Click here for Sandy's species lists from Florida 2005 and 2006!

Our garden is an official Monarch Waystation (Number 236!). Learn more about the Waystation program and monarch butterflies at MonarchWatch.org.

The Butterfly Forum at GardenWeb is a great place to ask questions and gather ideas for your own garden. Journey North's website offers interesting information about monarch migration.

Below are species of butterflies that we've seen on our 1/4 acre property here in Evanston, Illinois (just north of Chicago):

Butterflies seen since summer 2005

Fiery Skipper
Peck's Skipper
Silver Spotted Skipper
Banded Hairstreak
Eastern Tailed Blue
Cabbage White
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail*
American Snout
Monarch*
Great Spangled Fritiillary
Clouded Sulphur
Pearl Crescent
Spring Azure
Mourning Cloak
Red Admiral
American Painted Lady*
Question Mark*
Red-Spotted Purple*

* indicates butterflies are ovipositing on host plant in our yard.

To the right are bird species we've seen in our backyard and the canopy of trees that shade us. An (n) indicates that there are probably nesting birds nearby, as we have seen adults feeding juveniles at our feeders. We have 4 feeders and a small ground-level birdbath (which we replace with a heated birdbath in the winter) in our tiny backyard. There are also excellent (although unsightly) overgrown yews along the back of our property that serve as cover for the birds. The feeders are filled with: safflower seed, niger (thistle) seed, a suet feeder, and a hummingbird feeder.

During migration (when most of the birds on this list were seen) I will add a mix of sunflower and white millet to the large feeder. Unfortunately the squirrels love the sunflower seeds, so I will only use the sunflower seeds during migration times (April-May and September-October here in the Chicago area).

Our garden is also registered with the Illinois Audubon Society as a Certified Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary as well as the National Wildlife Federation as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat. For information on these programs and how to attract more wildlife to your yard, click on the images below.