Protecting Our Pollinators!

Our program year begins this month, and we're looking forward to an autumn filled with exciting field trips and enjoyable events.  See what's ahead by browsing our Events and Calendar page posting, "Hittin' the Road October and November."

But don't think we've been on vacation this summer!  Our pollinators are in trouble.  So much trouble that one species, the American monarch butterfly, may be listed as an endangered species by the end of this year.  Our Monarch Committee was busy this summer learning about butterflies, contributing to the general store of knowledge about them, and providing native milkweed habitat for the monarch in particular.

In June we held our first butterfly count in Alpine Groves Park as part of the NABA 4th of July Butterfly Count.  We published our adventure, Butterflies Count, in the local Creekline, and wrote a follow-up article, How High Does the Swallowtail Fly? for the August edition on how to identify the butterflies commonly found in this area of the county.  Our companion posting at this website, Butterflies, Our Blog, and a Full Moon, features a slideshow of the butterflies that call our Freedom Butterfly Garden home.

In the meantime we were scouting all available sources for native milkweed in order to create Monarch Waystations to support the monarch's life cycle.  In July we finally hit paydirt:  white aquatic milkweed (aesclepias perennis).  The article, "Monarchs on the Brink," in the September 2015 edition of the Creekline describes where and how we established these native milkweed at Trout Creek Recreation Center and at a longleaf pine farm and conservancy near Racey Point, Saturiwa.  Summer camps were still running at Trout Creek and we partnered with the county Master Naturalist, Ayolane Halusky, to explain the importance of native milkweed to monarch caterpillars.   Many of the children not only knew about the monarch butterfly lifecycle, but were also aware of its precariously low population numbers.   We were able to show them some very happy caterpillars lunching away on the milkweed we'd installed!

To find out more about Monarch Waystations and the great "Native vs. Tropical Milkweed" debate, click the More link below.

Butterflies, Our Blog, and a Blue Moon July 31st

Butterflies

The months of August, September, and October are prime viewing times for butterflies.  Our article, "How High Does the Swallowtail Fly?" featured in the August Creekline describes how to identify some of the butterflies you'll see at Alpine Groves Park, especially in the Freedom Butterfly Garden.  As a companion to the article, the author also created a slideshow featuring the many butterflies you can see at this time of year.  Click here to open the Butterflies of September posting and slideshow.  (Other slideshows are featured in the sidebar on the Awards and Projects page.)

Our Award-Winning Blog

This website is a weB-LOG, BLOG.  It and our membership brochure won us two awards from the National Garden Club.  Read about our Certificates of Merit on the Awards and Projects page.    We also won an award from the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs for our use of this blog as a newsletter.  Get a free copy of our monthly posting by subscribing.  Our first meeting is September 10 at the Bartram Trail Library, at 10AM.   Come on down and meet us for our kick-off to the season!  Email switzerlandgc@gmail.com if you'll come!

Blue Moon July 31st

This July stargazers will be treated to a rare sight:  the second full moon in the same calendar month.  In popular parlance, this event is called a "blue moon."   It will happen on July 31. 


Before 1946, the term "blue moon" had a different meaning:  the third of four full moons in an astronomical season (which is defined by the solstices and equinoxes).  Three full moons a season, is the norm, but when that third full moon is one of a series of four, it is then called the "blue moon."

A blue moon (meaning the second full moon in a month) happens on July 31, 2015.  The last time it happened was August 31, 2012, and January 31, 2018 is the next.   However, the dog days of summer include a lot of clouds and rain in the evening, and for those of us who happen to be in northern Florida on July 31 that is what we can expect on this occasion.  The best we can do is read about it and plan for the next one - in 2018.  See Blue Moon at the TimeAndDate website.    TimeAndDate, among other features, has a calendar of moonrise/moonset times and moon phases for major cities in the world.

Butterflies Count - And So Did We!

One of our Monarch Committee's projects includes is to participate in the North American Butterfly Association's (NABA) Annual "4th of July" Butterfly Count. 

 

On June 2, Mickey, Linda, Beverly, Nancy and I met at our Freedom Butterfly Garden to hold our first count.  An article on the count appears in the July 2015 Creekline; click here for a PDF version of the submittal.

What the article did not include was a detailed accounting of the species and numbers we saw in the garden and around the river, the historic farmhouse and the Ruth Bennett Garden. 

·        Giant Swallowtail:  4

·        Palamedes Swallowtail:  1

·        Spicebush Swallowtail:  1

·        Black Swallowtail:  1

·        Tiger Swallowtail:  2

·        Gulf Fritillary:  4

·        Zebra Longwing:  3

·        Phaeon Crescent:  1

Although we did not see any skippers or hairstreaks that day, these butterflies are frequent visitors to our garden, and possibly throughout the park.  Beverly told us about the Spanish Needle growing in the Freedom Garden and its importance as a nectar source over those many months when pollinators have very few blooms available.  We discussed the garden's role as a butterfly sanctuary, and as a result of her talk, I highlighted the Spanish needle in the Butterflies Count Creekline article (thanks for the editorial suggestions, Beverly).

Our team was not "charged" with counting other pollinators, larvae, or birds, but we saw some grand examples of the wildlife that can be enjoyed if we give it the space to survive. 

Nancy contributed to the effort to give our native species a chance by pulling up some invasive coral ardesia.  See the article, "GardenerBeware:  Those Charming Invasives" submitted to the St Augustine Record for publication.

We plan to expand our "counting party" next year.  Hopefully, we'll have enough participants to also survey the Julington-Durbin Preserve, which is also in our NABA Bartram Trail Butterfly Circle.  If you are interested in joining us, send us an email; use this contact info (also shown in the right column of the home page). 

For more information about the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), go to their website www.naba.org  - the links below describe the 4th of July Count and the mission of the NABA:

·        About the NABA 

·        Butterfly Count Resources

·        Frequently Asked Butterfly Count Questions 

·        US/Mexico Map of Butterfly Count Circles  

·        How to Start a New Butterfly Count  

The sources for our butterfly identifications included, "Butterflies through Binoculars,"   available for loan at the Jacksonville public library, "shadowing" trips to GTMNERR to learn about their butterflymonitoring program, and discussions with Janet Koehler, who kindly provided resources from the University of Florida that they used to start their program.  

See our other articles published in our local newspapers.

IN MEMORY OF CAROLYN C KELLIHAN

Our long-time and most dear garden club member, Carolyn Kellihan, passed away peacefully on June 18, 2015. Carolyn's serene presence was always at our meetings, and she was the very first member to renew for 2016.  Although she was quiet, you always knew that she was attentive to everything, and always gracious.

Carolyn taught elementary school for many years and retained an interest in education after her retirement.  She was an active member of her church and a true lover of animals and wildlife in general.    Our garden club was blessed to count her among us.  And the long and lasting friendships she made will always be with us.

Plans for a Celebration of Life are not complete.  Carolyn is survived by a daughter and family - Kathy, Mark, Kelly, and Travis Jones - with whom she lived.   There are several nieces and family members living in the state.

We all will miss Carolyn but take comfort in the fact that she is now free from all cares and pain.