Bless you merry gentle folk, let nothing you dismay,
Remember that the sun returns upon the solstice day,
The growing dark has ended now,
And spring is on its way,
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy. Comfort and joy. OH, tidings of comfort and joy.
Autumn
Beautiful Butterflies
We ended up with 23 beautiful monarch caterpillars munching away on our milkweed. They devoured several plants and were still hungry. After calling a few local nurseries we located a few more young plants. We now have every variety of milkweed monarchs like in our yard. Luckily, some of the seed pods were munched only a little, and they have seeded the yard. This plant, which was completely chewed down, is also already sprouting fresh, new leaves.
One morning we noticed that we were missing a few caterpillars. We started watching more closely and found that when the caterpillars are done eating, they get very hyper and march quickly up and down the stalks and leaves. Suddenly they will head down and off the plant to find a safe new place for their chrysalis. Hazel sat for many hours watching the caterpillars. She was able to observe the caterpillars find their safe branches, and watch them form the chrysalis. Because of her observations, we knew the location of 8 of the chrysalis. The above photo is of a pupa moments after the chrysalis was formed, having shed the last layer of caterpillar skin.
One morning Hazel noted this little fellow had fallen off his branch. We know it is a fella because female pupa have an extra line in one area. You need a magnifying glass to really see the line so we took this chance to have a look.
When the butterfly is about ready to emerge the chrysalis is clear and you can see the wing pattern within.
Here a male Monarch has just emerged. Males have thiner wing veins and two little black dots on the lower wings.
If you are a grown up, observing butterflies is only half the fun. It has been just as special watching little people spend hours patiently watching this real-life magic happening.
Here we are waiting for this Monarch's wings to dry so we can say farewell and wish him safe travels on his trip to Mexico.
Babies!!
molting larva
We planted this milkweed to encourage a natural habitat in our yard. We hoped to attract some monarchs next year for research. Imagine our excitement when we found 11! little babies crawling around. We our going to do our best to protect these lovelies. They are the super stars of their generation. Monarch caterpillars who hatch in late summer will be those that make the long journey to Mexico, over- winter there and return back next spring to start the cycle again. We are honored to have these little visitors. I was explaining to the children about protecting them and showing them some books when Lian exclaimed he "Will protect them from bad guys!' We talked about how humans are the ones that have made the Monarchs journey so difficult. How we need to protect their habitat. I wasn't sure that they really understood, but, it lays the groundwork, ya know. Then I hear " I'm a good person! I will keep them safe." All the other kids chimed in. So- I guess they get it. Lots of good people accidentally make the world a less safe place, for monarchs, for bees, for fish and birds, for children. Being a steward for the next generation of living things takes a lot of thought. Getting these little people thinking about the small stuff makes it easier for them to notice the connections all around them- and how we are all in this together. Thank you Mama Monarch for choosing our milkweed.