Falcons & Butterflies

I recently wrote several posts about falcons and caterpillars. Today I have updates.

As you might recall, Ocracoke resident, Peter Vankevich, told me he had seen a number (actually 42) migrating peregrine falcons on a recent morning. A friend of his wrote an article about these magnificent birds. Hal Broadfoot writes on FayObserver.com that "In four hours, [Peter] saw more peregrine falcons than once were believed to exist in the eastern U.S..... He also told me that the next day, his friends had seen 50 additional peregrines making a beeline south."

 You can read Broadfoot's article here: http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2012/10/06/1209025?sac=fo.life.

Several readers wrote to inform me that the caterpillar that has been feeding on my passion flower vine, and that gave me a minor rash, is the larva stage of the Gulf Fritillary Butterfly. As it turns out, I have not only the caterpillars, but the butterflies in my yard. The butterflies are beautiful creatures, but it is maddeningly difficult to get a good photo of them because they flit around so erratically. But I did manage to catch these two (one with wings outspread, the other barely visible).

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a gallery of photos of fences on Howard Street and Lawton Lane. To go directly to the this month's Newsletter click here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092112.htm.