Monarch butterfly catch up please click on any picture to enlarge it
At last
Sleepy transformation
Coming out
First flightMarion scooped her up and settled her on a nearby red sage bush. She stayed there for a day or two, but made flights around the garden and beyond, then disappeared. Assumedly she went to one of the known wintering locations on our country's east coast. She's an autumn birth so she should live for six or seven months and hopefully will lay eggs on someone else's swan plant in spring. Good eh? Second flight
Bigger pictureOur world's preoccupation is the coronavirus pandemic. In a few minutes I'll be tuning in to today's Covid 19 report! Do butterflies have any place in such a preoccupation? They do. New Zealand and American scientists are concerned about the declining numbers of monarchs and insects in general – a decline partly caused by climate change. They worry about the affect the decline has on biodiversity and the production of human food. And monarchs are pollinators. So we must not let our preoccupation with the sadness and awfulness of this pandemic deter us from confronting longer term issues. Moreover, there is good as well as bad in the created world. The beauty of the monarch and the wonder of its amazing life cycle typifies and symbolises good. That's well worth remembering. □ John McInnes Friday 22 May 2020 Reference: please click anywhere on the red text Lifecycle of monarch butterflies - a Digital NZ Story by Zokoroa Earlier post: They are not here, 24 January 2020. To go there, put 'butterflies' into the search bar or use 'Archives.' Photos: by John or Marion McInnes ##########
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