Bugs, Flowers

One For the Road

One for the road, please.  ???????????????????????????????

Delicious!  How about another?  ???????????????????????????????

Autumn is here.  The trees are changing.  I must be going.  ???????????????????????????????

It is time to fly south.  Time to fly to Mexico.   ???????????????????????????????

Perhaps just one more.  It is an exceedingly long flight, you know.  ???????????????????????????????

More than 2,000 miles in a straight line.  ???????????????????????????????

But whoever flies in a straight line?  Not me!  I bet I log 10,000 miles between here and there.

One more for the road!  Then I really must be going…..

???????????????????????????????

Monarch Butterfly, October 2014.  Embarking upon the grand migration.

41 thoughts on “One For the Road”

    1. Yes, it is amazing to think of. It is amazing to me to think of hummingbirds flying so far, but butterflies. That is extra, double, super amazing. 🙂

  2. Amazing how far a little bug can fly just on some flower juice. I’ll try to remember that when I’m not motivated to take my daily walk.

    1. Thanks Amy. It is quite the phenomenon. We did not see many monarchs through much of the summer but we have seen quite a few lately. And we are definitely going to plant milkweed next year. 🙂

    1. Thanks Carol. Autumn is here. Of course, by its nature, it does not stay. But it seems not to be in a hurry this year either. That is a blessing for all of us in these parts. 🙂

    1. Thanks. The rare beauty who was willing to sit still and let me get close enough to capture it with photos. I think butterfly season is wrapping up around here.

  8. I just finished a Gardening book which talked about the Monarch migration to Mexico. The Monarchs stop in a grove of eucalyptus trees in Santa Cruz, CA. on the journey south. They feed on milkweed along the way. Monarchs live one year, enough to fly to Mexico where they mate. It is their off-spring who then return. It is truly amazing that they know the journey back. PLANT MILKWEED!

    1. The monarch migration is amazing in so many ways. What really stuns me is not only their internal navigation abilities, but the simple fact that they fly so far. To think of that butterfly travelling thousands of miles in its “flutter-bye” flight pattern. Truly amazing. I say this one is embarking upon its migration, but it is most likely that it is passing through, already in route from further north. I suppose it was glad of my lingering zinnias. And yes, we plan to plant milkweed next year here in this garden. On a property in the country we allow the side-ditches to grow weedy through much of the summer, allowing the monarchs to have their chance with the milkweed.

    1. Thanks Julie. Yep, it sure is. The annual monarch migration is quite the remarkable natural phenomenon of North America. In peril, though. The Americans need to allow more milkweed to grow and the Mexicans need to allow the wintering grounds to stay intact. Monarch numbers have been dwindling dramatically, but there are still some out there.

    1. It will need to keep heading south to avoid frost here. I expect we are not far from our first frost. Maybe it just flew in from your area, avoiding your frost of last week. 🙂

    1. Thanks. The Monarch is quite the beautiful butterfly. Easily confused with the Viceroy, who does not migrate like the Monarch. (I made sure this was a Monarch before posting.) We also have Swallowtails of the blue and yellow variety. And we have Cabbage Butterflies in white, yellow and occasionally purple. We have several others but I am not knowledgeable enough to name them. What butterflies do you have in Finland?

  14. Thank you Jim for sharing the beautiful Monarch. Your garden brings joy to all of us! 🌎

    1. Hi Sharon. You are welcome. We have had some lovely butterflies this summer. I suspect we are entering the phase when the are not fluttering about for some months. I wish this little one well as it flutters across the countryside to go join its friends in Mexico. 🙂

  15. Very beautiful butterfly photos indeed, especially the last one… I do hope I’ll hear from you some day again, in any case I wish you and your little kingdom all the best as always, Tanja

    1. Thank you very much, Tanja. I see that you are blogging again. Great. Good for you! Literally, I’m sure. Keep it up and please check in here occasionally. The first frost has not yet hit, though it is close, I’m sure. But once the frost and the inexorable advance of autumn alters the landscape, the over-wintering song birds will be more visible and will surely begin flocking to the feeder in earnest. Something to look forward to! 🙂

      1. You’re very welcome, as always. I’m trying really hard to write something, think, blog… it requires time and effort and even though it’s very hard now, in the end it seems meaningful and rewarding when you see that at least somebody took time to read what you have to say and give you some nice input, it is always so very much appreciated. I’ll be visiting your garden, no worries about that, I saw each and every post of yours through the reader, it’s just when everything was totally fresh and extremely hard I somehow didn’t manage to react and participate in comments, I would literally try to say something and somehow fail. It does takes time. Yes, the frost is near, the first temporary one is scheduled for Saturday over here. Tomorrow (October 21st) is 40 days since my dad died, that’s a big event over here (I’ll explain it) but it seems we will be blessed with the last rays of Indian / Miholjsko summer as we have to be at the cemetery. You would be amazed how many rabbits, wild birds/game, little animals and of course crows can be found there, last time we saw one beautiful, huge rabbit. No wonder, it’s a peaceful place, one huge totally flat land outside the town. I’m happy that you’re looking forward to the winter birds, I wish you a great day and all the best! Tanja

  16. What fabulous pictures! Love the way you captured the butterfly and the tree colors are gorgeous!

    1. Thanks. Some years our trees just turn yellow and drop their leaves quite quickly. This year we have had many reds, oranges and various shades of yellow lingering. It has been lovely. 🙂

  18. Je pense qu’ils sont en danger, en particulier ce petit ‘Monarch.’ Mais je suis en train de faire ma part et de leur donner beaucoup de nourriture et d’abris. Ils font l’amour les zinnias. L’année prochaine, nous allons planter plus de ‘Milkweed’ que le ‘Monarch’ a besoin pour survivre.
    J’espère que tu as apprécié ton expo. Tes peintures sont tres belles. Merci pour le partage. 🙂

    1. Hi Cynthia. Don’t be fooled by my trickery – that is one monarch, or maybe two, posing on various zinnias. Overall, we had a reasonable number of monarchs in the late summer. Not what we had 10 years ago, but not dramatically fewer than recent years. This summer I saw many monarchs along country roads out in the rural areas which surround us. They seemed to be attracted to the combination of Chicory and Clover in the side ditches. I hope you are settling into a good winter there. We are now under a blanket of fresh snow here. Cheers. 🙂

      1. Aha! Chicory and clover, eh?
        My sole self-planted milkweed didn’t amount to much so maybe that’s my next step!

        Fresh snow here, too. It’s still falling.

    1. Yep. I told it that the post would be ever so much more interesting if it posed on a variety of flowers. Oh how I love a cooperative butterfly. 🙂

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