Tag Archives: Monarch Butterflies

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Just in time for Autumn, Monarch Butterflies are beginning to grace us with their presence. They travel here to feed before their long migration southward. Paul Brewer recently photographed several in his Gualala garden.

See the two black dots on the Monarch on the left, on his lower wings? That tells you it's a male.

These Monarchs are the Methuselah generation, the long-lived generation that makes the fall migration.

Thanks to Paul for allowing me to share his photos with you here. You can see Paul's nature photographs displayed at the Gualala Arts Dolphin Gallery. Here's the link to their website: https://gualalaarts.org/dolphin-gallery/

The day started out partly-sunny, but for the first time in weeks, smoke has drifted down from the fires in far northern California and Oregon.

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The long-lived generation of Monarch Butterflies has arrived on the Mendonoma Coast. These are the butterflies that migrate south, living up to seven months, and they are known as the Methuselah generation. They are looking for plants on which to feed. So nectar plants, particularly native nectar plants, are very important to them here on the coast. Here are some recent photos of these large, beautiful butterflies.

These photos were taken in different locations and the Monarchs are feeding on different flowers. The photos were taken by, starting with the top -  Tempra Board, Craig Tooley, Eric Zetterholm, and Grace O'Malley.

I thank all these photographers for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

The best way to report your sightings of Monarch Butterflies in the autumn is to either send them to me and/or post your sighting on iNaturalist. The experts monitor Monarch sightings on iNaturalist. You will be contributing to their study of these butterflies that have struggled mightily in recent years. Here's hoping this will be a good year for the Monarchs.

Once again, the day started off gray and cold, with a moist fog bank greeting the dawn. It pulled back somewhat but it is still over the Pacific Ocean and may well in on the immediate coast in places. Temps in the low 60's.

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Monarch Butterflies have migrated to the coast where they feed on nectar plants before heading south for the winter. Paul Brewer photographed several in his garden in Gualala.

When Paul photographed perhaps the first Monarch to appear a while ago, the butterfly was pretty tattered. This butterfly is missing part of its wing. These migrating butterflies are the long-lived Monarchs, called the Methuselah generation. They can live up to seven months and some will travel all the way down to Mexico.

Thanks to Paul for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Paul's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.capturingnatureswonders.com/

It's raining here on the coast this afternoon! We have well over a half inch of the blessed wet stuff. It's nice and mild too, about 60 degrees. We go back to sunny weather after today's rain. Will there be mushrooms soon?

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Grace O’Malley in Timber Cove wrote, “The warm air last week brought out a kaleidoscope of butterflies, flitting and fluttering about in my flower beds. I was delighted to see a pair of Monarchs dating in flight, and then they landed together on a grassy bed, glued abdomen to abdomen. May she successfully locate the native milkweed to perpetuate life."I asked Monarch expert Mia Monroe about these butterflies mating in the autumn. She wrote, “Good to hear from you and with such good news. With this warm weather much is going on, like migration, and some seem frisky and mate. It’s not the best thing as it’s the wrong time of year. But that female can also make it through the winter and then in spring lay her eggs at the ‘right’ time.”

Interesting! Thanks to Grace for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

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This is the time of year we see Monarch Butterflies in greater numbers. Richard Oba photographed one nectaring on Pacific Madrone.

monarch-butterfly-by-richard-obaThe butterflies we are seeing now are the long-lived Methuselah generation. They live about seven months, and they are the ones who migrate south.

Once the winds die down - yes, it's been very windy on the coast - we should be seeing many of these magnificent butterflies in our gardens.

Thanks to Richard for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To report Monarch sightings, and participate in citizen science, go to https://www.learner.org/jnorth/