Beth's Patch ~ Killdeer ~ Yard Bird #116

 Yard bird #116 Killdeer. I have never seen a killdeer over here on the bay though that doesn't mean they aren't here. I heard their call before seeing them. They landed in the front side yard on the sidewalk. I tried to sneak into the house to get a camera which made them move into the street.

Fabric Postcard Swap ~ Halloween

 

Beth's Patch ~ Butterflies

I was surprised to see the long-tailed skipper again today though it's not the same one as Monday as shown in my pictures. I was also surprised to see it nectaring on the canna. Also seen by Karen Thompson as she used her last 2 monarch tags in the yard. It was a double digit butterfly day with 10 species here plus black swallowtail, cloudless sulphur, monarch, and american lady caterpillars in the yard

American lady butterfly

American lady butterfly

Common Buckeye Butterfly

American lady butterfly (lt) & Common Buckeye Butterfly (rt)

Fiery Skipper

Monarch Butterfly

Long-tailed Skipper

Ocola Skipper

 

Beth's Patch ~ Sunset

I never tire of the sunsets along the bay.

 

Beth's Patch ~ Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Late season Ruby-throated hummingbird stops by for a drink of nectar on his migration.

Beth's Patch ~ Monarch Butterflies

 

Beth's Patch ~ Monarch Tagging

For several years now the Cape May Monarch Project has been tagging monarchs here in my yard.  This year for the first time I also tried the tagging.  I found I am not very coordinated when trying to catch them in my net.  Seems like each time I get one into the net, I turn my wrist the wrong direction and the monarch escapes.  I have better luck sometimes just plucking the monarch from the flower especially on the days when there are good numbers of them in the yard.  I'd say this year there were about 125 monarchs tagged here

Monarch caterpillar on milkweeed

I tagged one!

 

Cape May Point, NJ ~ Monarch Roost

My sister, Les and I really enjoyed ourselves at the Monarch roost this morning meeting "old" friends we made yesterday and new friends we made today. There were also friends that I have known for some years there. Watching the Monarchs brings joy to my heart. Today's Monarchs didn't fly over the bay as the winds weren't favorable so tomorrow there should be another and probable larger roost.

 

Cape May Point ~ Monarch Roost

This morning I was over to Cape May Point to view the Monarch roost.  It's not as large as the 25,000 to 30,000 monarchs seen about 2 weeks ago but it was still good.   The monarchs were not expected to fly across the bay because the winds were not favorable for them. My sister, Les came down to visit today.  She's has never seen a monarch roost so decided to spend the night here.  We went over about 5 PM to see how many were settled in the black pine trees.  There were several thousand monarchs and more settling in as it got later and cooler.  We also walked down onto the beach where there were many monarchs nectaring on seaside goldenrod.

 

 

Cape May Point ~ Monarch Roost

 

Beth's Patch ~ Eastern Palm Warbler

 

Beth's Patch ~ Miracles in Nature ~ Monarch Caterpillar Emerging from His Egg

 

Beth's Patch ~ Palm Warblers

 A common bird to my yard every fall are the palm warblers.  They stop to fuel up with insects as they continue their migration to the South.  They winter primarily in the Caribbean.  It's always fun to watch them.

Beth's Patch ~ Sunrise

 

Beth's Patch ~ Fall Gardens