after work i fetched the mail,
and saw a monarch feeding on the phlox.
i went for my camera,
came out and was delighted to see two as i tried to catch
the magic without disturbing it
so i was behind the camera so much
when i looked i saw not two, but three!
there really are three in this shot.
Lovely--I've seen none in Manhattan, but then, why would they come. Only the parks lend them some of what they need,
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting isn't it!? We have seen so many more here than the past two years.
ReplyDeleteI've found my way here from Spirit Cloth ... sadly, the monarchs are few and far between in the Texas hill country, which is on their migration route. One of the local Master Naturalists did a survey of hundreds of milkweed plants and found virtually no caterpillars this spring. A recent NPR report attributed the decline to the rampant use of herbicides (such as Round-up) on Midwestern crops. The monarchs may be modern day canaries in the mine, much as the osprey were in the DDT days. Hopefully there's still time, but there seems to be little will to confront the mega-growers.
ReplyDeleteWe have bounty of butterflies
ReplyDeleteAnd rain lately too
Both beautiful in air, each in its own ways.
Hope your classes r going well.
michelle, and they need so little--
ReplyDeletesusan, that's GREAT news
liz, welcome, human beans are foolish beyond belief...and then a monarch flies by!
m, more GOOD news!
Nice to see monarchs here, as their numbers are in steep decline. I looked long and hard, but could only find one in that second photo!
ReplyDeletesharmon, yes, there are three, one is on the backside.
ReplyDeleteI zoomed & zoomed & found two! What a beautiful combination of colors.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful butterflies. I have never seen them in the United Kingdom.
ReplyDeletehs, you got me: there are two visible, the one on the backside is impossible for me to see...but it is most certainly there
ReplyDeletemin, i don't know about monarchs elsewhere, i only remember reading about their north/south america journeying
...i've followed your blog a long time and enjoy it...the monarchs struck a cord...i lived in santa cruz caifornia years ago and used to see thousands of them when they would stop on their migration...miss that...i live in northwest washington now and only see a few now and then...
ReplyDeletehi fran, and thanks for reading! i read a marvelous book about following monarchs and a good deal of it was IN the pacific northwest! here, we used to see hundreds--
ReplyDelete