Is This Butterfly Season Going To Be Late, Early Or Just On Schedule?

Hi  Again, On Saturday the 22nd of March I saw my first Butterfly of the 2014 season in my garden/yard area, flying onver freshly spread mushroom soil. Cabbage White is my sighting and I do not think the mushroom soil was a factor in this sighting, although disturbing the garden area could have been an influence in this event. Mushroom soil is an after product of growning msuhroons and is mostly partially decomposed hay, straw, manure and water that has been previously partly composted and put into mushroom houses to grow mushrooms. After the mushrooms have produced as much as possible the mushroom soil is removed, hence the very shortened life cycle. Mushroom soil is a great soil enhancer of organic matter, therefore I use a lot of it, as I am in the "Mushroom Capital of the World", that is actually Kennett Square, PA. Now back to butterflies and pix of them. The Cabbage White is one of the earlier butterflies to be seen here annually and first seen last year on the 29th of March, so this is a little earlier than last year, additionally we did have a brutally cold winter here this past season that has only released its' grip now. We recently had snow two days ago, that is quite late with a low of 18°. Spring is nearby though, just keep looking. 

                                                                                                                             Have a great day, Denis

This Cabbage White hatched from plants that I overwinter in my basement, mostly Lantana and Canna bulbs

Winter Will Not Loose It's Grip?

Hi,  Again, snow and on St. Patrick's Day  no less, and it is mid March. However winter will loose it's grip and spring will arrive, probably fast. When I say fast, the temperature will suddenly shoot up to give us a ninety degree day(s) that will floor us. We can have some sudden spikes in high temperature in late March and early April that take us by surprise. Can't wait though is in the back of my mind, as I will take a shot at summer now. At this juncture our ground is still frozen underneath, especially on northern slopes and fully shaded areas. However our Crocus, Daffodills and Snow Drops are all up through the snow of yesterday. The Crocus have been blooming for days as have the Snow Drops, although none of these are butterfly nectar sources. Keep looking, Spring is just around the corner! Have a great day, Denis

 I have included quite a few Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies because they are one of the most seen here.

                       This is an 11 year old image taken with a Nikon 990 camera- 3.2 MP and  3 X.

Still Winter, However Spring Is 'Just Around The Corner'.

Hi Again, Lately we have been in a little bit of a thaw from our, literally months of frigid weather. Today we are back in the deep freeze again as is usually the norm for March weather. Big swings from winter attempting to go to spring and back again to Arctic temps. On the warm, about 50°, days I would take a walk in our woods on the south facing slopes looking for our first butterflies to no avail this season. Now almost all of our snow has melted and we should be getting some spring like temperature. This will bring out some early butterflies, I hope. Soon we will be seeing some of these. Have a great day, Denis