Flower Hill Farm Bed & Breakfast Retreat

Magnolia stellata's primitive multi-petaled, milk-white and blush-striped blooms are the first flowers to fully unfurl within our garden shrubberies. Eighteen petals fall free of their furry calyx, multiplied by hundreds, to paint this small tree brightly. She stands along our second terraced garden stretching easterly amongst sentient statues of Apples and Birch yet to exhale their buds at the time these photographs were taken. A gift of Peace from Japan to the United States, Magnolia stellata's tiny white flags quietly wave with the wind and her presence on our hillside offers a placid passage from the snowy chill of winter into the riot of warmer colors to come when spring's breath covers the landscape. I love to sit beneath the many stars and look towards the other trees nearby.

Painted Lady

Painted Ladies

Pearl Crescents

Pearl Crescents are in the same subfamily of 'True Brushfoots' (Nymphalinae), as the larger Painted Ladies and they too are often enjoyed here on our farm in numbers of over fifty during the summer. Tiny Pearl Crescents are utterly enchanting flying about the middle meadow garden and fields . . . especially when their brown-orange colors are enriched by the light of the sun.

Pearl Crescents

American Copper

Eastern Tailed-Blue and American Copper

Eastern Tailed-Blue

Painted Lady (folded wings), Eastern Tailed-Blue, Painted Lady (open wings), Common Ringlet, American Copper, Giant Swallowtail, Little Wood Satyr, Common Wood Nymph, Question Mark

Eastern Swallowtails

Giant Swallowtail

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The smaller Eastern Tiger Swallowtail not only differs in size but also has a very different pattern on its wings . . . the only time it might be confused with its cousin the giant is when the wings are folded.

Flower Hill Farm Butterflies of 2012

Other than a couple of skippers, this is the collection of butterflies I was able to catch sight of throughout last year in our gardens and fields. Twenty-two or so species is only a small amount of the one hundred three butterfly species known to inhabit Massachusetts. I will continue to work with my land and gardens to provide a more diverse habitat that hopefully will attract many new butterflies to Flower Hill Farm.

Learning to identify the caterpillars, their host plants and the overwintering habits of various butterflies, will go a long way to securing their success in our gardens. I am especially indebted to the Massachusetts Butterfly Club for their highly educational and beautiful website along with the invaluable Mass Audubon's Butterfly Atlas. I have been able to identify and learn about all the butterflies in this series by visiting the two websites above. I am thrilled to now be a member of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club which is a chapter of the North American Butterfly Association.

Connecting with other butterfly enthusiasts is a wonderful way to learn more about butterflies and how we can all help preserve habitat for these remarkable creatures.

Mourning Cloaks are not among the list above as I did not see one last year. This April did, however, bring at least six from their overwinter hiding places, but not one was close enough to capture with my camera. It is exciting to begin a new season of butterfly watching and I hope my list will grow along with my unbridled enthusiasm for these spirited gifts of nature.

Wishing all a happy May and a bountiful butterfly season!

When it is time, a fresh new butterfly flips out of its protective chrysalis casing. The butterfly abdomen is bloated being filled with the fluids that will blow up the wings. Once they are fully blown out the butterfly hangs to dry like a fine dress on a clothesline . . . this can be a dangerous time for a butterfly. It must hold on tight and not fall or it will surely die.


When the Monarch butterfly's wings are dry and the butterfly is familiar with its new body and has discovered how all the parts work, it will begin pumping its wings preparing to fly.




Whenever I share my favorite images of Monarchs of previous years, it seems like a celebration of incredible joy . . . of life and infinite possibilities for change.

We can all help these beautiful butterflies and others by never using poisons and by calling congress and the EPA demanding an end to the use of harmful chemicals that kill insects good and 'bad' and cause cancer and other diseases within human organs. We can also plant milkweed that is native to our areas to guarantee the monarchs will always have host plants.

Many are already seeing Monarch butterflies returning to their gardens and fields. I did have my first sighting in May of last year but did not find caterpillars until July.

I have one more butterfly post featuring butterflies from 2012 . . . it's a grand finale . . .  just in time, for the gardens are beginning to pop, birds are returning and I am excited to give a spring walkabout.

Flower Hill Farm Butterflies of 2012 continues on this Earth Day, celebrating the butterflies that were sighted on our farm mostly over the past year. This installment features the teeny and erratic Skippers of the Hesperiidae family.

Skippers may not be the showiest of butterflies and this makes them all the more challenging to identify. Here is a terrific video site which reveals live in the field skippers that is great for learning how to identify these little butterflies.

I have tried with the help of others to identify the Skippers below but there may still be some mistakes. With many Skippers a guess is about as good as it gets, especially when the photographs do not show enough detail.


A Crossline Skipper Polites origenes, contently sipping from an Echinacea in the middle meadow garden last July. These tiny skippers fly for only one flight period beginning the end of June through early August. Females lay eggs on a variety of grasses found mostly in dry fields or other open habitats where the caterpillars will weave together two blades of grass for privacy while feeding.






A Dun Skipper Euphyes vestris, feeding last July in the middle meadow garden. These skippers are fairly common and might be seen in numbers of one hundred or more from late June through to the middle of September, though more often seen from the beginning of July till the end of August. The larva feed mostly on sedges. The delicate eggs are fastened one at a time to the leaves of the host plant where the young caterpillar will roll the leaves to feed. Dun Skippers overwinter as a third instar larva.


A Silver-spotted Skipper Epargyreus clarus, beneath the graceful curve of a not so gracefully behaved gooseneck loosestrife in our middle meadow garden last July. This skipper is commonly sighted in large numbers throughout the state of Massachusetts and has the coolest caterpillar form of a bright yellow with a red collar below its dark brownish head. Very striking and I wonder what the birds make of it. The caterpillars will fold over a leaf corner to feed and when older they fasten together two leaves with their silk threads creating a nest to hide within during pupation.


The Silver-spotted Skipper is larger than most other skippers and flies about gardens and meadows from May through October but more often the beginning of June to the middle of August. In Massachusetts they may only have one flight period. The females seek out various leaves of legumes such as Honey or Black Locust, False Indigo and some clovers to fasten a single egg to. I will carefully search the locust saplings I cut from the fields this year to see if I can find some Silver-spotted Skipper eggs of this butterfly. They overwinter as a pupa.





In an earlier post of Butterflies of 2011 I had not been able to identify the Skipper above. Hopefully I have it right this time. I would not be able to name any of these little Skippers without the help of the great website and generous folks in the Massachusetts Butterfly Club. Many thanks go out to Joe for letting me know Indian Skipper Hesperia sassacus, is the right name for this butterfly who was sunning on a milkweed leaf near a swarm of honey bees back in late May of 2009.

These butterflies fly about only from the end of May through the end of June when females deposit varying shades of green to white eggs on various grasses.

The fabulous Butterflies of Massachusetts site lists a number of grasses used by the larva. I will have to be sure to cultivate these in an undisturbed area near the forest edge here in future for these butterflies may be on the decline. I do not understand why it does not continue to fly and mate throughout the summer months. The Indian Skipper overwinters here in either larva or pupa forms.

I am so deeply thankful to our mother Earth for all of the diverse creatures that enrich my life daily. Butterflies are especially magical to me and through their amazing metamorphosis inspire a deeper appreciation for all life and the countless changes that abound within it.

Monarchs are up next on Flower Hill Farm Butterflies of 2012!

Giant Ironweed Vernonia gigantea is a native butterfly magnet with nourishing nectar for many butterflies and bees. I would never call it a weed, for it is very showy and stands beautifully with other late summer plants. The flowers are lovely especially when wearing strikingly, speckled wings.





Fritillaries also love our non native butterfly bush. We only have the one plant which dies back each year. I have never seen a seedling. If you live in a more temperate climate, Buddleia can and does become invasive through seeding, I believe . . . so you might be sure to deadhead or consider alternatives. I confess to loving my sole bush, as long as it behaves, that offers long plump, purple, panicles of blooms for all sorts of butterflies and bees to land upon. A little Skipper sips near the Greater Spangled Fritillary. Hummingbirds also love this native of China. Climate change may well make this species an unwelcome visitor, but for now it is a showy and giving member of our garden just outside the farmhouse and studio.








Joe Pye weed Eutrochium purpureum, is another great native that Fritillaries, along with other butterflies, moths and bees are attracted to for its bounty of nectar. This tall member of the Asteraceae family is a comely, compatible companion to the impressive Giant Ironweed.

The wide beige band between the two rows of white markings is clearly illustrated in the image above. Again, this is a telltale sign that the butterfly is a Greater Spangled Fritillary and not an Aphrodite. I imagine the name greater spangled is for the glint of the white, silvery-spotted wings.

The first instar Fritillary caterpillar overwinters here beneath or near a violet plant its mother Fritillary would have fastened its egg to towards the end of August or early September. Once out of the egg the tiny caterpillar eats only the egg casing before dropping or crawling down to find a leaf or other detritus to serve as protective cover throughout the winter. Remember not to be such a fastidious gardener and instead leave safe houses for lots of overwintering caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies.

The Fritillary caterpillars, that survive the birds and rabbits, will awake in May when the violets begin to leaf out and munch their way into June, until they feel an urge for change and seek a safe rock or log where they can privately morph into a brown chrysalis. With the passing of two weeks or so a butterfly will emerge . . . the males usually emerge first flitting about seeking a suitable female who pushes her way out of the chrysalis a bit later than the males.


Speaking of males, I was drawn away from my writing this morning by these toms way down by the forest edge.  I could not lift the lens that would make these more vivid images. Wild Turkeys are busy stepping around lifting up leaves and debris in search of some of those overwintering delectables I have been writing about in this series of butterfly posts.


Shooting into the sun does not make for very vivid photos either but I love the way the tom's wattles are lit up by the bright early morning light. I am afraid the Wild Turkeys notice my presence, when I step out to get a better look, and quickly take off to the lower lands and into the cover of the forest.


I usually hear Wild Turkeys before I see them . . .  for there is some impressive courtship and alpha male vocalizing going on right now. I note a few hens in a lower field, while the toms are still stepping out together. There will be a split up soon and a group of toms will go off on their own leaving the dominant gobbler to care for the hens. I hope they have not found too many of the overwintering caterpillars and chrysalises and yet I want these beasts to be healthy and happy too.

My first 2013 sighting, just this morning, of a Palm Warbler  Dendroica palmarum. I notice at once that this little guy is busy scurrying along the ground looking for those tiny morsels of caterpillar and chrysalis like the robins, turkeys and bluebirds. I am so amazed any butterflies ever make it to fly in our gardens and fields.

Cabbage Whites 2012 and 2009

Cabbage Whites and Orange Sulphur 2012

Orange and Clouded Sulphurs  2012 and earlier

Orange and Clouded Sulphurs fly about low to the ground in meadows, pastures and fields choosing legumes such as clovers, vetches and alfalfa leaves to fasten a single egg to. I have noted that they choose lupines too. In Massachusetts the Whites and Sulphurs overwinter as fourth instars or chrysalises.




I still have the Fritillary, Skipper and Monarch butterflies of 2012 to share. By next week the gardens should be wide awake with many more returning birds and butterflies awaking with it. It is exciting to imagine all of these beauties and more flitting about the fields and gardens soon. Happy butterflying!


A new installment of my  'A Bestiary' is up over at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens.

The Eastern Tailed-Blue has three flights beginning around the middle of May through the first part of June, then the middle of July till the end of July and mid August through to late September. To make identification confusing each brood may look somewhat different. A tell tale sign of the Eastern Tailed-Blue is the orange eyespot like markings on the bottom hindwings and the tiny thread like tails, though as with the one captured here those may disappear with time. They are such beautiful little butterflies. I so wish the wings were fully open to illustrate the gorgeous blue but a peek shows a bit of the color that seems to vary between broods and sexes.

In between these flight stages would be the time to search out the single eggs and dark green caterpillars on buds and stalks of clovers (if the rabbits leave me any) and various legumes. Here at Flower Hill Farm the little blues might enjoy the vetches growing in the airy north and south fields and perhaps I might find caterpillars along the forest edge.

Common Ringlet Coenonympha tullia, has a wingspan of 1 - 1 7/8 inches and is noted for the rusty orange coloring on its upper wings. There will always be one small eyespot looking back at any observer too.
These little satyrs might be sighted all over New England, Canada and even in Japan and Italy, and  may also be seen in groupings of hundreds in the right habitat.


This sighting of the Common Ringlet was in May of 2012 out in our south field and also a first for me here at Flower Hill Farm. They might be flying, with their unique bouncy flight, about open fields and meadows, with some shrubberies, or along wooded, country roads from late May through the beginning of July and then from the end of July to the end of August.

Again, various grasses seem to be the necessary host plant. The butterfly appears not to be too picky and will sample a number of flowers for nectar. They too overwinter in various larva stages.


The free spirited Common Ringlet decided to immigrate from Canada to New England as recently as the late nineteen sixties and are now plentiful across the state of Massachusetts.


Common Wood Nymph Cercyonis pegala, is the larger of the three satyrs featured here, with a wingspan of about 2 - 2 7/8 inches. The eyespots painted on an yellow-orange background are dramatic within the dark brown wings and make these butterflies easy to identify, though there are variations on this design that might be confusing.


Common Wood Nymphs may be seen flying about from July through the early part of September in open meadows, bogs and along sunny forest corridors. As the name implies these little beauties are pretty common here in Massachusetts. The caterpillars eat various grasses and later as butterflies sip from a diverse array of flowers along with rotting fruit and even fungi.


Common Wood Nymphs overwinter here in New England too. Right about the time our first icy frost clings to leaves and carpets the ground, and when just out of its egg, the first instar caterpillar will crawl or drop down into the center of its host plant and hibernate throughout the winter.






Soon there will be a myriad of sprouts stirring and breaking through the crust of earth or armored calyx and surviving caterpillars will begin munching their way to becoming butterflies.


Robins were with us all winter. Hundreds of the rusty-red breasted birds are now running along the newly exposed ground, about the fields and gardens, like sentinels. I am afraid the caterpillars will have to be very clever in their camouflage with so many beaks lifting leaves and other debris.

The striking Viceroy Limenitis archippus, can be sighted in flight, here in Massachusetts, from around the end of May till the beginning of October.
Birds are now searching out the overwintering, hibernating, bird droppings-like caterpillars in their neatly constructed leafy 'tents' of apples, cherry or willow leaves. Like the Red-spotted Admiral they cleverly create a hibernaculum by drawing out silk from their bodies and securing leaves to twigs or branches so that they cannot fall. The third instar caterpillars then neatly fold the leaves creating a silky tunnel around their tiny bodies and proceed to sleep through most of fall, winter and well into spring.


Viceroys are consider common and abundant in Massachusetts. It would seem that the birds are fooled by the Viceroy's fastidious overwintering tents, as many caterpillars are able to emerge from their dry leafy homes and munch along the fresh green leaves that open in spring. Many successfully then hide out in their again bird poop-like chrysalis forms and after about ten days become butterflies.


Viceroys are designed to confuse birds and other predators by mimicking the toxic Monarch butterfly. I guess some birds do not attend the 'Butterflies Not To Eat' seminars or perhaps they learn to spit out the toxic body parts. The photograph above illustrates that to mimic is not always a guarantee to sail through life peacefully. I often see the Viceroy's cousin the Red-spotted purple (scroll down to last post) with tattered wings too, even though that butterfly form of the Red-spotted Admiral is suppose to be a mimic of the Pipevine Swallowtail.

Monarch butterfly on Left . . . Viceroy on Right

Though a viceroy is not as high in rank as a monarch, the butterflies do end up confusing people too. There are many differences but besides being smaller, the easiest identification mark is the 'smile line' through the Viceroy's hindwing vertical lines. If the butterflies are too far away to see these details, you can always discern the spectacular soaring flight of a monarch from any other butterfly.



The Common Buckeye Junonia coenia, is not a mimic of any other butterfly but has it defense in its large eyes that might frighten any bird away. These migratory butterflies are not really so common here in New England. Some years they may be rare and others more abundant in numbers. I did not see but the one above in July of 2012 and could not get close to it. Butterfly hunting with a camera is hardly ever easy but the photographs below reveal a Common Buckeye from 2011 that was very close and allowed me to take over a dozen images.