Pipevine Swallowtail

Released on Amsinckia.

Pipevine Swallowtail on Amsinckia

At the UC Botanical Garden on Monday. It spent several minutes nectaring.

Butterfly Presentation Yesterday

The Native Plant Society in Marin had a plant sale yesterday. There were several people tabling and talking, and Andy and I were among them. The top picture is one of Andy talking to some people who came by our table. And the bottom picture is Andy giving the talk. I also spoke, but the whole presentation was only half an hour. It was all very low-key and lovely.

Butterfly Presentation Today

Andy and I did presentations for two kindergarten classes today at the Dorris-Eaton School  in Walnut Creek. Very sweet kids. And very appreciative teachers. Here is a picture of Andy showing the live specimens to one of the groups. We provided Cabbage Whites for them  to rear. They were not sure if they had any host plants available. But I was sure that they would be able to find nasturtiums. They also purchased a copy of each of my videos. Yay! Great day.

Monarch Film Release Party

Time to PARTY!!! The new film, " The Secret Lives of Monarchs," is now available on Amazon. To celebrate, we are showing the film at the UC Botanical Garden on March 27 at 6 pm. Afterwards, partake of food and drink while listening to live harp music by a local musician. Only $10!! What a deal!! See you there!!


http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/bot.html?event_ID=75293&date=2014-03-27&filter=Event%20Type&filtersel=

Anise Swallowtail Eggs

I saw my first Anise Swallowtail of the season yesterday. It was fluttering around some fennel. When I looked more closely, sure enough, she had laid some eggs. The white dots on the foliage in the pic are eggs.

(host plant)

Painted Lady on Amsinckia

This painted lady really seemed to like the Amsinckia blossoms. While taking pictures, it got spooked, but it came right back.

This plant is endangered. I photographed the UC Bot Garden sign so you can read about it. If you look closely at the pic, you can see why it is called fiddleneck: the buds curl into a spiral, looking a bit like the head of a violin.