My Yard ~ Monarch Butterflies

Monarchs Mating

And more mating..which leads to 

Monarch Caterpillars

And the next step is caterpillar to chrysalis

And this time of year the chrysalis are everywhere!

And then the tagged Monarch's come through on their way to Mexico.

And here are 7 Monarch out of a group of 80+ that stopped by this day.

And they really love the smooth Aster and so do we!

My Gardens Today

Several hours after the glorious sunrise the day became overcast.  I checked the growing cage this morning and found 5 butterflies had enclosed overnight.  My sister released 40 Monarchs last week so with the last group released we have raised over 65 Monarchs not counting the 2 dozen or so in the gardens/yard.


Monarchs continue to dominate the gardens with Sachem Skippers slightly more in numbers but not in presence. Again there were big numbers of Monarchs on the Tropical Milkweed stand including a tagged Monarch that I reported to the organization tracking them..  I found more Monarch caterpillars not counted yesterday.

There were 4 Eastern Black Swallowtails butterflies along with several Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars not seen yesterday.  I saw Cabbage Whites, Orange Sulphur, American and Painted Ladies, Red Admiral and Mourning Cloak nectaring on rotten fruit.  I saw Common Buckeye, Gray Hairstreak, Ocola Skipper and the first of the year Long-tailed Skipper.   We did not have any Long-tailed Skippers in the yard last year.

Long-tailed Skipper

 I also saw two Ruby-throated hummingbirds feeding on the flowers several times during the day.