Backyard World: Caterpillars in Tupperware

I decided to try a new experiment in handling Monarch butterfly eggs to see if it would be helpful when eggs were laid on milkweed plants that did not fit in my enclosure. So a few days ago I gathered some eggs that had been laid on one of my plants that was briefly outside and put them into a Tupperware container on the leaf they were laid on. Well five of the nine eggs have now hatched and there are very very tiny caterpillars out on the leaves. Some were eating their eggs before trying the milkweed, but that is apparently normal. We'll see how they fare, I put in some fresh milkweed leaves today.

Very tiny caterpillar near the egg he hatched from

Temporary home for 9 monarch eggs and their caterpillars.

I also checked on the three caterpillars that I moved from my big milkweed plant into my enclosure for round 4 of this season's butterfly saga, but now I can only find one eating away I'm not sure what happened to the others, but they might still show up. They are great at hiding from view. I found one more still on the big plant and will move that in a day or so

The last of the round 3 butterflies hatched today, and I released them. Three flew away immediately including one boy and one girl and one that got away too fast to see. One was moving slower, so I put her on a penta flower for a while, but as night was falling, she still couldn't fly well and kept falling to the ground, so I put her back in the enclosure for safety overnight. I'll give her another chance tomorrow.

This boy was a strong flier.

This girl needed more time,

The people that manage the canal out back were at it again. They are the ones that took down all the trees and bushes that lined the bank. Today they mowed the canal bank on the other side. All the grass that had grown there, which they had planted, and which was holding the bank in place and protecting the gallinule babies that were born over there, was mowed down to ground level so now it looks brown and bare again. There is no conceivable reason for this. The grass was keeping the sand from falling into the water, and so we're back to erosion again! They actually put part of the mower into the water to get everything!

This gallinule mom is complaining about the mowing.

One of the members of the cormorant family that has been swimming and fishing in the canal climbed aboard their favorite floater to make an announcement to the group. Maybe he found a particularly good fishing spot.