The birds have been enjoying a buffet in myyard the last few days. In addition to the seed I put out they have been eating the berries on the holly (american and youpon) american beauty berry, wild persimmon, cedar and juniper...also magnolia seeds. Saw a pileated woodpecker this morning when I walked out to get the paper. They are such awsome looking birds! I always know when they come for a visit by their call...hard to miss The bees and butterflies have also been busy on the flowers blooming...the narrow leaf sunflowers were covered this morning and all day yesterday

Fabulous!

I thought this might be about artificial food... I had 3 black swallowtail cats that pupated, and i thought they would probably overwinter as chrysalises. However, 1 eclosed 2 days ago... and although we're still having unseasonably warm weather, there's just no way there's enough time for eggs, cats, and overwintering chrysalises, even if s/he could find a mate (will have to look up how to tell sex).

So we're not releasing this one but keeping it as a "pet," putting in the last of the season's garlic chive blooms (a favorite) and "keeping her comfortable." I just made her some nectar (in a little container with a sponge). I feel guilty ("butterflies should be free!" is jangling in my head) until I see how much fun Joyanna and her friends are having with an up-close look at such a little beauty.

I should add tha tafter a little research, I settled on a simple recipe for the nectar -- heaping spoonful of honey in 3-4 oz of water with a drop of soy sauce.

soy sauce??? that's interesting

late in getting back to this thread, I know, but I wanted to explain that the soy sauce is supposed to add just a touch of the salt that butterflies love and need... and it's probably easier to measure a "dose" of salt by adding a drop of soy than by counting out 5 grains of table salt. Maybe there's something else in the soy that's good for them, too, I don't know, but I saw soy sauce mentioned on a number of butterfly sites.