This morning my wife and I headed out in search of Monarchs and Milkweeds for the 2023 Blitz.  Our plan was to visit various locations in the Bellefonte and State College area where we know there are Milkweeds and where in the past we have occasionally spotted Monarch Butterflies.*  However, as I have noted in several previous reports, while we have lots of healthy milkweeds growing here in "Happy Valley", in recent weeks this summer we have seen very few Monarch Butterflies – but no Eggs (other than our Blitz Egg report today ) and no Larva or Frass as evidence of their presence at all.  Disappointing, but also very concerning.

Our seventh and last stop as part of our “Blitz” search was at the Snetsinger Butterfly Garden in the Tom Tudek Memorial Park in State College, PA.  The garden’s three acres display more than 100 species of native plants, including Common Milkweed, serving as caterpillar hosts and providing nectar for adult butterflies.

Today, as seen in the photo included above, we managed to spot two Monarch Butterflies fluttering about the plants (mostly in the vicinity of Common Milkweed plants) in the garden.  Unfortunately they never got close enough to tell if they were males or females.

At about 3:15 PM (EDT) the air temperature was 81°F, the air pressure was 28.60 inches and slowly dropping, the dew point was 66°F, the humidity was 61%, with a light 7 mph breeze blowing from the south under mostly cloudy skies.

    *   We spent at least 20 minutes observing at each of our seven locations today.  All total, we spotted at least six Monarch Butterflies over the course of this "Blitz" day (i.e., between 11:15 AM and 3:30 PM EDT).  Links to our previous seven milkweed, one egg, and five butterfly postings are listed below:

                  -  Tim