It was a beautiful sight, but not exactly the one I had hoped to see. A handful of Monarchs made their way to the Zinnia patch in the garden on September 19. They were late, and much fewer in numbers than last year, when they covered all the trees and bushes in our yard and gardens. I waited for the others to follow but they never appeared. Their times and routes do vary from year to year and as the temperatures began to lower, it became obvious we would not see the same spectacular show as last year. I read on one of the Monarch websites (yes, they have several) that some people in Nebraska had seen the roosts as early as September 8, while others in northern states thought they were later than usual. Frost and cold can affect their migration patterns, as can drought and flooding.
Glad to know they are still alive and well, though we won't see them in such great numbers as last summer when it looked like this:
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| "Butterfly Tree" photo taken on Sept. 6, 2010 |
Still, we enjoyed a quiet beauty, and that can be the best kind...
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| Photo taken on Sept. 19, 2011 |
Have a great week end. Hope to see you next week with a new painting. Hot air balloons - a completely new direction for me! If it turns out, you will see it here, and if not we will quietly move on and forget I ever mentioned it...
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