Pat Sutton’s FILM: “Monarchs Through the Seasons in her Wildlife Garden”

Hi Gang,

So sorry for this last minute alert! A week from today, I will present my Monarch film for CU Maurice River during one of their Campfire & Potlucks! Hope you can join me! Details follow:

 

“Monarchs Through the Seasons
in Pat Sutton’s Wildlife Garden”

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026
6:00 p.m.

as part of CU Maurice River’s
Campfire & Potluck

WHERE:
Galetto Residence
Millville, NJ
(address will be sent to registrants)

COST:
$15.00 per person
To register & purchase tickets, click HERE
(or call CU Maurice River’s office: 856-300-5331)

BE PREPARED:
Participants should bring a favorite potluck dish to share,
a lawn chair or blanket, bug spray, and your sense of adventure
for an unforgettable evening of delicious food,
inspiring stories, & the magic of nature under the open sky!

This evening of nature, great food, and fellowship with CU Maurice River is hosted at the Galetto household, the home of CU Maurice River Board President Jane Galetto. The evening will bring together friends and members of the CU community for a delicious potluck dinner, campfire, and an immersive look at the wonders of the natural world.

The evening begins with a guided stroll through Jane Galetto’s native pollinator garden led by Pat Sutton, who will reveal how native plants create vibrant habitat for monarchs and other pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. Then, settle in by the fireside with your potluck meal for a special outdoor screening of Pat’s inspiring film, “Monarchs Through the Seasons in a Wildlife Garden.” This event will be held rain or shine, with the option to move festivities indoors if needed.

About Pat Sutton’s FILM

Pat’s 45-minute film blends video and stills taken in 2021, a very good year for Monarchs in Pat Sutton’s native plant wildlife garden (and hopefully your garden too). She had Monarchs in the garden daily from mid-June on. She found lots and lots of eggs and caterpillars from June through late fall. She watched and filmed a Monarch caterpillar going into its chrysalis in the garden (a happenstance gift that she was at the right spot with her camera when that five-minute transformation occurred). She discovered five different chrysalises in her garden, and watched and filmed the adult Monarch emerge from two of them. So of course, the Monarch’s story had to be told so she could share this priceless footage. The film covers the many native Chocolate Cake nectar plants month-by-month that draw in and benefit Monarchs, in addition to the native Milkweeds they need for egg laying. It showcases the many predators that target Monarchs (at all stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and adult) and other butterflies and moths. And finally this film conveys that each Monarch that survives to adulthood and begins its journey to the winter roost sites in the mountains of Mexico, is not only a survivor, but a miracle!

See You There ?
Pat

Blizzard of Hummingbirds – Rockport, TX – September 13-16, 2018

HummerBird Celebration in Rockport, Texas (don’t miss it)!

Hi Gang,

Clay and I have been very fortunate to have been invited to festivals and conferences around the country (over the years) to present our programs and workshops.

One of my all-time favorite festivals is the HummerBird Celebration in mid-September, when thousands upon thousands of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are migrating through Rockport, Texas, on their way to southern Mexico or as far south as Costa Rica and northern Panama where they winter.

It is an amazing show of HOPE that Rockport, Texas, is going to host their:

30th Anniversary HummerBird Celebration
Rockport, TX
September 13-16, 2018
for full details go to the event’s website

HERE 

This year’s Keynote Speaker is good friend and amazing mentor, high school science teacher, and nationally recognized educator, Martha McLeod.  On Thursday, September 13 (at 6:30 p.m.), don’t miss Martha’s Keynote Presentation, “Harvey, Hummingbirds and Hope,” based on her experience in Rockport, Texas, where she lives, when Hurricane Harvey hit and destroyed much of the town on August 26, 2017, just prior to the peak of the hummingbird migration.  Martha was chosen as Birdwatcher’s Digest “Birder of the Year” for the piece she wrote about this experience (featured in Bird Watcher’s Digest’s March/April 2018 issue).  Clay and I won’t be able to be there this year, but please give Martha a “Hello Hug” from both of us if you should go!

We’ve been to the HummerBird Celebration 4 times and loved every single visit.  My favorite part of this festival is the opportunity to explore and linger in dozens of “Hummer Home gardens” (private back and front yard wildlife habitats with dozens and dozens of well-maintained hummingbird feeders) that are open to attendees of the HummerBird Celebration from dawn to dusk, September 13 (Thursday) to September 16 (Sunday).  The numbers of hummingbirds in sight in each of these gardens is beyond belief!  Hundreds in view in every direction you look!  If you don’t believe me, GO!!!  I was speechless with wonder the first time we went and continued to be amazed with each of our visits.  Seriously consider a road trip (or a flying trip) to experience this amazing concentration of our beloved hummingbird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  I promise you that you won’t regret it and you’ll probably want to make an annual pilgrimage to the HummerBird Celebration each year in mid-September to drink in the Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s amazing migration and how they benefit from all the stopover habitat in this town.

The HummerBird Celebration is packed with non-stop events (boat birding trips, speakers, banding demonstration, vendors, hummer home guided bus trips (I did this the 1st year, not realizing that I could go on my own and spend as much time as I wanted in each garden or my favorite gardens), bird photography classes, and more!

The fact that Rockport, Texas, is hosting this 30th Anniversary HummerBird Celebration is another sign of hope, hope that this town (devastated by Hurricane Harvey only a year ago) can continue to rebuild and thrive once again!

To hope, hummingbirds, and the revival of Rockport, TX!
Pat