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Monarch butterfly tagging update
I tag my first monarch and see more tagged monarchs in the garden. Exciting!
20 hours ago4 min read
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Trialling Hawkeye wasp trap and lure
I try out the Hawkeye wasp trap and lure starter pack. These traps look very familiar...
7 days ago4 min read
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Early autumn flowers for NZ butterflies
What flowers have been feeding butterflies in March?
Mar 303 min read
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Trialling NoPests wasp trap and lure
I use the NoPests pink wasp lure and trap to target the new queens who should be mating now.
Mar 224 min read
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Are caterpillars safe from wasps now?
Are caterpillars safe from invasive wasps now and can we leave them to develop without intervention?
Mar 192 min read
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Hello yellows!
Yellow admirals have brought colour and energy at the changing of the season.
Mar 172 min read
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Monarch butterfly tagging
With autumn arriving, butterfly lovers have started tagging monarchs and they are appearing in my garden
Mar 84 min read
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Spoiled for butterflies: Big Butterfly Count surveys
Results of my Big Butterfly Count surveys and I try to fathom why I have butterflies while many haven't
Mar 13 min read
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Late summer flowers for butterflies
Late summer flowers for butterflies? The long-flowering perennials just keep going.
Feb 274 min read
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California quail are not always a ground bird
California quail might be defined as a ground bird, but these North Shore birds like high places.
Feb 213 min read
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Tales from the garden: California quails
California quail visit the garden for the first time and prove they aren't scared of heights
Feb 152 min read
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Admiral butterflies in the garden
Red and yellow admirals find the flower garden, joining monarchs, blues and cabbage whites.
Feb 83 min read
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The big butterfly count 2026
Please spare 15 minutes for this NZ butterfly citizen science project! The Big Butterfly Count is back!
Feb 31 min read
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NZ butterfly plants: mid-summer flowers
What are the best butterfly flowers for mid-summer in Auckland?
Jan 303 min read
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Wild weather. Resilient butterflies.
The wild weather has been a curse, but the silver lining has been relief for the butterflies & plants
Jan 255 min read
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December visit to Franklin Farm butterfly house
A return visit to Franklin Farm butterfly house in Waimauku, west Auckland, inspires me.
Jan 162 min read
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Wins and losses - butterflies, wildlife & plants
An update on all the wins and losses recently in the garden: Butterflies, wildlife & plants
Jan 114 min read
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Tales from the garden: Cicada bonanza!
I am distracted by three new-to-me cicada species in the warm November weather, meaning the gardening didn't get done.
Dec 30, 20253 min read
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Anterhynchium tamarinum update
What's worse than a new wasp in the garden? Three more. Anterhynchium tamarinum is definitely established locally.
Dec 26, 20253 min read
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NZ butterfly plants: Early summer
These are the flowers that the butterflies are really attracted to in the first month of summer.
Dec 23, 20252 min read
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