Date: 04/01/2023

Number: 16

This was a lovely monarch day! It was sunny, breezy, with temps in the 70's. From mid-morning through the afternoon there was monarch activity: flying, nectaring, egg-laying, and brief air skirmishes with bees & butterflies. There seemed to be about an equal number of male and female monarchs.

Each time I went out, I saw monarchs in all directions. The males were sailing in big patterns (covering multiple acres) keeping track of the milkweed and thistle patches. There were often three together near milkweed or nectar areas ~ then off they would go. A few times I saw males chase females. As far as I could tell, each time the female was elusive, usually escaping through the foliage of a tree.

There is a good supply of nectar plants, which include yellow & pink thistles, wild blackberry blossoms, lyre-leaf sage, milkweed blossoms (now blooming), and a myriad of other wildflowers.

There are currently 1st through 5th instar monarch larvae on the milkweed plants (Asclepias viridis) ~ as well as monarch eggs.

Around noon I saw a female monarch laying her eggs on several clusters of healthy milkweed in our backyard. Then she flew to a milkweed nearby, which happened to have a large monarch caterpillar on it. She stayed for a bit resting on the bud crown with the caterpillar very close by ~ an interesting moment!

Montgomery, TX

Latitude: 30.4 Longitude: -95.8

Observed by: Kathy
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