Vol. 20, Issue 2, Summer 2015 By Donna Quinn Common Milkweed’s story is also a story about us, our values and how we live. Before the days of modern conveniences like grocery stores, it was considered a useful plant. It was eaten, although it is toxic and requires special preparation to be safe for human […]

Heading into our butterfly count this year, many people were asking, “Where are all the butterflies?” Across our area, other butterfly counts had already taken place and numbers were very low. Why? Well, remember that polar vortex and those extreme cold temperatures that we had last winter? And remember that cooler wet spring that we […]

This Saturday is our 17th Annual Loudoun County Butterfly count where we form into 8 teams, each led by an experienced butterflier (that’s a new area of expertise if you weren’t sure), as we identify and count as many butterflies as we can inside our count circle and along designated routes within it. We currently […]

Giant Swallowtails almost sound like some mythical insect but in fact they are real and now and then they flutter through and even breed in Loudoun. With a wingspan that can reach 7 inches, this is an impressive butterfly that certainly gets noticed flying through a garden. If you lived in Florida, seeing Giant Swallowtail butterflies would not […]

Chip Taylor of Monarch Watch tells the story of the Monarch Butterfly. Grab a comfortable seat and a friend and watch his whole talk – It’s about an hour – and absolutely fantastic!!! httpv://youtu.be/FNTsL4rnUj0 Seven of us are heading the Mexico to visit the Monarch sanctuaries and (fingers crossed that wireless works) — we’ll be […]

We Need You! The status of the Monarch Butterfly population is not looking good. Drought in the Midwest, habitat loss at home, use of “Round-up Ready” seed crops, and deforestation in Mexico are taking their toll on Monarch butterflies. The population reaching Mexico this year is estimated to be the lowest ever recorded in their continued […]

At the Native Plant sale yesterday, a number of people asked where I got the Monarch Condo and unfortunately Monarch Watch is currently out of stock but Mona Miller emailed me and shared that you can get them at BioQuip. Other nice houses for rearing butterflies are the houses sold by eNasco. If you want […]

This year’s Butterfly Count, held August 4, 2012 was a good one indeed! Seventy people came out for the count and were broken into 8 different teams that spanned out across our count circle in search of butterflies. Thank you to everyone who came out for this event and made it such a success!  We […]

If you enjoy watching and learning about butterfles here in Loudoun, you might want to pick up a copy of our new Field Guide to the Butterflies of Loudoun County! We first produced this field guide last summer as a limited run as we got feedback and ideas for improvement and took a little more […]

Our Monarchs from here in Loudoun have arrived in Mexico and are in their winter slumber. PBS put together a terrific film on the migration: Follow the 2,000-mile migration of monarchs to a sanctuary in the highlands of Mexico. Airs tomorrow night – November 30, 2011 on PBS Program Description Orange-and-black wings fill the sky […]