Date: 03/08/2025

Number: 3

At 12:45pm it was 70 degrees F, cloudy, with 93% humidity, and winds 6 mph from the E. I saw a monarch with faded wings flying low over our front yard. I watched for a bit, then went inside to get a camera. Unfortunately, it was gone by the time I got back outside.

I went walking over the fields and meadows but saw no monarchs until 1:30pm. A female monarch was nectaring from false garlic flowers (Nothoscordum bivalve) in our upper pasture and front yard. She went to over 25 of these delicate nectar flowers, so I had the chance to get this photo. False garlic flowers are a monarch favorite and an early nectar source, when other flowers haven't yet bloomed.

Later, at 2:45pm I saw a different female monarch seeking milkweed and laying eggs. I looked a lot, but only found the same lone milkweed sprout that she found. She spent over an hour looking for more in the area. In the end after repeated visits she laid 12 eggs on the lone milkweed sprout (Asclepias viridis).

Later in the afternoon a cool front came through bringing thunderstorms. There are plenty of nectar plants, including abundant blooming false garlic flowers, blooming red bud and pear trees, beginning blackberry vine blooms, and emerging yellow thistles.

It was wonderful to see these monarchs! The last monarchs I saw were in the fall.

Montgomery, TX

Latitude: 30.4 Longitude: -95.8

Observed by: Kathy
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