It’s getting to be that time of the year

In mid to late summer up north, the wild berries begin ripening.  They’re so luscious and juicy, but with all the robins and other birds around here I don’t think I’m going to be able to enjoy much of their sweetness.

The milkweed plants are also getting large enough to think about blooming, and do you know what that means?   Soon it will be monarch butterfly season!  I’ve been on the prowl looking for caterpillars.  I haven’t seen any monarchs around, only swallowtails, but lo and behold…

…the other day I discovered a monarch caterpillar on a milkweed plant next to my rig.  They have voracious appetites for the leaves of this plant.  The adult monarch lays its eggs on this favored host plant.  I was hoping this caterpillar would stay put on the plant and go into the chrysalis stage so I could observe it.  Alas, it moved on.

But then today, I found a smaller one on the same plant.  It is less than a half inch long.

An even smaller one, about 1 cm long, was on the underside of a leaf of a plant on the other side of my site.  You can even see the milky sap that this plant gets its name from along the edges of the portions that have been eaten.  If I had an old aquarium, I’d put these caterpillars inside of it with some leaves so I could watch the whole process.  It’s been years since I’ve done that.

While peeking into the secret lives of milkweeds, I walked past this spent bloom.  It was brilliant yellow not too long ago.  Nature’s timetable of growing old is accelerated for wildflowers.  I could sympathize with being beyond the beautiful blooming part of life.  But, there is almost always another springtime. 

But wait, there is still usefulness in old age…

If nothing else, a perch for youth to take flight from!  Oh my, I’m waxing a little philosophical tonight.  Guess I’d better finish up.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy