Butterfly Gardens

Surprise Monarch Visit

 

Now Where Did it GO???

  Lawn cut check... compost turned check... small  Hugelkultur hole dug check. Bring everything to a screeching halt and spend an hour watching/chasing a Monarch butterfly of course!

  I was on a mission today, it is a family trait, when we get something in our head nothing short of an emergency slows us down. I didn't say it was a healthy trait only one passed from one generation to the next. 

   

  My last task was to check and see if the milkweed seeds were ready to be harvested. As I bent down to inspect them something landed on me; thank goodness I didn't shoo it away, as it was a Monarch Butterfly!

It is a Girl! 

 

Dr. Seuss -   Are You My Mother?

 

Point and Shoot Cameras Work Best if You Breath

 

It is important to breath while photographing monarchs!

  I had given up hope of seeing a Monarch in my yard this year. It doesn't matter if I raise seven or seventeen different milkweed species. If the Monarchs aren't able to make their spring migration into Ohio, mate, lay their eggs, hatch and repeat the cycle then all the milkweed plants I can possibly raise won't make a difference. However, milkweeds are great pollinator plants.

  Low and behold, there he or she was. I haven't spent a great deal of time studying Monarchs only the milkweed plants which are their caterpillar's sole source of nourishment. A quick Google search and presto... It is a girl. A male would have two dark spots on the lower side of the wings.

Much better job focusing!

Drunk-in Sailor

 

  The Allegheny Trail in Franklin, PA, USA, has a bike trail with two long unlit tunnels. Even with a head lamp one bikes a bit to the left then to the right and back again. That is exactly how my visitor was acting today. I figured it was either hurt or young. 

  A call to the Lorain County Metro Parks confirmed my suspicions. If the colors were bright and vibrant and there were no signs of wing damage then yes indeed it is newly hatched Monarch. I was told that would need a day or so for the wings to dry out.

Not Showing Off But Drying Off

 

She needs a beautiful first name

Motherly Instincts Kicked in

 

  I saved her from: a passing car, a telephone pole, birds in my bird feeder. How could I possibly leave "her out to dry"?  Beth Reis has been raising and releasing butterflies for years, she advised me to bring her in for the night and that is exactly what I did.

Drying off inside

  If I had know this adventure was coming my direction I would have taken the time to read  Raising Monarch Butterflies