The monarch butterfly In the summer of 2022.
The monarch butterfly was declared an endangered species. I’m wondering if because of that I appreciated them more this year than in the past.
I intentionally lingered when I saw one of these beautiful creatures. I watched one or two at a time basking on the mountainous purple heliotrope on our deck. They frequented the yellow tubular primula for nectarine. They spent a great deal of time extracting the nectar off the delicate blossoms. They visited the pink butterfly bush often. My husband and I noticed that they remained on the flowers even when we were close. They didn’t fly away as soon as they sensed our movements.
There were more monarch butterflies in our yard this year. Or did we noticed them more after learning of their plight? Nevertheless, the outdoors of our house was graced by an abundance of butterflies. I hope their migratory period in Mexico is a success for their future. We will be ready to welcome them back in the spring along with their relatives.
A couple of links to read about the monarch butterfly.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/monarch-butterflies-are-now-an-endangered-species