Vineyard Field again

Wanna see a Monarch Butterfly?

Vineyard Field, back of the South Fork Natural History Museum, is the place. Monarch Butterfly populations have dropped drastically in recent years to the point where our once spectacular migrations have diminished or disappeared. Mike Bottini asked me earlier this month if I had seen any Monarchs and I had to answer no. But I saw three or four of them this morning on Vineyard Field.

Vineyard Field has masses of milkweed (mostly Common Milkweed but also Butterfly Weed), the Monarch larva's favorite food plant. The milkweeds contain steroid poisons which transfer to the caterpillar and then to the butterfly. Monarch Butterflies are said to be 'aposematic', meaning that their colorful display is a warning to predators that they are poisonous! There are even other butterflies that imitate or 'mimic' the Monarch to take advantage of that warning signal!

Vineyard Field is covered with flowers right now and flowers mean butterflies -- not to mention all sort of other insects. Among the butterflies seen this morning -- besides the Monarchs -- were many Wood-Nymphs (dark brown with yellow-orange patch and an eyespot on the wing), Buckeye (white wingbar, eyespots in diminishing size place), American Copper (orange forewings with dark edges and squarish spots; dark hindwings with spotted orange band on the lower edge). The flower list included Deptford Pink, Common Toadflax, Venus' Looking-glass, St.-John's Wort, Common and Orange (or Butterfly) Milkweed, American Elderberry, various members of the aster family (Daisies, Daisy Fleabane, some hawkweeds, etc.), Common Nightshade, Birdfoot Trefoil, Yarrow, Wild Rose (Carolina, Field or Swamp, I'm never sure), Common Mullein, one or more of the cinquefoils, etc.

We probably could have found a great many more butterflies and wildflowers but our main objective -- on a walk labelled Birding by Ear -- was the birds. As always, Vineyard Field was the place to find Indigo Buntings. Although many birds have stopped singing (Orchard Oriole, Blue-winged Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee), the buntings were still at it, often perching out in the open to sing their jingly song and show off their glittering blue plumage. Among the other birds still active and vocal were Purple Martin (big active colony in gourds near the museum), Tree Swallows (in most of the nest boxes), Gray Catbird (everywhere), Northern Mockingbird, House Wren (singing on top of some of the nest boxes), Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler (heard but not seen), Northern Flicker (ditto), Tufted Titmouse and Red-winged Blackbird. Also Field Sparrow, a bird that used to be very common but has recently been in decline. And a pair of Eastern Bluebirds which seems to have retained control of one of the boxes intended for them!

Eric Salzman