Nature Done Wright

At the Hour on the Tower on Sunday, I saw an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail hanging out on the Buttonball Bushes for the better part of half an hour.

That got me to thinking:

Missing the spring migration at the Celery Farm was a bummer, but we still have a summer of butterflies ahead, and we have a beautiful Oxnard Butterfly Garden (thanks, garden volunteers!), the marvelous meadow at Green Way (thanks Fred Weber!!!), and milkweed all over.

I hereby declare July "Butterfly Month" at the Celery Farm.

Please send me your sightings (with pix if you can). I'll try to post the unusual ones; not so sure about the Cabbage Whites.

Guess how many species of butterflies and clear-winged moths will be seen at the CF between now and July 31.

And have fun — just be sure to wear a mask when near others at the Celery Farm.

Alan Pomerantz took the photo above of Sunday's Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. (Thanks, Alan!)

Below is a pic of a Great Spangled Fritillary that I took five years ago. Haven't seen one yet this year, but I can dream, can't I?

You can download the DeKorte Park butterfly guide here (with pix of butterflies you might see at the Celery Farm):

Download Njmc-butterflies_online_lores(1)

I created the brochure with Mimi Sabatino for the now-defunct Meadowlands Commission 10 years ago.