I suppose you had to be there

The fall Monarch butterfly migration is underway. Legions of them have been congregating on my tallgrass prairie restoration in southeast Kansas. Yesterday I came upon a hundred (more? many more?) of them feasting on a patch of White Crownbeard (Verbesina virginica), a.k.a. Frostweed. It's an important nectar source that provides fuel for their long journey south. In a nearby field on my place I saw lots of them using Rigid Goldenrod (Solidago rigida). Soon the Willow Aster (Symphyotrichum praealtum), another crucial nectar source for migrating Monarchs, will be in full bloom.

Monarchs, which weigh just half a gram, travel thousands of miles to their overwintering grounds in Mexico. Crucial fall-blooming plants provide the needed energy for the long trip. Monarchs bide their time in a good location with abundant flowers, fueling up and gaining weight, waiting for a strong north wind to push them onward to their ultimate destination. With a sufficiently strong tailwind they can ride the thermals and travel 50 to 100 miles in a single day.

I wanted to provide a sense of what I experienced yesterday, but you really had to be there. Try as I might, it was impossible to capture the scene in a single photograph, with butterflies constantly flitting among the plants, alighting to soak in some nectar, and then moving on to another nearby flower.  The scene was riotous.

It's been a long, hot, dismal, and depressing summer on many fronts. So much is wrong with the world. I was glad to see the Monarchs somehow survived the weeks of 100 degree heat. And the experience reminded me why I do this work in the first place.

Click on the image below for a larger view.  

 Monarch butterflies on White Crownbeard

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