Date: 04/20/2019

Number: 10

There seemed to be a flurry of monarch activity today on Holy Saturday. At noon it was 70 degrees F, sunny, 34% humidity, and very calm with just a sweet light breeze. In the space of a short walk about the pastures I saw at least 10 individual monarchs.

I observed several females looking for milkweed and egg-laying. At one point a male spotted a female and swooped down on her, but she got away and flew off. The monarchs all seemed particularly faded and worn, some with tattery wings ~ but all were going about quite fine. There is a good amount of fresh milkweed and that is what the females were seeking out, but also laying eggs on established plants as well.

As I went out at times during the day, there was just a steady group of monarchs around ~ more than I had been seeing in the last week. They were flying in an out of the trees, resting and sunbathing, and nectaring on wildflowers (especially yellow thistles).

As I collected milkweed leaves for the indoor-raised (always hungry) monarch caterpillars, I saw fresh eggs and different sizes of larvae (quite a few newborns) on the milkweed plants throughout the meadows.

This is a photo of one of the beautiful female monarchs as she is about to lay an egg in a milkweed bud crown. She laid multiple eggs on this fresh milkweed and others.

Montgomery, TX

Latitude: 30.4 Longitude: -95.8

Observed by: Kathy
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