Butterflies Archives

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Barb — 3 Comments

Insects – Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges

Field Guides I have Used With My Family

Please note the above links are Amazon affiliate links to books I own and love!

Outdoor Hour Challenge Insect Nature Study Challenges Index @handbookofnaturestudy

NOTE: If the challenge is included an ebook, it is noted directly after the challenge. If you have an Ultimate Membership, you will be able to pull up the ebook and print any notebook pages, coloring pages, or other printables for your nature study.

Ants – Spring ebook

Aphids

Bees

Black Swallowtail – Spring Nature Study Continues

Butterflies

Caddisfly and Caddis worm – Summer Nature Study Continues

Cockroach – Autumn 2015

Crickets – Summer ebook and another cricket study

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Fireflies – Summer ebook

Gall Dwellers – More Nature Study Winter

Grasshoppers – Summer ebook

Housefly

Insect Printables

Insect Study with Bug’s Eye View Printable

Katydids – Summer ebook

Lacewing – Summer Nature Study Continues coming soon

Ladybugs

Leaf Miners and Leaf Rollers – More Nature Study Autumn

Monarch Butterfly – More Nature Study Summer

Moths – Summer ebook and another moth study

Mosquitoes – Summer ebook

Mud Daubers – More Nature Study Summer

Winter Insects – Winter Wednesday ebook

Yellow Jackets – More Nature Study Summer

Newsletters With a Insect Theme (If you have a membership, you have access to all archived newsletters.)

September 2012 – Insect study grid. Ant study. Lesson plans for insect and spider study.
April 2014 – Making a bug hotel.
June 2016 – Insect Wing Study notebook page. Insect nature study and nature journal ideas.
September 2016 – Insect home study ideas. Gall dweller nature study. Insect study grid. Insect coloring page.

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Barb — 1 Comment

Butterfly Beauty

Over the last few weeks we have seen lots of these beautiful butterflies in our garden.

It is a California Sister or Adelpha californica which is found in oak habitats. These butterflies are not shy and they will flutter right around your head, swooping down to tease you. Today when we were watching another California Sister, a bird tried to fly down and catch it but we learned how *fast* these butterflies can move if they have to!

Our front yard has quite a few butterflies this month since we added several new butterfly attractive plants during our remodel. I will soon share a post with all the updates.

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Barb — 11 Comments

Yosemite Trip: Summer 2010: Bears, Wildflowers, and A Cool River

I have been trying all week to find time to post an entry sharing a little of our time in Yosemite last week. We had a great camping trip under the big trees and hiking was glorious. There were crowds of people in the valley but once you made a little effort to get on the trail, there were quiet and open spaces to enjoy with only a few other people to share the path.

Our camping was made exciting by the visit of a black bear. Two campsites away they left out some food and the bear was quick to find a tasty meal of peanuts and chips. We were up early and making our way to the restroom and back when I spotted what I thought was a bear in the campsite. I did not have my glasses on and it was still early and dark. My husband assured me it was a bear.

We made some noise and eventually grabbed some pots and pans to bang together to scare the bear away from the campsite. There is a meadow and wild space behind the campground and the bear eventually made its way off into the trees…not until after he tried to climb a tree. When he stood up he was taller than my 6′ tall husband. We never felt in danger but we know that once a bear gets accustomed to people food that they become a nuisance and the rangers have to take action. (Sorry for the blurry photos but it was really early morning and I just had my point and shoot.)

We had two great hikes during our visit. The first was to McGurks Meadow which is off Glacier Point Road. It is the perfect time of year to visit the meadow to view the wildflowers. I can’t keep up with my boys anymore. They take off ahead of me but our family has come up with a way to stay together…a family whistle. They need to be able to hear me whistle and whistle back or they are too far ahead.

The most abundant wildflower blooming was the Indian Paintbrush.

The corn lilies were starting to bloom as well. We saw loads of butterflies and when we stopped to sit on a log to rest, a tree frog jumped right up next to us.

Our second hike of the week was up to May Lake which is a High Sierra Camp. You can hike up there and spend the night in tent cabins or bring your own tent. We just went for the day. Believe it or not, there is a trail there across the granite.

Here is some more of what the terrain looks like as you hike up to the lake. The lake itself is at about 9,200 feet in elevation. I can feel it in my lungs as we hike up at that altitude. I hike a lot but in combination with the heat and the altitude, it slows me down.

On this particular day, there were two separate mule teams coming down from the High Sierra Camp. They bring the trash and stuff down the mountain and then after resupplying the packs, they head back up. They seem so sure of their footing even on the granite slabs.

The lake itself is not very big but so sparkling clear and cold…you just want to sit and enjoy the view for awhile before exploring around the edge. Here my son gives his dad a helping hand up after our time resting.

Here I am on the trip down the mountain. Not very glamorous but it keeps the sun off this freckle face.

The boys still have enough energy to do a little rock scrambling on the way down. They love this stuff and I think they need to do this sort of thing in order to grow up healthy and happy.

Our last day was spent in Yosemite Valley itself. We checked out the meadows with milkweed blooming and monarch butterflies fluttering.

I almost captured the monarch on the milkweed…see him peeking out?

The milkweed is just glorious right now…so many butterflies and other insects in the meadows. Coexisting, growing so pretty.

We spent the afternoon pedaling at bike speed around the whole valley. What a great way to slow down and really see a lot of ground in a short time. Guess where we are parked?

The Merced River. Talk about refreshing! Most people were drifting down on rafts but we decided to jump in and get wet. No kidding, it was perfect.

One last shot at sunset of this massive granite rock that we have come to love. Half Dome in all its splendor…until next time.

Hope you enjoyed seeing a few of our adventures.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Barb — 9 Comments

Yosemite Amazes Me

We had a great camping/hiking trip to Yosemite National Park…it was a little bit hot in the valley so we tried to stay cool by hiking up in the high country, swimming in the river, and generally keeping to early morning hikes and activities.

Here are a bunch of photos in random sort of order just because I don’t feel like moving them around now that I uploaded them to Blogger. (Some might call that lazy…)

The meadows were filled with wildflowers and it was a feast for the eyes as you hiked along. This lovely bunch of flowers was at McGurk Meadow. This place is along Glacier Point Road and is about a three mile round trip hike from the road. The insects are thick but if you keep moving they pretty much leave you alone. The Indian Paintbrush was the predominant flower on this day.

The California Coneflowers were in full bloom at Crane Flat and this one was as big as my hand. It almost looks like a flat sunflower it was so big.

One of the many nature journal entries that we worked on back at camp. The Locoweed was thick at Crane Flat and it was fun to sketch and paint.

How about this wildflower? Elephant’s Head was blooming alongside Lukens Lake.

Here is Lukens Lake on a summer morning. The hike from Tioga Pass Road to the lake is about 1.5 miles and it is worth the effort. It has a beautiful meadow that you could hike across until last year when they closed it for restoration. You now walk alongside the lake the whole way and can only see the meadow from a distance.

Nothing like a swimming hole in the high country on a hot summer day. We were hiking along the John Muir Trail when we stopped to listen to the water falling down the rocks into the pool. Some fellow hikers tried to convince us to jump in but I knew the water was ice cold. We did end up taking our boots and socks off and sitting with our feet dangling in. It is amazing how fast your feet go numb in the icy waters. This is the Tuolumne River just outside Tuolumne Meadows hiking towards Rafferty Creek.

Here is another high country lake with crystal blue waters. We ate lunch one hot afternoon here and there really were quite a number of other folks around…some kayaking, some swimming, some wading in and cooling off, and some like us just enjoying the view.

This is actually just behind our campsite at Crane Flat. The meadow is in full bloom right now and it is tempting to walk out there and take photos. I did obey the sign and we stayed off the meadow. We did see a bear coming out of the meadow a short way from here but it was busy trotting off somewhere and didn’t even notice us.

Now this flower I knew! Mariposa Lily and there were quite a few growing in a bunch alongside the trail at McGurk Meadow. It is just so perfect. Sigh.

Here is another photo of the meadow as we hiked along. The meadow was damp and it made it sort of steamy in the sun. Hiking in the shade wasn’t so bad but out in the bright sunshine we got a bit hot….okay, we got sweaty. It was a good thing we had packed lots of water and Gatorade to drink.

These blue butterflies were landing on the damp ground. I learned from Casey’s blog that they call this puddling. They were definitely landing in the moist earth of the meadow and staying there awhile. It made a great chance for me to snap a few photos.

The star wildflower on this trip was the Indian Paintbrush. We all agreed it was our favorite flower in the meadow.

This trip was a boys trip and my dear husband decided to teach the boys to whittle. He had purchased each of them their own knives and presented them to each one once we set up camp. It must be a guy thing. 🙂

Here is dad giving them a lesson on safety and how to use the knife to whittle. They whittled the afternoon away and I finished reading two good books.

It was a great July vacation and we already have plans to go back next year. The boys have plans to hike to the top of Half Dome. I told them that they could go and I would stay behind and have dinner ready when they got down. 🙂

I am not really all that great with heights and since they are both teens now, they are eager to test their strength on a long, strenuous hike. Their dad is undecided about whether he wants to try it or not….we have some time to think about it.

Hope you enjoyed some scenes from our trip….grab the chance to go to Yosemite if you ever come this way.
I recently added a Squidoo Lens on Yosemite books: Yosemite for Families

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Barb — 2 Comments

Buttercups: Wednesday Flower Study

The Common or Field Buttercup-Handbook of Nature Study, pages 516-518

“The buttercups, bright-eyed and bold,
Held up their chalices of gold
To catch the sunshine and the dew.”

“Common buttercups and daisies are always associated in the minds of the children, because they grow in the same fields’ yet the two are so widely different in structure that they may reveal to the child something of the marvelous differences between common flowers; the buttercup is a single flower, while the single daisy is a large group of tiny flowers.”

This sounds like a great way to learn about some common flowers in the garden.

We have a spot that we hike to that has a whole hillside of buttercups.

We didn’t complete an in depth study this week but we did complete our observations and then a journal entry. I know you all must think that we spend oodles of time each week in nature study but in all honesty, some weeks we just *enjoy* getting outdoors without much preparation or follow-up.

I would rather we aim for making our outdoor time as regular as possible, have some focus to start off with, and leave things open and flexible if something happens to catch our attention.

Here is something we found on the trail that caught our eye this week. Butterflies!

I know this one is dead but it did give us an excellent opportunity to examine this creature up close.

The blue is iridescent in this swallowtail…so pretty.

This painted lady let me come very close and get a good photo. She was very busy sipping nectar from the wildflowers in this sunny spot alongside the trail.

We were watching these swallowtails for a very long time. I love to watch them flutter around in the sunshine as they gather their meal. Click to see this one better. 🙂

Our garden is coming alive with colors. I am not sure what we will study for next week yet.

Now is your chance to go outside and pick a flower to study from your yard. It does not have to be a buttercup but something that you can observe from your neighborhood. Pick your flower and then look it up in the Handbook of Nature Study.

Posted on July 28, 2008 by Barb — 9 Comments

Beautiful Butterflies and Some Nature Journal Ideas

We were on the lookout for butterflies on our recent camping trip to Yosemite. Many were too fast or would not sit still long enough for a photo but here are a few that I can share. All these were butterflies that I saw as we went on various hikes in a variety of terrain and habitat. My daughter decided that she would rather take photos of flowers than insects because flowers stay in one place.

We did see some Monarchs fluttering and flying around the milkweed but there was never a chance to photograph one, maybe next time. 🙂

We are continuing our study for Outdoor Hour Challenge #22 for Butterflies.

Showy Milkweed in Stoneman’s Meadow, Yosemite Valley.

We know this is some sort of Fritillary but which exact one, we are not so confident. If I had to make a best guess, I think it is a Pacific Fritillary or a Western Meadow Fritillary.

Okay, there are two butterflies in this photo. It was taken in a marshy meadow area near Lukens Lake. There is one distinctly blue and one distinctly brown butterfly but I have no idea what particular ones they are even after examining the field guide for a long time. I’m not very good at identifying butterflies….yet.

Here is another blue butterfly sitting on some bird droppings. My best guess on this one is a Lupine Blue.

Now this one I think is a Woodland Skipper. I know it is a skipper for sure and it looks just like the one in my field guide.

You can see why I was able to take some good photos of these beauties, they were otherwise occupied with more important activities at that particular moment. I still haven’t been able to identify this particular butterfly. Any ideas???

Here is one of my nature journal pages that I used to record one of my experiences with butterflies. I was testing out the free notebooking pages for an upcoming Outdoor Hour Challenge E-book that we are putting together to share with everyone. This page shows my attempt to record a bit about our butterfly study this past week.

Someone was asking recently about how I keep a running list in my nature journal. This is so easy to do and it doesn’t need to be fancy. Tina has created an easy to use version of a running list that will also be in the upcoming E-book.

As you can see, I really just list the butterfly name if I know it and the date and place that I observed it. If I am not sure, I make a note and then use my photographs to identify it later when I have time to use the field guide and the internet.

So those are some of the butterflies that I was able to capture with my camera. We saw many, many Tiger swallowtails and a particular yellow butterfly that we have yet to identify. I look at this project as a life-long endeavor and if I don’t catch the butterfly this time, maybe I will the next time.

Edit to add: Heather asked about my nature journal and how I plan on using the notebooking pages if I am using a spiral bound sketch diary as my nature journal. I made a decision to change to a bigger size nature journal, still spiral bound since I find that easiest to work in. I only have three pages left in my smaller spiral bound nature journal so I will be starting over in a 9″ by 12″ spiral bound artist’s sketchbook that I purchased from Miller Pads and Paper. I will be attaching the pages into the sketchbook with double-backed tape; running lists will be in the back and the other sheets will go in order starting in the front. This will give me the flexibility to use the notebooking pages or to just freehand my entries in as I feel the need. I love to have options. This sketchbooks use heavy enough paper that I feel comfortable using watercolors in them as well as pencils and markers. Hope that explains it!

Posted on July 25, 2008 by Barb — 10 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge #23 Moths

This week we will continue our mini-focus on insects with a study of moths. The Handbook of Nature Study has several sections on moths that you can read whether you think you will find those particular kinds in your area or not. I found the information very easy to read and now I can apply the suggestions for observation with just about any kind of moth. We do have Isabella Tiger moths in our area so I will be especially on the lookout for those when we do our observations. We will be going camping soon so it will be a perfect time to watch the moths that come to the lantern.

“Not only are insects numerous when we regard individuals, but the number of species is far greater than that of all other animals taken together. The number of species in a single family is greater in several cases than the number of stars visible in a clear night.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 295

Outdoor Hour Challenge #23
Focus on Insects-Moths

1. In this challenge we will continue our mini-focus on insects. Turn to the table of contents in the Handbook of Nature Study and skim down the list of moths discussed in the book. Read those sections in the Handbook of Nature Study on moths, pages 310 to 329. I personally don’t know much about moths so I am going to read through all the sections and see what I can learn. Here is some general information.

Moths
Wings not attached
Nocturnal (active at night)
Wings flat when resting
Feathered antennae
Fat abdomen
Form a cocoon

Butterflies
Wings hooked together in flight
Diurnal (active in the day)
Wings upright when resting
Straight, plain antennae
Thin Abdomen
Form a chrysalis

2. This challenge will need to be completed in the evenings. Turn on a light outside or take a flashlight outside. Moths are attracted to light so you should have some success if you are patient. Make sure to look on walls and plants near the light for moths.

Try this website for further techniques in attracting moths.
Attracting Moths
http://www.mothscount.org/uploads/How_to_start%20_mothing.pdf

If you are unable to complete the challenge this week for moths, please feel free to take your outdoor time at a time that works for you family. Use your time to look for insects and to enjoy the summer air and sunshine.

3. After you have your outdoor time, provide an opportunity for working on a nature journal entry. This might be a good time to discuss the differences between butterflies and moths. If you didn’t see any moths, you can record in your nature journal any other kinds of insects that you found during your outdoor time.

4. If you observe more than one kind of moth this week, make sure to start a list of moths in your nature journal. I like to keep a running list in the back of my nature journal. If you observed some other kinds of insects during the week, record those too.

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Barb — 7 Comments

Chasing Butterflies -Outdoor Hour Challenge #22

Look at the eye!

Today we went out to look for butterflies as part of Outdoor Hour Challenge #22. We were optimistic. We persevered. We were rewarded.

I can’t tell you how much it helps to focus on a particular aspect of nature as outlined in the Outdoor Hour Challenges. If you had asked me if there were butterflies in our backyard, I would have said a definite maybe. We see them from time to time fluttering in the garden but they move pretty fast and we don’t get to spend a lot of time observing any one particular butterfly…..usually.

Today we sat out and watched and right away I saw a cabbage white skipping across the clover in the grass, not really sitting but flitting from blade to blade and then off he went. Next we saw what I think was a swallowtail of some sort. I am totally guessing and I say swallowtail because that is one type of butterfly we frequently have in our backyard. He was there and then he was gone way too fast. Then, after much sitting and focusing our eyes on the garden, we saw the best subject of the day. It was a fiery skipper. He sat on a bloom of the butterfly bush and we got to look at him closely. I went to get the camera. A few minutes later, he was back again and this time I was able to take the photo at the top of this entry. Fantastic!!!

The lesson of this blog entry. Pick your focus and be patient. I am ready and anxious to take some more time to go out with the boys and wait for butterflies.

https://naturestudyhomeschool.com/2010/06/outdoor-hour-challenge-summer-nature.html

Posted on July 18, 2008 by Barb — 15 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge #22 Butterflies

“If children are terrified of bugs, it’s usually because they caught the fear of adults around them.”
Charlotte Mason in Modern English, volume 1 page 58

Spending time outdoors at this time of the year usually brings us into contact with a butterfly or two. I know for our family we just about every day see some sort of butterfly in the garden. Little white ones, little bluish-gray ones, and big Tiger swallowtails frequent the many flowers and bushes we have blooming in our yard.

Let’s take this week to start looking for butterflies to learn about and talk about in our nature journals. If you have never learned about the life-cycle of a butterfly, check your local library for a good book on the topic. The Handbook of Nature Study describes the cycle with words but it is much more interesting to have a picture book that illustrates the most interesting of life-cycles.

Another way to study butterflies is to purchase a kit to hatch your own. This is the perfect way to observe each of the stages of life that the butterfly goes through.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #22
Focus on Insects-Butterflies

1. This challenge starts the beginning of our mini-focus on insects. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study the introduction to insects, pages 294-300. The Black Swallowtail and the Monarch Butterflies are specifically covered in the Handbook of Nature Study. You can read over those sections before your outdoor time in case you encounter those particular butterflies and to give you ideas for observing any sort of butterfly that you may have in your local area.

2. Use your 10-15 minutes of outdoor time to look for insects and in particular butterflies. Spotting butterflies might need to be done as you go about your daily activities and then taking the opportunity to do your observations at that time. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see a butterfly this week but look at this as an ongoing challenge as the summer progresses.

Here is a link to an article on how to attract and catch/release butterflies.
How to Catch Butterflies

3. After you have your outdoor time, provide an opportunity for working on a nature journal entry. You might consider drawing a butterfly and labeling its parts as a way of narration of the points you have discussed this week. If you found a different kind of insect, you can make a nature journal entry for that one as well.

4. If you observe more than one kind of butterfly this week, make sure to start a list of butterflies in your nature journal. I like to keep a running list in the back of my nature journal. Keep adding to your list of other insects as well.

For more insect nature study ideas: Insects on the Handbook of Nature Study

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Tag: Butterflies