Date: 05/01/2021

Number: 4

It rained lightly again this morning, but at 1:30pm it had stopped. It was 75 degrees F, cloudy, breezy, with 77% humidity. I got a wonderful surprise when I went outside and found two beautiful, bright-winged monarchs flying near our front yard ~ a male and a female. They were both spending a lot of time nectaring and I think just recovering from all the rainy weather we had been having since the night of April 29 (more than 6.5 inches of rain).

I watched these two for a good while simply enchanted. They each had their preferred nectar sources. The female liked milkweed flowers and prairie plantain blossoms, while the male spent all his time nectaring on the lavender self-heal flowers. He test-tasted a pink primrose, but quickly went back to his favorite self-heals. I wondered if they might be two of the five monarchs I released on April 29 ~ which had been raised indoors from caterpillars found on milkweed.

During the afternoon it rained lightly again. At 4:30pm it had stopped (at least for awhile). I saw a beautiful female monarch nectaring from the tiny blossoms of the tall prairie plantains. She went from one plant to another, gathering the sweet nectar. Her wings were not too faded, but not bright either, and they had some tattering. It was lovely to see her and glad she is filling up on needed nectar.

Later in the early evening, while collecting milkweed leaves (for indoor caterpillars), I startled a resting monarch on the grassy path. He or she flew a bit and again settled near some milkweed plants. It was overcast & rain was imminent for the night.

This is a photo of the beautiful female monarch nectaring from milkweed flowers ~ what a delight! These moments with young monarchs make me especially feel the wonder of the long-journeyed, heroic monarchs who overwinter in Mexico ~ and the people who care for them.

Montgomery, TX

Latitude: 30.4 Longitude: -95.8

Observed by: Kathy
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