Backyard Butterflies
The Monarchs have returned, and it is a regal reunion! Last evening they ‘roosted’ in my backyard, somewhat protected from the cold north gales blowing autumn into Lower Alabama, and I was mesmerized.
I noticed them hovering near the clothesline as I gathered the sheets and towels at dusk, then I realized they were fighting to land in the tufts of new growth at the ends of the pine branches.
Against the wind
Looking closer I saw they were hanging from all the branches between my house and the trees along the lagoon. They weren’t easy to see in the scrub oak trees, so it’s possible they’ve stopped here in the past and I didn’t notice the Monarch Motel in my own backyard.
Where's Waldo?
As the sun dropped into the bay, they folded their wings and stopped jostling for position. They were almost invisible from the ground.
In for a landing
But I was back when the sun came up this morning and I watched as the rays warmed them, one by one, and they glided from their perches in search of blooms to fuel their long flight across the gulf. It is the most amazing journey.
http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/monarch-migration.html
Morning flight
As I write, there are dozens fluttering across my yard, all traveling to the west. Some pause briefly at one of the few flowers surviving the drought… what I wouldn’t give for a field of milkweed today.
Sun salute
They have only been here for a few days and I’ve already seen many, many more than last fall. Perhaps there are even more to come?
I couldn’t find any parsley plants in town for the Swallowtails hanging around last week, and there’s not much I can do for the Fritillaries that ravaged my Passion vines and left without a ‘Thank You’ back in August.
Fritillary by Janice Neitzel from Janice4sandyshores.wordpress.com
- The very hungry caterpillars
I wonder what Monarch’s like for breakfast, and I wonder what’s blooming at Lowes?
Breakfast?
