The Murphy Blog

When there isn’t anything exciting happening, it is hard to remember that my purpose in writing this blog was to keep track of dates and so forth, so I could track the monarchs and others from year to year. Then once I logged on, I saw that I started a nice little section on hummingbirds, and left it. It is high time for an update!

The hummingbirds are gone. It was very sad. One day, only a day or two past the most recent post here, we noticed that Momma hadn’t been back to the nest for what seemed to be a long time. After watching for several minutes, I went outside. No sign of her. Usually by now she would have let me know she was nearby. I climbed the ladder, but couldn’t see inside the nest. I pulled it closer, and finally pulled gently on the branch holding the nest. It was empty. Not even an eggshell to be found.

Best we can tell, a rat or a mouse climbed down the branch and found the babies. We still see Momma around, but never near the nest. It seems she has moved on, job over. It is hard to imagine she could be so protective while the nest was there, so diligent, and when the babies were gone, she just moves on. No remorse, no sadness, she just moves on. Try again next year. I suppose that is a gift, the ability to move on without regret. I guess that is what separates us from the animals.

Okay, I didn’t mean to get so philosophical. In other news, the fritillary caterpillars have wiped out every last leaf of the passion vine, and it looks, well, dead. Some branches are still soft, but I’m not sure it will be able to survive. I still see butterflies flitting around, but there is NOWHERE to lay an egg! I sure hope the vine makes it. At one point, it was as full as we have seen it since the pond remodel. We would love to have it cover the back fence, but those caterpillars are relentless!

Speaking of relentless, the milkweed has recovered all over the yard, and we have several plants that are covered with flowers. Even the swamp milkweed plant looks good. I have looked all over the leaves, and all I can find are aphids. Not a sign of a monarch egg, let alone a caterpillar.

I am expecting to see more monarchs in general, since it has finally started to warm up a little. I do find that I don’t see much of them until the warm spells. So the milkweed is ready to be decimated, once again! In case anyone is planning on growing some milkweed, and cares a bit about how things look (a leafless milkweed is worse than a weed!), we, quite by accident, found a very nice solution. A milkweed seed seems to have fallen right under a daylilly. It works out just great, because the daylilly has nice, low foliage, and the branches of the milkweed grow up between it, and it has its foliage much higher. They flower at about the same level. and we even managed to have a daylilly with similar flower color to the milkweed. Talk about serendipity! Then, when the milkweed has been wiped out by the caterpillars, the daylilly covers the ugly branches, and it still looks nice.

Speaking of the milkweed, here in Southern California, it is NOT an annual. We have a number of plants that have been around for at least a couple of years. They would flower year round, too, if they were not constantly plagued with the pests I love so much! They just cycle through growing leaves, flowering, growing a little while the caterpillars are small, becoming decimated when the caterpillars grow, then sitting leafless until we have a bit of a warm spell to supply them with the energy to start over again. I have taken pictures of the milkweed at all times of the year, and we have had caterpillars at all times of the year. It just seems to depend on how recently the milkweed has grown back.

Early yesterday I noticed that the mama hummer was spending less time at the nest, so I suspected something had changed. I climbed up my trusty ladder, and it looked like the egg was broken. Keep in mind, the nest is roughly ten feet in the air, so even standing as high as I dare go, it is difficult to see inside the tiny nest. Besides, I will not go too close to the nest. My curiosity is not worth disturbing the little mama.

Later in the day, I heard Mama return, and as I watched, she perched on the edge of the nest and bobbed her tiny beak up and down in the nest. Feeding time! The babies must be incredibly tiny at this point, so I could not see any sign of them.

As I checked again several times today, I still noticed that mama was gone more than usual. Before the babies hatched, I was hard pressed to find the nest unattended, and she would usually return within minutes. Now she is gone for some time at a stretch, then bobs her little head as she pokes around the nest.

Then she settles back down on the nest to warm the little guys and take a rest.

After griping earlier this week about the lack of activity from butterflies this week, I went out and rechecked the passion vine. It should eventually develop lovely flowers.

While we haven’t seen flowers since the year we pulled it out because it was taking over the pond, it has supported Gulf Fritillary butterflies ever since. This past week I watched two pairs of butterflies flitting around the plant, and laying some eggs.

The eggs are about the same size as the monarch eggs. Unlike the monarchs, the eggs are laid mostly on top of the leaves. They are certainly easier to photograph that way!

The poor plant, which has recovered a little from the last onslaught, is covered, not only with eggs, but with caterpillars of various sizes.

There is also a chrysalis at hand. As I tried to take a picture, one of my dogs barked, and the chrysalis folded itself up under the ledge. Yes, they respond to noise, and to other external stimuli, as well. I have seem them trying to twist away from the spray of a sprinkler, as well.

Wildlife in the yard has been boring of late. The milkweed is trying desperatley to recover from the latest monarch assault, and the fritillaries, while present, haven’t caught my attention in recent days. Cisco found a new monarch in the backyard last week, but I was fixing dinner, so after distracting him away from the butterfly, went to rescue dinner instead of taking pictures. Sometimes being responsible isn’t very fun.

Anyway, Ken was walking around the side yard today to check out some blue hibiscus blooms when a little hummingbird launched an aerial assault. Now hummingbirds are brave little birds, but usually don’t attack unless they have a pretty good reason. Ken backed up and watched, and Mrs. H. Bird plopped herself in her nice little nest, right there about a foot above Ken’s head!

Now the plan is to wait until she has to go eat, and move a ladder several feet away, where we can inobtrusively peek into the nest and, of course, take pictures! The only problem, from our perspective, is the branch on which she built her nest was scheduled to be removed due to its proximity to the house. I just hope the babies leave the nest before some roof rat finds its way up that branch…

Its been almost nine months since we brought that rascal, Cisco into our home. When we made the decision to adopt, it was due to the fact that so many dogs are being abandoned by owners who have lost their jobs or taken paycuts due to the economy. Or whatever other reasons various people conjured up to justify deserting their pet.

That is besides the point. The dog we brought into our home was scrawny enough to see his ribs and his backbone, had coarse, sparse fur, a scar across his face, and an attitude that almost got him abandoned, again. After he decided that I was “The One”, everyone else was the enemy. That included Ken and the boys. Several battles ensued, after which Cisco decided, begrudgingly, to hold a truce. This meant that others in the family were allowed to approach me without his growling at them, but he still watched them like a hawk.

Ken and Cisco tolerated each other, mostly due to the fact that Ken decided it was the only way they would coexist, and his willingness to do anything to make me happy. It was a little tense for a while.

In preparing for training, we were told to bring something that would motivate him, a treat or a toy. We tried and tried to find a toy that would attract him, but Cisco just was not a “playing” dog. It seemed weird to us, but we accepted it. Given his suspicious nature, it didn’t really surprise us.

was tough, too. We thought it would be good for Philip and Cisco for Philip to to the training. Cisco, however, didn’t agree. He wouldn’t have anything to do with leaving my side. After several weeks of Cisco barely tolerating Philip, we asked the trainer to come to our house to evaluate Cisco and see if he was even able to be trained. If he nipped Philip one more time, he was out. We just weren’t making progress. Everyone in the house felt as if we were walking on eggshells all the time: Ken, trying to get along with my “project”, me, trying to get my “project” to stop fighting the rest of the family, Philip, trying to love a dog who hated him, and Daniel, who just couldn’t stand all of the tension all of the time.

Dan, our trainer, suggested that we switch Cisco’s primary trainer to me. He also gave us some suggestions regarding Cisco’s accessibility to areas of the house, with the idea that he really needed to learn who “controlled the pack” before he would become comfortable in the home. We started to implement his suggestions, and really started to see a change.

First of all, Cisco became the star of his obedience class. He did what I told him quickly and eagerly. At one point, the trainer brought him out to demonstrate what not to do, and Cisco behaved so well, the trainer had to find another dog to use to demonstrate!

He also started to play! It was amazing to see him look around for a toy and just let himself go, whipping it around and prancing around the house. He also started to bring his toys to Ken, and the two of them would play. It was as if he was able to relax in his role as the underdog, no longer having to protect everything from everyone. He even stopped hiding under my desk.

The biggest transformation came one night when Ken was passing a gallstone. As Ken paced the halls, sat, and lay curled on the floor in pain, this formerly deadly enemy found Cisco just sitting with him, quietly, resting his head on Ken’s leg, shoulder, arm, offering comfort.

Today, we have a beautiful dog! His coarse, ugly coat fell out, and grew back in thick, soft and shiny. He is a solid seventy-five pounds (he started at sixty), and bounces everywhere he goes. He no longer looks like a coyote! He is very affectionate, asking all family members to pat his head or scratch his back, putting his feet in our laps to give a kiss, and always putting his ears submissively back when we pet him. Who would have thought this big, goofy guy could have come this far? NOW we look at him and think, “Someone let this dog go. He was in a facility, on the waiting list to be “put down.” How fortunate we are that he is now a member of our family, and that we had the patience to allow him to become this wonderful dog!

When it was warm a couple of weeks ago, I watched a busy female flitting around, making frequent stops to deposit eggs all over the milkweed. There aren’t even flowers yet, and at best there are only a few leaves on each branch. Not to be deterred, she left loads of eggs, which resulted in loads of caterpillars. The rain (we received some six inches over the last week) hasn’t fazed them at all! My two biggest milkweeds have at least ten caterpillars each, and a couple of the others have one or two each. This is only on a brief inspection, so I imagine there are several more. I’m not even sure the milkweed will be able to recover in time to support all of these when they really start to grow. Once again, I am faced with the dilemna of what to do: I won’t be able to plant new milkweed in time to save all of the caterpillars, so I know many of them will run out of food before they are fully developed. Should I “cull” babies, so those that survive will have enough, and the entire line isn’t weakened?

There isn’t really a choice to be made. I won’t play God. If the butterfly laid too many eggs, well, I won’t intervene. I’ll just keep planting new milkweed when I “find” new space, and if too many butterflies lay eggs, so be it. In the meantime, I’m glad they are doing well, and that they are enjoying the sun, too!

In case it isn’t obvious, one of my hobbies is photography. I currently use a Canon 5D, which features a full-frame sensor. I use various lenses, including a 100-400 zoom lens. I love the way my camera captures just about everything. My only gripe is that I need a longer telephoto lens.

You see, many of my friends with APS sized sensors take images of birds that are much closer than mine. They get the sensor advantage of 1.6x the focal length of the lens, so the effective length of my 100-400 lens is 640mm! Wow!

In order to get the same reach with my camera, I would need to purchase a tele-extender, which comes in 1.4x or 2.0 times. The disadvantage of using a tele-extender is it cuts the light entering the lens by the same factor. That would mean I either need to use a slower shutter speed, or faster iso. Using a 400mm lens, I don’t want to go any slower than 1/400th of a second shutter speed, which means I need a fair amount of light. Using a faster iso means introducing more noise than I think I want. Also, there is a new layer of glass added, which introduces another opportunity for image degradation. The 1.4 extender runs around $295; the 2.0 $305.

Another option that I hardly consider is purchasing another telephoto lens. While the advantages of nice, crisp, clean images and wide open aperture are very appealing, the 11.8 pound lens would severely hamper my ability to move long distances and to hand-hold the lens. Besides, with one child entering college and the other hoping to attend private high school, the $8000 price tag puts it just a bit out of reach!

So what to do? Well, how about a third option? I decided to purchase a second camera, a Canon Rebel XSi. I get the best of both worlds, the length of a 640mm telephoto at an easily carried weight, the full aperture I “need”, and my beautiful, full-framed sensor for perfect depth of field in macro shots, wide angle images without distortion, perfect resolution with nice, large pixels. It arrives next week. Local birds, watch out. Here I come, up close and personal!

4490Mere hours from home is the location that sports the largest number of overwintering monarch butterflies in the United States. Many people are familiar with the sight of tress in Mexico overflowing with Monarch butterflies, and are correct when they recognize the winter hibernation spot for the amazing Monarch butterflies, who travel thousands of miles from Mexico to Canada, leaving several generations behind each year as they move. 4481

What many people don’t know is that the butterflies in Mexico are all from the Eastern United States! Butterflies west of the Rockies follow an entirely different migrational route. Western Monarchs (not a different species) winter along the California Coast, then supposedly migrate toward the Sierra Nevadas, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. 4472I don’t believe the western Monarchs have been studied as extensively, and there appears to be a lot of misinformation about them. For one thing, we have observed both butterflies and caterpillars year round at our house. Granted, we live less than ten miles from the coast, but we are seeing breeding, growing, metamorphosing butterflies year round. I will often see the same butterfly return to lay eggs over the course of at least a couple of weeks. That butterfly is NOT migrating. 4493

Furthermore, milkweed is not the annual plant that dies back in the winter, as we have heard “experts” claim over and over. We have a number of plants that continue to grow in our yard year round, stopped only by an overgrowth of monarch caterpillars! Once the plants have been stripped of their foliage, the caterpillars disappear until the plant has recovered and begins to flower once again. This we have seen happen year round. 4487

But I digress. Regardless of my observations, there are a large number of monarch butterflies that spend at least a couple of months along the California coast, from San Diego to groves just north of San Francisco. The largest congregation is in a small grove in Pismo Beach, California. 4453As recently as 1990 over 230,000 butterflies spent the winter in this sheltered location. Sadly, the numbers have declined drastically since then, although it is hard to say whether they are going somewhere else, yet to be discovered, or the numbers have just declined in general. There have been fluctuations of as many as 20,000 from year to year.

4460All other discussion aside, seeing clumps of what had to have been 1,000 butterflies is nothing short of amazing! 4463They were everywhere, even on the sign that gave the rules. 44754466

Upon approach, especially first thing in the morning, the butterflies are difficult to see. They look a little like brown leaves in the trees.

4505Closer inspection reveals some orange in those leaves.

4499When one uses binoculars or the spotting scopes nicely provided by the docents at the grove, thousands of orange wings are distinguishable.

4457

What an amazing sight! My monarch fever has renewed itself, and I am now eager to keep my posts here updated with the latest from my garden. I also plan (since the local milkweed is still recovering from its recent defoliation!) to continue the story of my in-home nursery. The pictures are ready to go, I just need to post the story. Check back soon!

44844478

I promised that I would post some pictures of my indoor caterpillars. As luck would have it, I have samples of all five instars! The coin in all of the pictures is a dime.

After my post with the picture of the preying mantis eating up a caterpillar, we watched a wasp come in and ate another. How are my babies ever going to grow up and become pretty butterflies? I have an idea…I removed several caterpillars from the milkweed, along with a little bit of milkweed, and put them in a box in my house. No wasps or preying mantises here! This was three days ago, and I am happy to report that the caterpillars are growing like crazy! I’m not sure what I will do when they are ready to eclose, but I guess I will have to figure it out. Since I have been a little busy the past couple of days, I haven’t snapped any pictures, but I will when I get a chance. I can’t save them all, but I will save a few at a time!