Monarchs

I don't know what killed them. I have to trust that Mother Nature knows what she is doing.

I found 4 monarch caterpillars, but I found three dead, the one attached to the leaf with a bug near it. 

Some of The milkweed were hit by frost, and are discoloured. 

I wonder if this beetle is to blame. The larvae looks fierce.

 

Monarch butterfly from last year. I'd forgotten I'd videotaped it. monarch hatches  Ain't old age grand?! 

Gramma Camp Part 5.1

Yes, the girls have been to several day camps: Adventures in Swim, Obstacle Camp, Spy Camp (at the Diefenbunker), and now they are back with us from Monday to Friday. Yippee! We started off Monday with the birthday party, then we hung out.

The highlight will be all of our chrysalids opening up. One began the morning they were to arrive.
Journey North is showing data from the flights south, and the clustering on overnight roosts!

Monday

Just as they arrived Monday a monarch had popped out. I was videotaping it! We tagged it. I can find out, in the spring, if any made it to Mexico for the winter. I've been keeping track of them.



I've sped it up 8x's, as the whole process took about 5 hours! She rested awhile before her wings dried and she was good to go. They tend to pop by as they learn their territory, prior to heading south.


Afterwards, we counted 17 polygonia interregationis on the back deck! There are 7 in the aquarium for safety. (I saw a wasp going after them!)


Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (our afternoon movie!)
Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs!

Tuesday

Tuesday morning brought early morning cartoons, then we played school after breakfast.
It was hilarious. Isabelle was the kindergarten kid, and Jos was the teacher, who had to phone her parents to pick her up for inappropriate behaviour. Then, Jos was the misbehaving kid, who called the superintendent to complain about her horrid teacher. (I was the superintendent!)
Annabelle came to school, as well.



Grampa was off preparing Meals on Wheels, then he had an extensive shopping list!
Isabelle helped me put in the bird feeder post.
Afterwards, UNO!

It was too cool to swim. So sad. The pool just doesn't have time to warm up in the day, especially with the clouds. Overnights have been chilly. The girls keep running down to check the temperature.


Grampa's books have been popular! We have volumes 1, 2 and 3.


Afternoon movies (two, because it was cold: The Grinch and Moanna), dinner: Gramma BBQ'd chicken, plus broccoli and corn on the cob!

Later, I fetched the trailcam SD cards with Josephine. I found out why she was so keen! She is prominently featured.

Hooper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Wednesday

Isabelle was directed to wake Jos up at 7:30. She did so. But Jos went back to sleep! We're trying to have good sleep hygiene in preparation for school next week. Izzy and I watched Your Morning, where we learned about some good snack foods for lunches. Iz made her own breakfast, as usual!

Grampa went walking at the cold arena. It was pouring rain! The ice is in for hockey! He bundled up.

Jos had breakfast, then I showed them the two monarchs who had hatched or were hatching.

More Uno! 

Playing School Part 2: Josee is teaching math to Izzy.  I think they are doing fractions. Isabelle is playing ignorant, and Jos says, "I'm going to have to take away your sticker!" (Iz has A+ in math, her favourite subject!)

Now, Jos is going into gr. 7 at her mom and uncle's high school. They have taken gr. 7/8 and put them into the high schools with dwindling populations. It complicates life, as Jos and friends will be biking together. The schools are now gr. 7 - 12, but with a new gym for the younger ones.

Jos was playing Good King Wenceslas, et al, several times on the piano!

Nail Salon

Grampa brought a Magic Meatballs surprise.

Grampa bought us pizza for lunch. Isabelle brought it in for him. Grampa  cannot have pizza, so he had chicken bites.


In the afternoon, I was filling the fountain and found a baby garter snake. I showed the girls! I tried for a photo, but the snake tried to bite the camera lens! It didn't bite me. It was pretty agitated, and I let it go where I found it.


Afternoon movie: The Lego Movie!

Josee heard a bird or something in the basement. We looked everywhere. We blamed Hooper. I found it at bedtime. It was a cricket!

I cannot believe how fast they are growing. Those are Jos and Isabelle's shoes!

Monarchs continue to be prolific!

I cannot believe them! All of these are on 4 or 5 plants in the front yard, under the front porch, near the steps. There are some people bringing in all the caterpillars that they find to raise them in their homes. I'm not in favour of that. One naturalist has 19 of them in his apartment. I'm just watching mine in the front garden. I found that mine are being crowded. I moved a couple of them, as they were on a plant that was denuded of leaves!



Here is a newly hatched one. When you look underside of the leaf, there is an older one!


Can you see the three on this plant?


I went outside to count them, again, and found one putting itself into a chrysalis. I HAD to set up the trailcam. This is sped up by 50%, and it did this for hours. I just kept taping it, and choosing a few minutes to upload.




I also moved a tufted milkweed moth caterpillar to another plant, as they are competition for the food source.

Around The World 

The kids are another day in Osaka. I miss them!
This day, there was a big surprise. Momma and Papa surprised the girls by taking them on the subway to Universal Studios. That was epic. Josee has memorized all of the Harry Potter books, they have read them all. They were on some rides, as well. There were lineups everywhere, but lots of thrills.

Monarchs reign supreme!

Monarch caterpillars

We're still getting lots of Monarchs. The one all curled up had fallen off the leaf, and was crawling on a different plant. I moved it! It sat, curled up, for some moments until it thought the coast was clear. Some people are taking them in to raise them indoors where it is safe from predators, but I'd rather let nature take its course.


So funny. Two on the same leaf. This is in the back yard. Most of the caterpillars were in the front yard, in the shelter of the house.
The one caterpillar left the leaf, and came right back up again. I'm glad our yard is private. This silly old woman standing videotaping caterpillars!
Two caterpillars from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Sorry if this is too much, but since we have had so few monarchs since the 2012 drought, I'm really happy to see them!
This first one, below, had JUST EMERGED! I was so excited. I had looked for the chrysalis, but hadn't spotted it previously.


This is another one, eating from the echinacea flower. Two in one spot, at the same time!



And still they are laying eggs and hatching. And, yes, I need to have my camera cleaned. There isn't anyone here in town, and city trips are onerous.


Of course, you can't see them, but there are SIX caterpillars on the tall milkweed plant in the middle, under the front deck. There are a couple newly hatched, and some medium-sized. I'll have to continue to hand-water these plants.