The Gulf Fritillary seems to be the first butterfly obscessing on our garden this year. They love the leaves of the passion vine to lay their eggs on. We have hundreds of caterpillars already munching down. It has been a slow start but shouldn't be, we had a mild winter and everything has been ready for the butterflies in the form of host and nectar plants. I think we can blame the mockingbirds on this one though. I saw the massacred remains of a Monarch on the ground, the body was gone and the wings were left. Something tells me, the butterflies fed some of these fat little baby mockers flying around my yard.
