Date: 08/02/2022

Number: 1

Nectaring Butterfly

Just before 7:00 PM, as we were watching the end of the evening news, out our living room window we noticed a Monarch Butterfly fluttering about the garden in front of our house.  Unlike yesterday's sighting, which lasted only a few seconds, this butterfly seemed determined to stick around for awhile and nectar from the first blooms on one of our New York Ironweed plants.

While it occasionally took off (or maybe was knocked off by the breeze), it circled back around to land on the same blossom several times.  Somewhat surprisingly, it never showed any interest in the blooms of the nearby tropical milkweed, which can be seen in the left photo.  Based on the photos, we're pretty sure it was a female butterfly.

At the time our skies were partly cloudy, the air temperature was 82°F, with a dew point of 57°F, humidity at 42%, air pressure at 28.56 inches, with a breeze from the NNW at about 8 mph.

                    -  Tim

Bellefonte, PA

Latitude: 40.9 Longitude: -77.8

Observed by: R. Timothy
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