Last week Mrs. T., Lily and I were hiking one of our favorite trails in Lake Louise State Park just north of the Iowa border. To our great surprise we saw lots of Monarch butterflies soaring over the prairie. It reminded us of an episode some five years ago in the same area. I'm recycling that story which was published the first week in September 2012.
The Baron (my first GSD)
and I were driving along a track on our way to one of my favorite
hiking/birding trails. To the right was a prairie, to the left a long line of shrubs and scrub trees. The flutter of monarch butterflies coming off the
shrubs quickly became evident. The flutter soon began to look like a blizzard of orange & black for the next quarter of a mile.
I fumbled to get my little cheapo camera out of my pocket. I like the camera because it does
fit in my pocket, while the binocs dangle from my neck. The following pics thru the windshield don't come close to doing justice to what I actually saw....but you get the idea.
Like many of
our migrating birds, the monarchs gather in the fall for an epic journey south. My friend, Mr Science (Gary) gives the following succinct explantion.
"MONARCHS
PRODUCE FOUR GENERATIONS EACH YEAR. THREE OF THESE GENERATIONS ONLY LIVE ABOUT
ONE MONTH EACH, BUT ONE GENERATION(THE 4TH GENERATION) LIVES FOR ABOUT 8 MONTHS
AND THAT IS THE GENERATION THAT EACH FALL MAKES A 1400+ MILE MIGRATION TO
MEXICO."
His blog "Nature Notes" on the flora and fauna of Fillmore County, Minnesota can be found at http://fillmorenature.blogspot.com/
I was, perhaps, a little early that year in checking some favorite monarch roosts but the sad fact is their numbers were way down over the long term average. That years drought, especially in the Upper Midwest had a bad effect. These beautiful creatures depend on milkweed. The long term prospects are even bleaker. Loss of habitat is hurting butterflies in the same way as it has our songbirds. Development and agricultural monoculture are very detrimental….
Here's a photo Gary took a few day ago in the same area we had been hiking....
We have had a mini migration so far but it does look like the migration will go through central Iowa this year. It is an amazing sight each time that I see it.
ReplyDeleteOh, that must have been a nice surprise. I've not seen them doing that. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteI am totally amazed at the Monarch life cycles and migrations and have read a lot on the subject. What a treat you had in seeing a large gathering.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to see all of them at once!
ReplyDeleteI see the geese starting to fly south. Very sad that they feel it is time already. :(
xo Catherine
oh, that is so cool!! it has been years since i've seen even one monarch.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how wonderful it was to see that Monarch 'blizzard' in person. I do hope these beautiful creatures do make a comeback.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great surprise! Lucky you!!!
ReplyDeleteHow lucky to get the chance to see this!!! I've only seen 2 Monarchs this year :0(
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to see it! And to know they are starting a long, long journey. Summer is definitely over, isn't it? :-)
ReplyDeletei have tagged monarchs for years as part of a U of KS migration study. What a geat experience!
ReplyDeleteVery very cool. I have never seen a Monarch. Only on TV.
ReplyDeleteI've seen something similar twice, once was in Big Sur, the eucalyptus trees near the beach were full of them, fluttering...looked like christmas trees. The other time was driving down central Baja, they were crossing the long straight highway across the desert. The car was covered, literally, with Monarch remains.
ReplyDeleteI vividly remember being a kid and seeing a huge migration through our area one fall... the skies were simply FULL of orange and it was magnificent! There is a new IMAX movie coming out you'll want to try and catch:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nooga.com/157068/monarch-migration-demystified-in-new-imax-film-premiering-in-chattanooga/
That's neat that you got to see that! You are at the top of the migration! There is a NOVA movie about this topic which I watched with my son that you might like called "Journey of the Butterflies."
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful! It must have been a magical site to see! I plant more and more Milkweed every year so that some will return here:)
ReplyDeleteWhat a privilege it was for you to be part of their migration. I've never seen it but can imagine how lovely it must be.
ReplyDeleteWow, how fortunate you were! Sad to hear numbers declining though.
ReplyDeleteMeese is a ring , of course.
ReplyDeleteMoths to butterflies.
And nobody knows more about it than Teresa.
Who's now in a pickle.
With all that pollination.
Beautiful photographs, I like to admire such views. I am greeting
ReplyDeleteWow, The Monarchs are stunning! We were lucky to see the Monarchs on their journey over the lake last Oct. It was a sight to behold seeing so many fluttering above the water and taking float high in the sky. I have not seen as many butterflies this year as in years past. I was hoping for a bumper crop of them in the gardens...
ReplyDeleteSheer magic, to be in a "flock" (?) of migrating butterflies.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great find. we will start tagging them this next few weeks. I would love to see them in multitudes.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine seeing so many at once.
ReplyDeleteHi Troutbirder - aren't they wonderful and what a pleasure to see 'a flock' go over - I remember seeing them in Rhodes, Greece in a Valley of the Butterflies where they hatched - not sure the particular type -but it was extraordinary. Great to see - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThe last photograph is wonderful. You are fortunate to have so many beautiful butterflies, all I see lately are cabbage whites. I guess all our pretty ones have flown elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI have read elsewhere that they are coming back, at least somewhat.
ReplyDeleteAmazing! So happy you got to witness that not once, but twice!
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky to see such a large flock locally and have your camera with you. I've always wanted to go to Mexico where they over winter and see them covering the trees. Someday!
ReplyDeleteLucky you to see such a sight. I have heard of the massive migration but never seen any large numbers. Interesting about the generation thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm always happy to hear about monarchs that are still migrating. Stories for a few years were dire. Thank you for the great story. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful sighting! I'm always happy to see them!
ReplyDeleteSuch a privilege to share their space.
ReplyDeleteI am proud to say that I have milkweed in my garden for the monarchs. We used to raise them when the kids were little. We'd have a bunch of small fish tanks and bowls all lined up in the kitchen with the various stages of instars. You have to bring them indoors so the birds don't eat them.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see Baron again !
ReplyDeleteWOW!
ReplyDeleteWe have been preparing an area just for milkweed in a newly cleared acre.
Interesting about the generation thing.
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