Date: 08/18/2022

Number: 1

Monarch Waystation #271 reports an interaction between a ruby-throated hummingbird and a male monarch butterfly watched from 7 to 7:09 pm out the front kitchen window. I saw a clear throat and large white tail spots as the hummingbird nectared from a tall Tithonia growing in the front bed about 10 feet from the window. At 7:04 pm a monarch that had been cruising the bed and nectaring at other flowers landed on a separate newly opened Tithonia bloom on a stalk from the same plant about a foot from the hummingbird. The bird turned to hover behind the monarch and darted towards it in what looked like an attempt to "bully" it off the flower. The monarch stayed on the flower, flicked its wings [they way they do to discourage a wasp or bee] and would not budge. The bird went back to nectar from a Tithonia bloom on the same plant, then zoomed to a golden tropical milkweed bloom, then out of sight. The local hummingbirds make "the rounds" between my nextdoor neighbor's hummingbird feeder, other yards, and wild trumpet vines growing nearby near the building. The male monarch stayed in the front yard feeding from golden tropical milkweeds and orange Zinnias as I drew the curtains about 7:09pm.

Newport News, VA

Latitude: 37.1 Longitude: -76.5

Observed by: Judy
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