Date: 09/13/2013

Number: 1

Last week, went out to water 12 full pots of milkweed, most having survived a quick move & a year and a half of 2 DRY, HOT Tx summers & a mild winter---a FIRST for me to have ANY survivors!!!!! I quickly spotted many round, chewed holes & searched diligently to find eggs or some growing cats---NOTHING, just about half the stems thoroughly stripped of leaves & blooms, and seed pods gutted or completely gone. :(
A female Queen made several stops, attempting to nectar at a few tiny blooms that that were thinking about opening. Did not observe her laying a single egg though. As I continued to water, I spotted 2 leaf-green hoppers (katy-did-like critters) busily chowing down, but they didn't survive long!
This week, out watering again, no additional decimated stems, but did see a couple of Queens looking for a stopping place. Couldn't get close enough to see if M/F. BUT, while watering the milkweed in HOPES of quick regrowth as the migration season continues, I finally spotted ONE large Monarch cat on the backside of a stripped stem. This solo survivor will finish it's growth in an "air-conditioned hotel" before heading south. Who knows, since it's still early in the "fall", MAYBE an extra generation this season!?!
Count in my corner of the world this year: 4 M cats found in the wild, raised & released at Canyon Creek Elem., one M cat found in my backyard in early July and F released mid-July, now one early-snowbird OR, as I prefer to believe, one M whose parents preferred to spend the summer closer to "home" & didn't venture far from right here in Tx! Will let you know if this one is M/F in a couple of weeks!

Austin, TX

Latitude: 30.2 Longitude: -97.7

Observed by: Diane
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