That's a total of 8 so far -- and I just noticed two more caterpillars getting ready to pupate!
It looks like we have one male and two females this time.
I "encouraged" them out of the cage on my hand so I could close it up and they all hung out for a spell, drying off their wings, while I went indoors for some coffee.
When I went out later two had already flown out to the garden and only one was left on the outside of the cage.
One neat thing about Monarchs at this stage -- you can get a lot closer to them than you can when they are in the wild. They are still docile and slow moving. I was even able to let the last one crawl on my hand :-)
She was quite happy to sit there for a minute or two before taking off and heading into the garden for some nectar.
As today is the first day back to school for the children in our area, and since we don't have kids, these photos of butterflies heading off in to the wild blue yonder will have to suffice!!!
I'm linking this post up with Camera Critters today. If you have a few minutes, visit some of the other blogs participating for some great critter photos.
5 comments:
What a treat to have the ability to get so close to the monarchs and to be able to take such lovely photographs. I remember my mother and I once kept a monarch chrysalis we found when I was a child and I was able to watch it emerge and dry, and eventually fly away. A very special experience and memorable for me. Maybe in future I'll have the opportunity to do that again. Thanks for visiting my blog!
How wonderful. I was reading about the Monarchs this morning, since I've spotted several visiting the Butterfly Bush over the weekend.
They are quite the 'determined' insect, and their journey is just now starting....
Thank you for sharing your beautiful Monarch story with us.
Hugs,
~Jo
I think our flying friends need all the help they can get and you are certainly doing your part Jayne. Applauding :) Wonderful post!
Wow! They are beautiful. I would love to have one sit on my hand like that!
I am really impressed with your success with the Monarchs. Congratulations!
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