Quiet For Two Days, We Are

Posted September 29, 2019

Jeff Zablow and his dog, Petra, photographed by Jenny Jean Photography.

Just To Let You Know . . . that we will be quiet for the next 2 days, while we celebrate our Holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Oh, how we hope that all of you who visit us here, now and then, and your families, Enjoy the coming 12 months, fully and in Good Health.

At this moment, it’s sunny here in our 303 Garden in Eatonton, Georgia, with at least 32 butterflies flying about, seeking our Mistflower, Zinnias, Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower), Boneset, Ironweed and several million natives leaves, most still green and lush.

We appreciate you all, we do. Petra knows you bring zip! to my Life, and she prizes that, for sure.

Jeff

Southern Texas and Israeli Danaus Butterflies

Posted August 11, 2019

Filed under Monarch, National Butterfly Center, Mission, TX, Queen

Queen butterfly (Full dorsal) photographed by Jeff Zablow at the National Butterfly Center, Mission, TX Monarch Butterflies Coupled photographed by Jeff Zablow at the National Butterfly Center, Mission, TX Plain Tiger butterfly photographed by Jeff Zablow at Mishmarot, Israel

This Queen butterfly was photographed at the ‘Wall’ in Mission Texas. She was nectaring at a famous, much visited perennial garden set at the entrance wall to a popular development of homes.

The image of a pair of coupled Monarch butterflies (he easily seen here) was taken in the perennial gardens of the National Butterfly Center, also in Mission, Texas near the border wall.

Both are Danaus butterflies, both relying on native milkweed plants as their hostplants.

Here in Eatonton, Georgia we have Monarchs visiting daily, to nectar on our natives and Mexican Sunflower, and to deposit their eggs on our several species of milkweed.

A visit from a Queen, here in central Georgia, is possible, but unlikely.

The 3rd image is a Danaus butterfly, the Plain Tiger, halfway around the world, in Mishmarot, Israel. A male I think.

Danaus butterflies have much in common, and then again, vary much.

Jeff

Backwoods Beauty

Posted September 15, 2018

Filed under Browns, Piedmont NWR, GA

Appalachian Brown Butterfly photographed by Jeff Zablow in Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, GA

Most of our favorite butterflies visit us, in our gardens, parks, roadside botany and fields. Those are the butterflies we know and enjoy. They accept our invite to come and nectar, on our coneflower, zinnias, fruit trees, buddleia and Mexican sunflower.

Show your neighbor/friend a photo you took of a less well known butterfly, and don’t they usually say, “I didn’t know we had these in _____________________ ( pick your state ).”

This is one of those “We have these in Georgia?” butterflies. The Appalachian Brown butterfly. They don’t know or care that you have a spectacular garden full of natives and nectar pumping plants.

This is none of the above, rather it is a Backwood beauty, found in swamps and wet meadows. This immediate one was seen in Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge in middle Georgia.

I’m long on record that I love subtle browns, Love those ‘eyes’ and being kind of a march to your own drummer guy, appreciate such stand alone self-confidence.

Jeff

One More Beauty? Could it be a Viceroy Butterfly?

Posted September 7, 2018

Filed under Eatonton, GA, Viceroy

Viceroy butterfly photographed by Jeff Zablow at the Butterflies and Blooms Habitat in Eatonton, GA

Marcie, Laura, Ken, Virginia, Cathy, Deepthi, Lisa, Kenne, Sertac, Bill and so many more have been sharing beautiful butterflies these last weeks. Whatever weather and other stresses surfaces earlier this year, the bounty of fresh, handsome butterflies abounds these last weeks of August and into early September.

Prepping for a very special presentation here in Middle Georgia on October 14th (and joined by Ellen Honeycutt of the Georgia Native Plants Society and I anticipate a Wow! program), I reviewed and reviewed my own Media Library, selecting which images I will share (I do hope you’ll join us!)

Permission to add one more beauty? This Viceroy butterfly enabled me, as it took some time to rest on a large Tithonia Mexican Sunflower Viceroy hostplant. We were at Butterflies & Blooms Briar Patch Habitat in Eatonton, Georgia. All those years of reading butterfly field guides, reading that the Viceroys of the Southeastern USA sport deeper, luxuriant color, were confirmed here. My Fuji Velvia film did its job well.

Jeff

2017: Can We Call it the Year of the Zebra?

Posted February 12, 2018

Filed under Eatonton, GA, Heliconian

Facebook was electrified with reports coming from all over Georgia (USA). Zebra Heliconian butterflies! She was born in Georgia, spent her whole life on her family’s land. Now she grows her own gardens. One day, a day in 2017; there she saw something she had not seen in 62 years!! A Zebra Heliconian butterfly, sleek, flying as if they were dancing in the ballet. She was speechless! It was an exhilarating experience, for that kind of unexpected visitor knocks the ho-hum doldrums out of the park!

Joy spread across the state. Everyone quickly boned up on Zebra Heliconians. They certainly arrived from very southern Georgia and Florida. Their hostplants are native passionflowers. They prefer to not venture too far from a nearby wooded edge.

Heliconius charithonia in Georgia again in 2018? A Swift Guide to Butterflies of North America(Glassberg, Second Edition, Princeton Press) shares that they “may become established northward during warm weather, then killed off by freezes.”

This photograph was taken in the Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch Habitat, Eatonton, Georgia. It was the month of July 2017. You’re looking at Zebra Heliconian on a robust Tithonia(Mexican sunflower) flowerhead.

Just as nearly all of Georgia cheered for the UGA Bulldogs in the National Championship heartbreaker, surely finding Zebras here in 2018 will evoke countless Thank Y-u’s!!!

Jeff