Saw my first clear-winged moth of the year yesterday at a Butterfy Bush near my house.

Hoping to see one or two on the Bee Balm on Saturday's walk.

And National Moth Week starts on July 23...

Have been getting reports of scant butterflies in the Celery Farm, and I can't say that I've been getting great looks at a variety of species.

Yesterday afternoon I saw little a little blue job that I think must have been an Eastern Tailed-Blue, a few Monarchs (including one on milkweed in the Butterfly Garden), a Comma, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Cabbage Whites and a skipper that  I barely got a shot of because it was small and fast and my lens wasn't the greatest (above right).

That said, lots of dragonflies, a calling Red-shoulder Hawk and a wonderful excuse to visit the Celery Farm on a great July day.

I took the inset photo of the Eastern Tailed-Blue on Monday.

Hats off to all the volunteers who help make this place shine.

I have a new favorite birding spot in Cape May: the Garrett Family Preserve at Cape Island Creek. I love The Nature Conservancy’s South Cape May Meadows, Reed’s Beach, and Cape May Point, but a new place always provides a treat and adventure.

 I had seen the Garrett Family Preserve many years ago – from the air, while taking aerial photographs for The Nature Conservancy. It’s a little embarrassing to say, but because I was taking photos the whole time, I never really saw the preserve, except through my photos.

  Since then, I kept hearing what an amazing place the preserve is, but it was so far off the beaten path (as far as I knew) that my wife and I never visited even though we go to Cape May a few times a year.

   This spring, I learned of a recent Cape May tourist attraction called Revolution Rail, where you take a tour via self-propelled rail cars through a lesser-developed part of the peninsula. 

  That sounded pretty cool, and when I heard the 90-minute excursion included a stop at the Garrett Family Preserve on self-propelled little cars, I said, sign me up.

  My wife Patty and I took the rail-pedal tour earlier this summer, and it was terrific. But the highlight of highlights was the 180-acre Garrett Family Preserve.

  We had maybe 20 minutes to explore – with so much to see:  a bird blind, a pollinator trail, a braille trail (and accompanying audio tour), and four miles of nature trails that one can travel on foot or by bicycle.

There’s also an interactive monarch butterfly sculpture by artist Rubem Robier that opens next week.

 The preserve offers so many reasons to return. That’s why my wife and I plan to come back in early September – perhaps via the Revolution Rail, but definitely by car so we can wander the preserve to our hearts’ content.

You can read more about Jim Garrett here:

https://www.celeryfarm.net/2022/07/honoring-jim-garrett.html

By Jack Garrett

      I think it is safe to say that my father would have been extremely gratified with the concept of a Garrett Family Preserve. The motivation for buying the shell of an unfinished building that would become our summer home was my father's love of the Victorian architecture that set Cape May apart from other Jersey shore locations. 

    He loved the detail of the gingerbread that was the defining characteristic of that architecture, as well as the varied color schemes that decorated houses of that style. Much of that architecture is gone now, though enough remains that the flavor is still there. 

   Jim Garrett was employed, throughout his career, by almost all of the newspapers in Philadelphia, but my recollection has him at The Philadelphia Inquirer in my lifetime.

    He and my mother died in 1971, three weeks apart, both aged 69. He had retired from the Inquirer several years before that, but I am unable to recall the date. He was not a well person in those days. 

   The house that became our summer home was purchased in 1944. I was the middle son of three. We were Jimmy, age 14 at the time; Jackie, 8, and Bobby, 6. 

    To say that our summers in Cape May were a mind-expanding experience is certainly an understatement. There's a saying that says it best: "Once you get Cape May sand in your shoes, you never get it out."

All About Butterflies/Zoom Talk

Friday, July 15, 2 p.m.

  Don Torino, head of Bergen Audubon, will do a short Zoom talk on butterflies in advance of the Celery Farm Butterfly Walk on Saturday, July 16. Don will also mention the big Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst on Sunday, July 17.

  Jim Wright will introduce Don and later talk briefly about the Saturday walk and logistics thereto.  45 minutes. Free and open to all. You can register for the Zoom talk here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/all-about-butterflies-zoom-talk-with-bergen-audubon-tickets-383003914017

Family Butterfly Walk/The Celery Farm, Sat., July 16, 10:30 a.m.
    Join us for a 60-minute stroll. Meet at the end of Green Way at 10:30 a.m. Free and open to all. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Dress for bright sun. Bring water and sunscreen. Rain date: Saturday, July 23, 10:30 a.m. To register, email Jim at [email protected]. Limit: 24 participants. (This is the annual Tom Burr Memorial Butterfly Walk).