Adopt the pace of nature:
her secret is patience.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Patience is not my best virtue. Just ask my parents. Or Randy. Or my kids. On second thought, let's not.
After unsuccessful attempts to photograph Monarch butterflies around my house, I got my chance at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge's Monarch Mania last Saturday morning.
The night before, I'd driven to the refuge's headquarters to see if the Monarchs were nesting in the trees there. When I saw the photo of the clusters of Monarchs on my Facebook page that morning, I hoped they'd be ready for their "closeups" as evening approached and temperatures again cooled.
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| Photo from Quivira National Wildlife Refuge's Facebook page - September 20, 2013 |
But, while there were a few stragglers circling the treetops, most had moved south with the blowing winds. No longer grouped like farmers at the coffee shop, the butterflies that remained at Quivira were loners.
But the 104 people who came for Monarch Mania were undeterred. After we watched the net demonstration, we took off like mighty hunters, toting nets and cameras.
I was intrigued by a preteen girl who seemed to be a walking encyclopedia about butterflies. She captured a Monarch and raced off toward an orange-vested Quivira staff member, who tagged it with a small sticker, recording the number on a clipboard log.
But the 104 people who came for Monarch Mania were undeterred. After we watched the net demonstration, we took off like mighty hunters, toting nets and cameras.
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| Photo from the Quvira Facebook page. All other photos are mine, unless marked otherwise. |
The girl then set the butterfly free, and it made a beeline for some nearby goldenrod. I guess it was a good thing it was hungry because that was the closest I got to a Monarch during this season's migration.
While the Monarchs were the headliners, this Clouded Sulphur butterfly also liked the goldenrod nectar. (Identified with my new handy-dandy Pocket Guide to Common Kansas Butterflies by Jim Mason, which I got at Monarch Mania. I hope my detection skills are correct!)
Cool! Glad you got to see the butterflies! It is so hard to get a good pic of them! LOL! Mine are either blurry or half a butterfly. Great pics.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see them back in the area. The past two summers, we've had very few butterflies because of the severe drought. I hadn't gotten any Monarch photos since 2010 because of that, so I was especially pleased to finally get close enough! Hope your cattle moving adventures go well the next few days!
DeleteCan you tell me anything about that caterpillar? I've seen several of those the past couple of days.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that I can't, Lynda. My handy-dandy butterfly pocket guide doesn't have caterpillars. I saw a dark brown caterpillar on my walk last week. This guy was much prettier. (Sorry for the slow response. I've been wrangling flower girls this past weekend! They don't "light" much longer than butterflies!)
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