellows” tend to be smaller.

Spring Azure

The brilliant blue of spring azures is a wake-up call for the winter weary butterfly enthusiast.  Azures are one of the first butterflies to emerge in the spring to greet the new season and are found over most of the continent.  Some of the 30 other species of blues are difficult to distinguish from this one, but only the tailed blues are likely to be found in your garden.  They are darker blue above with fine tails.

Mourning Cloak

The mourning cloak is another large butterfly.  It is the only black (or very dark brown) butterfly with yellow wing edges.  Because it overwinters as adults, they are another early appearing butterfly.  They can sometimes be seen on an extremely warm day in January.  They will become plentiful again in mid-July.  The adults do not usually visit flowers but are partial to tree sap and various decaying organic matter.  The caterpillars feed mainly on willows.

Question Mark and Comma

These butterflies are named for the silvery marks in the middle of the underside of their hind wings, which resemble certain punctuations marks.

Monarch

This is the best-known butterfly in North America.  Large and brightly colored in orange and black, these butterflies cause everyone’s head to turn as they migrate southward in large groups in the fall.  They are such strong fliers that they colonized New Zealand, Australia, and the Canary Islands!  Adult monarchs are distasteful to birds because the caterpillars feed on milkweeds and accumulate toxic chemicals.  Because these butterflies retreat to Mexico for the winter, they are not common around here until late June.  In fact, most entomologists agree that the “returning” butterflies are offspring of those that flew south last fall.

Viceroy

Although unrelated to the monarch, the viceroy takes advantage of the monarch’s unpalatability by mimicking its appearance.  At first glance, it looks very similar to a monarch butterfly.  It is slightly smaller than the monarch, with which its almost identical orange and black pattern is easily confused.  However, unlike the monarch, the viceroy has a black stripe on the hind wing that crosses the other lines.

Gray Hairstreak

Hairstreaks are wonderfully vast group with more than 1,000 species found in the American tropics.  About 60 species are found in North America, the most widespread being the gray hairstreak.  Its caterpillars have one of the broadest tastes of any butterfly, but seem especially to enjoy various mallows, including hollyhocks.  Some other hairstreaks have a similar bright orange spot on the hind wing below, but few are as evenly gray as this species.

This little guy was waiting for me when I got to the office this morning. He was right in the center of the door, so with a wingspan of more than 2″ was hard to miss.

I’ve grown up calling these critters mosquito hawks; their more correct name is crane fly (genus Tilupa, [...]]]>

This little guy was waiting for me when I got to the office this morning. He was right in the center of the door, so with a wingspan of more than 2″ was hard to miss.

I’ve grown up calling these critters mosquito hawks; their more correct name is crane fly (genus Tilupa, with many different species). To my eye, they look a bit like a winged daddy long legs and a bit like a mosquito.   I’m guessing it’s that latter similarity that gave them their common name.  Why the hawk part?  Sure beats me!

It’s pretty common that folks think that mosquito hawks eat mosquitos.  Unfortunately, this is not true.  Like many adult insects, crane flies don’t usually eat during their short time spent in this phase of their lives.  If they do dine, it’s on flower nectar. They don’t bite people, pets, or livestock, and have never been shown to carry disease.

Crane fly larvae munch on decaying plants, dead leaves, fungi, and plant roots.  So unless they’re dining on your prized garden plants (not all that common since most species are aquatic), they’re no trouble.  They do like grass roots, so if you have a lot of them in your lawn, that may present a bit of a problem.  I solve that one by having plenty of weeds (dandelions, clovers, sedges, and more) growing amidst my grass, and as long as it’s green, it’s fine by me.

Crane flies spend most of their time near the water. Their few days as adults are spent in that eternal quest to reproduce themselves. Cruising for chicks is their primary concern. So what was this guy doing on the door of our office on Main Street? (Actually, I have no idea if it was a male seeking a female or vice versa.)

With Dodge Creek only a few hundred yards away he was probably flying around looking for love. Then he got confused by all the bright lights downtown, and after swinging around the street lights for a while, got tired and had to take a rest. Being made of wood, our door seemed as good a place as any.

He wasn’t there for long. By the time the next person came in about 45 minutes later, Mr. Crane Fly was nowhere to be seen.

Back to those pesky mosquitos, if you want an easy, all-natural way to control them and other flying insects, get yourself a bat house. Bats can eat up to 2,000 insects a night! If you missed our Build A Bat House workshop, we can sell you either the parts to make your own at home or a completed house ready for you to paint & hang. Call the office (716.933.0187) for more info on a bat house.

Your turn: what interesting bugs have you seen lately?

Fritillary on Echinacea

Instead, point your camera at all things natural. Shoot video or stills. Edit and organize your work, and submit it into our third annual Pfeiffer Nature Center Film Festival!

Puff Balls

I found sound challenging to capture in a silent, still photo. You be the judge of how well I did.

Bzzzzzzzzzzz

Bzzzzzzzz

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Sapsucker [...]]]>

I found sound challenging to capture in a silent, still photo. You be the judge of how well I did.

Bzzzzzzzzzzz

Bzzzzzzzz

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Sapsucker at work

A man-made sound of spring

Spring Rain

Spring waterfall

Wind Chimes

It’s your turn – what’s pleasing YOUR ears this spring?

by Peg Cherre, Executive Director