Date: 04/01/2017

Number: 9

Today I made a large survey of the milkweed in our pastures, so I was outside for more than 6 hours. In that time I did see monarchs, but I was mostly ignoring them and concentrating on milkweed (crouching, peering, trying to see tiny eggs and larvae). That said, I tried to write a quick note in my count notebook when I observed a monarch. I saw 9 monarchs: nectaring, gliding by, egg-laying, and males chasing females. The only time I followed one turned into a very interesting event. It was around 2:30pm and I was weary and making my way back to cool off in the house. But ... there was a faded-winged female fluttering near our small barn, so I followed her a bit. She proceeded to nectar on a multi-headed yellow thistle. I took some photos and saw that she had a torn wing (not shown in this photo) ~~ very glad to see her nectaring and replenishing her energy. Unexpectedly, a male came flying and dashed at her several times (will send 2nd photo of both in another report). She seemed to try to be very still and eventually he flew away from the thistle, at which point she zoomed a few feet away to some deep grass. The male then spotted another female about 20 feet away and he was off on that chase! The nectaring female remained still and hidden for some time in the shady grass. I am sure she was thinking "Give me a break!" and was hoping to avoid any more pesky males ~~ and curious photographers!

Montgomery, TX

Latitude: 30.4 Longitude: -95.8

Observed by: Kathy
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