Thursday, July 26, 2012

Mucho Monarch

I followed a Monarch butterfly around the yard the other day, stalking it like I was the paparazzi...


They love the echinacea!



Beautiful creatures.








My favourite butterfly. I like them so much, I put them in the Bug Rug I hooked a few years back...



Monarchs are in trouble and need all the help they can get. Here are some tips for planting flowers that Monarch butterflies love. We have a lot of Monarch-friendly flowers on our farm, including milkweed, swamp milkweed, butterfly weed, bergamot, black-eyed Susan, common yarrow, New England aster and Canada Goldenroad. And as you can see, they enjoy echinacea (coneflowers.)

And check out eButterfly where you can help by recording the butterflies you observe.

Let's do all we can to keep this beautiful butterfly around for many years to come.



28 comments:

  1. I love Monarchs too. I saved one from the underground at work the other day. Caught him and brought him up in the elevator and released him in the roses outside.

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  2. Fabulous photos!

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    1. Thank yoU! High praise coming from such an excellent butterfly photographer as yourself.

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  3. Simply gorgeous photos!

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    1. Thanks Sandra! good subject matter. :)

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  4. Wow...you and that camera are really working well together. I love the first comment...yah!

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  5. I love Monarchs...I'll keep all the 'noxious weeds' our township wants us to destroy, for the Monarchs. (Blows BIG raspberry at township...feel free to join in!).
    Jane x
    PS Gorgeous photos.

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    1. Our township sprays roadsides too (UGH!) but you can put signs on the front of your property that say "No spray" and they'll skip your place. WE did that this year.

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  6. Such a beautiful butterfly

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    1. THey are really special. It's amazing to think they migrate to Mexico!!

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  7. I never realized how spotted their bodies are. I have a small caterpillar eating a milkweed plant that I keep checking on, and hope he can make it to being a butterfly. Not easy to get good photos of butterflies, because they're usually flying around! Glad you were able to get some.

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    1. 100 rejects and a couple of good ones! :) You need a lot of stealth to photograph them! ROnna takes great butterfly shots.

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  8. I adore your "bug rug"! It is beautiful!

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  9. Wow... amazing photos!!!

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  10. Much to my neighbours' dismay, I have milkweed growing all over my yard for the sake of the Monarchs. They really are beautiful creatures and your photos are beautiful too.

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    1. Hooray! And milkweed smells great when it's in bloom. I love the scent!

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  11. Pretty Pretty Pretty!
    Love the rug!

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  12. Really sharp images. This looks like one of those fibre glass "gizmos" (I can't think of the right word" that are very bright and brilliant.

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    1. Thanks Red! These were taken with just my little Canon Elph. Amazing what that tiny camera can do.

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  13. Absolutely stunning!!!

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  14. Nat, your photos are truly beautiful! You're a talent photographer! You have many talents!!!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!