Date: 03/12/2020

Number: 1

As I was pulling in the neighborhood, I saw one flying around.

I couldn't really tell if the Monarch was faded. It did look bright orange to me. No photo either. Sorry. This was the first I have seen, although there's been several reports around the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
The only milkweed available would be the ones in my pots I've had since last summer, or the little seedlings coming up I planted as seeds back in late October. The ones in the pots are actually outside now, and I'm using them as bait to attract a Monarch female. So far, no eggs. (I'm assuming the Monarch I saw was probably a male. Otherwise, I would have had some eggs from it since I was a block down from where I saw the Monarch.)

There's a field I've been going to for the last few days just to see if any of the wild milkweed is starting to grow. So far nothing, but I probably won't see anything for at least another 7 days or so since it's still early (on a good year the wild milkweed in the fields come up around March 20 to 25, so I expect an abundance to show up around that time thanks to the rain we're getting). However, we have a lot of flowers for nectar around here in the Dallas area. Everything is in full mode for blooming. We're also over 5 inches above normal for the rain total for the year and are going to receive another three inches in the next 5 days. That should help out the milkweed to grow.

I believe I saw a painted lady the other day in the backyard. No Red Admirals or Swallowtails as of yet.

Forney, TX

Latitude: 32.7 Longitude: -96.5

Observed by: Ryan
Contact Observer

The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.