Butterfly Days

August, with its heat and sunshine, has been a wonderful month for our Butterflies and Moths! Although several varieties that usually appear here have not shown up (yet?), there has been plenty of action around the gardens and local trails. Enjoy these beautiful creatures!

Female Black Swallowtail nectaring on Salvia

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Many Black Swallowtails were seen this year. This one is finding food on Verbena bonariensis, one of the most popular nectar plants in the gardens.

Black Swallowtails lay their eggs on Dill, Parsley, Queen Anne's Lace, Rue, ... and they seemed to have a good breeding year. I found 12 Caterpillars on 2 Rue plants, and more on some Dill. Caterpillars shed their skins as they evolve through several stages. Each instar looks so different from the one before or after, and it's amazing to be able to watch them as they grow and change. Here are 2 Black Swallowtail Caterpillars:

A Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar (left) shares a Rue plant with 2 Black Swallowtails

A few Tiger Swallowtails stopped by too, but were usually chased away from the flowers by the Monarchs. This one (an Eastern Tiger, I believe) was sipping from Teasel florets.

Another Eastern Tiger Swallowtail nectars on Butterfly Bush in the garden.

The third Swallowtail that we saw in good numbers this year was the Eastern Giant Swallowtail. Canada's largest butterfly, it is a beauty! Lots of eggs were laid this summer, and Caterpillars have hatched and are eating happily (Hop Trees, Gas Plants, Prickly Ash, and Rue are their host plants) -- hopefully many will overwinter in chrysalis, and show up in the spring as gorgeous big butterflies.

Giant Swallowtail ovipositing on Hop Tree

A tiny Caterpillar crawls out of its egg.

Hard to believe this will turn into an elegant Giant Swallowtail Butterfly!

The Great Spangled Fritillary is a Butterfly that we usually only see once or twice in a summer, very briefly, around our gardens. This year, one stayed for a whole day, enjoying Purple Coneflower and Zinnia nectar.

This Fritillary, seen on a local trail, was a bit more faded, but still lovely as it posed on a Thistle for a brief moment.

There seem to be more Red-spotted Purples around this summer. They are stunning from any angle!

Last year there were lots of Red Admirals; this year they seem to be few and far between.

One worn White Admiral stopped by for an hour or so in late August to sample some oranges and rotten apples.

Tiny Northern Crescents were abundant this summer.

An Eastern Tailed-Blue appeared in the yard for the first time ever (Aug. 18). Such a lovely little creature! Check out the striped feelers, and the "tails"...

Another first for the farm was a Gray Comma, which looks like a dead leaf when its wings are closed. On the photo below, you can see the "comma" that gives this Butterfly its name.

When wings open up, the colours are brilliant. This Butterfly has a row of spots along the hindwing, and lighter markings, indicating that it is likely an adult that will overwinter. An earlier generation would have had a darker patch of gray on the hindwing, and less yellowish spots.

I had never seen these little iridescent beauties before, but found a few of them this summer. They are a type of Skipper -- Common Sootywing.

Other Skippers that showed up this year here and there were: Long Dash (or Tawny-edged?)

Tawny-edged Skipper

Dun Skipper (near PE)

Delaware Skipper

Essex Skipper

One of my very favourite Butterflies is the Baltimore Checkerspot. I found a few of them up near MacGregor Point Provincial Park. The first 2 were out on the road, finding minerals and other goodies in the gravel.

This one was nectaring on Joe Pye Weed, and not wanting to share with the other pollinators.

It's always a treat to see a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth in the flowers. They never stay long, and this one was so close to me that it was hard to get a photo.

Another pretty Moth is the Virginia Ctenucha Moth, sighted in July on Bladder Campion. With their dramatic colours and patterning, these Moths are distinctive.

This one was a first for me -- a Snowy Urola Moth (PE).

Of course the highlight of every summer is the arrival of the Monarchs! In August, some are stopping by on their way through, and some stay around to lay eggs. All of them love the Swamp Milkweed, where nectar is found, eggs are deposited, and Caterpillars feed.

Sometimes they nectar on the old non-native Liatris, but not often.

Verbena is always a crowd-pleaser!

Plenty of mating happens during mid-late August around here.

This worn female left eggs on many Swamp Milkweed plants. These native plants are hosts to many other species as well -- Oleander Aphids and an Asian Lady Beetle (neither of which are native) are sharing space with Mama Monarch.

Once hatched, the Caterpillars grow quickly. I love seeing some of these guys/girls on the Milkweed, fat and healthy from nibbling on leaves, buds, and seed pods.

A Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar and a Monarch Caterpillar enjoy a leaf of Common Milkweed.

One day last week (Aug. 21), the yard was especially busy with Monarch Butterflies. They fluttered around from dawn until dusk, nectaring and chasing one another (and any other insects or birds that tried to share their little patch of flowers!). Monarchs are always very excited to find Meadow Blazing Star in a garden...

and will sometimes congregate along the stems of flowers, sipping from the generous supply of nectar that this plant offers. We can see some of the tattered, worn Monarchs, along with some of the brand new ones which are likely members of the generation that will fly to Mexico in the next weeks.

At dusk, 15-20 Monarchs gathered in the Oak Tree in our yard for the night -- first "roost" of the season, hopefully not the last!

This photo preserves one of my favourite memories of the Summer. August 21, 2025 was quite a day to be outside, standing among the Monarchs and other beautiful fliers. All of them seemed untroubled by human presence on this day, content to float in the sunshine and dine on the buffet of late-summer flowers.

My friend Monika sent me this quote: "When the spirit of nature touches us, our hearts turn into a butterfly!" - Mehmet Murat Ildan

Butterfly Wishes to you!

-Merri-Lee