"Little did we know that those first shovels full of earth would launch a journey of unimaginable joy. Or how greatly our work would transform not just our home, but our lives."
One of the cards in one of my (9yo) son's board games. Need to guess as many as you can. This has made my inner grammar pedant twitch badly, along with my monarch list pedant. 😂
Look who paid us a visit yesterday! We've been covering the remnants of our butterfly nook to provide a last few morsels for the bees, but despite our efforts most of the blossoms have taken a hit from the random freezes. Fortunately those tidbits, plus a couple of plants we scrambled to bring out from the greenhouse, were enough to provide a pit stop for this lone monarch. ❣️
For those who don't know, you can easily tell male from female Monarch butterflies. Here, the male is on top. Its wing veins are narrow and the back wings have those black spots on the veins near the body. Females don't have those dots and have wider viens.
This is the first (and so far only) monarch butterfly we have spotted this year. We used to have so many here I managed to photograph a lot nearby. (Link: https://www.elliekennard.ca/monarchs/ ) But let us celebrate this one today! It was resting in the evergreen tree on our property.
Have a lovely Wednesday, FediFriends.
A neighbor down the alley has the monarch and pollinator oasis in his backyard. So many mating pairs and butterflies of all kinds flitting around! I am always so pleased with my own native pollinator patches in my yard, but his was another level.
Over the weekend I got his permission to pop into his yard and take some photos so now that I've got some days off, I'm looking forward to being a little shutterbug there for the next couple days.
A lovely lady #beetle sheltering on a common milkweed leaf. Common #milkweed is a marvelous plant. If you come across one take a closer look & you'll likely find it teaming w/ #insects & #arachnids. If you live in a area where it's native & you see a open seed pod, spread those seeds around to create other bug high-rise condos. And, of course, it is a vital for many #butterfly species including #monarchs.
(08/03/23)
4 pictures of a monarch butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. It will swing back and forth pushing the liquid from its big body into the wings to expand them. #Monarchs
Dunno who needs to hear it, but you’re definitely in a #cult if the leaders/authority figures have convinced themselves that they’re the #reincarnations of famous #monarchs, #deities, #saints, or other mega-important figures, and feel comfortable declaring who will be destroyed in the coming shift/cataclysm/whatever.
On my walk, I saw that they mowed down all the #milkweed plants that had lined the road. I sifted through a few stems and found a #monarchButterfly egg.
Let's see if we can save one. Her name is Yoko.
And .... we have Monarchs 🦋 🐛 😍 !
I found three caterpillars on the Milkweed in the garden, all different sizes, one of them looks ready to pupate.
There have been very few sightings of the butterflies so far this year. #butterflies#monarchs#wildflowers#nature
Torbay Trojans play another home game today,this time against Cornwall Monarchs, should be a good game, hopefully the English Riviera Airshow won't be too much of a distraction, 7:51 we have clear conditions, it is going to be a very hot day again, but we are up for it.