Monarch Migration

It's October, and that means the Monarch butterflies will be migrating through our neighborhood soon. It is in the large migratory path of the Monarch butterflies as they fly south for the winter. It is an incredible sight, seeing them feed on four and five-foot tall wildflower clusters of Goldenrod and other flowering bushes. They gather close together in clusters on the tree branches in the late afternoon. Every year since we have lived here (just over 13 years, now), we get to see these colorful, graceful butterflies. Our children dubbed an area near our home "Monarch Pass," as we can hike along under a long area of trees on both sides of the path.

A couple of years, we have been blessed by having some of the monarchs stop in our own large cottonwood trees for several days up to a week before moving on further south for the winter. That is always nice, because I have fairly severe fall allergies, being outside for extended periods causes repercussions is for me at this time of year. This particular nature hike is just about the only one I gladly participate in during the ragweed season. It is a magnificent experience year after year! I just make sure to take the full dose of allergy meds :-). We take this opportunity to catch monarch caterpillars on milkweed and watch them grow and hatch inside our critter cages.

I don't know exactly when they will be here, but it will be very soon, if they don't get blown past our area by the momentum and winds of a cool front. There often can be multiple waves of them. There tends to be a large peak in the amount of monarchs that I see flying around, and that is my indication that they are here (simple, eh?). We have little white, daisy-type weeds (I think they are ox-eyed daisies) in the front yard that they like to feed on.

I'm going to have my CM Book Club friends and their children join me and my kiddos, so they can sketch, photograph, or just catch a caterpillar to observe and feed. We'll talk about how to care for them while they grow, before they go into their chrysalis, and share some ideas for taking care of them and releasing them when they hatch.

As much as I sneeze and fight the itching nose and watery eyes, I still enjoy this time of year more than any other.