First Butterfly Emerges......

11 years ago

and it's a female pipevine swallowtail -

The picture is HUGE, but I've been trying to post a picture, and with all the changes to Photobucket, it's amazing I finally got one on here at all. I've also been having a great deal of trouble getting on this forum - I'm not having trouble with other web sites. I don't know if Garden Web can't afford enough band width or what, I'm not computer savvy, but it's a shame!

It's about 72 degrees now and sunny. The serviceberry tree is in bloom, and the earliest blooming wild azalea is showing pink on the buds. So spring shouldn't be far away. I saw three sulphurs outside today, a cloudless sulphur, a sleepy orange and a little yellow.

The pipevines haven't started making new growth yet, but will probably do so soon - there's been plenty of rain.

Is anybody else but me having trouble logging on to this site? Anybody else having trouble copying pictures from Photobucket? I tried the forum upload, and that didn't work either.

Sherry

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Comments (11)

dragonflydee
11 years ago
Over to Alabama where I have a large fluffy and green patch of Fennel
Just waiting! I saw a Zebra Swallowtail flying about my back yard this
Afternoon;it was the first Zebra for this season. I also saw one of those
Frail looking little white Cabbage butterflies.Also,Sherry I think my Carolina
Jessamine may turn out to be the Swamp Jessamine!
I hope you can fix your Forum problems as I know we all very much enjoy
Your posting,and your pictures on PhotoBucket.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
11 years ago
Sherry, I read the Butterfly Forum even though I don't post much, but I will reply to your Photobucket question. Instead of learning the new and 'improved'? Photobucket I happened to spot a link that said something on the order of "Go back to the old Photobucket program". I did, and find it much more simple, or maybe I'm just used to it.

What I do like about recent Photobucket changes are the new edit features. Oh, and Photobucket works better for me on Firefox than Internet Explorer.

For posting one picture I've been using the GW forum upload method.

Haven't had any problems getting on the GW sites.

All the best in butterfly gardening!
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minrose
11 years ago
congrats, very pretty photo, you captured her well. I hope you solve your posting photos problem, love seeing your posts and photos.
dragonflydee
11 years ago
Sherry will it get more metallic blue on the hindwing tops when the sun
Hits them?I don't know how I missed that,it was really stupid of me.
Some of our local Black Swallowtail females come really shaded over.
DD
MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
She'll probably gain a little blue, DD, but the females are mostly black, except for the patch under their hindwings, which, like the males, is iridescent blue and orange. The males, as usual, are the impressive looking ones!

Thanks, minrose!

Roselee, I'll check on the old way. The only way I was able to upload the picture is by using my 'old way' combined with the new description - I just changed the name of the picture part to the name of the picture with the additions the new way uses.

It took about ?five or six tries before I could log on, but I finally got onto this forum.

Sherry
ericwi
11 years ago
Sherry, I don't know why you are having trouble gaining access to GardenWeb forum. I use Firefox web browser, and there are no delays or other issues for me. Thanks for posting the photo of the pipevine swallowtail-we are having one storm after another, leaving snow, sleet, & freezing rain, so life in Madison is not so much fun right now. I even managed to slip on our front steps and go down on the sidewalk the other day, despite all the time I spend clearing snow & ice from our sidewalks. I am OK except sore in a few places, however, it is a bad sign when the evening news has a feature story about hospital emergency rooms busy helping people who got hurt while walking on the ice. We are looking forward to spring.
MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
It's good to hear you didn't get hurt, Eric! I can imagine that long cold months full of ice and snow can get as old as long, hot, humid summers get down here! Spring is on the way, though. I noticed today that the wild blueberries/V. elliotti are in full bloom, and my neighbors Indica azaleas that are out in full sun are starting to bloom, plus mine, in shade, are showing color. I'm looking forward to spring myself!

I have Firefox, too, so it's a mystery why the Garden Web is so difficult for me to log onto. But I'll keep at it! :)

Sherry
ericwi
11 years ago
No butterflies here in Madison, but I did see a robin the other day. Not sure what robins eat this time of year, maybe they visit bird feeders. We did get some real snow recently, and today is sunny, and warmer, so it is beginning to feel like spring. Or maybe it feels like late winter...
Leafhead
11 years ago
Late Winter...
Robins eat mostly berries when there are no bugs and worms to eat. I've never seen one at a feeder.
Spring in less than 4 weeks... YES!!!
butterflymomok
11 years ago
Hurry, Spring! So ready. Saw a Clouded Sulphur today.

Sandy
MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
I released a second female pipevine swallowtail yesterday and a small, male black swallowtail today. I only have two more pipevine chrysalides, but a lot of black swallowtails, and one giant and one tiger chrysalid. 'Can't wait for spring to get here!

The big excitement for me this winter has been the rufous hummingbirds that have overwintered here. They appear to be a female and a young male, with one orange spot on his throat. I've really enjoyed them!

Here's a picture of the young male. They're skittish, so I had to sit at a bench a good distance from him and use the zoom on my cheap, point-and-shoot camera

{{gwi:453262}}

Sherry