We have only had a few monarchs in our neighborhood, on the east side of Madison, Wisconsin, so far, this year. I have seen a total of three adults, and I raised and released one healthy female, from egg to eclosure, back in June. Clearly, the numbers are down. Our damp and dreary spring seemed to keep the bumblebees from flying, and as a result, many of our blueberry flowers were not pollinated, so we will have a smaller crop this year. However, with all the rain, the plants are growing like crazy around here. And not all insects were adversely affected by the spring weather. It has been a good year for the fireflies that live in our yard-I am seeing them every evening.

Well, those are worrisome comments. Robin..you are certainly to be praised for such a tremendous effort on behalf of the Monarchs. Thank you for that work! As for me here in NW GA, I have just seen my first Monarch, and that is VERY unusual for this time of year here. I never see them before August and sometimes it's September. So, I guess the Monarch season is wonky for all of us so far.
Angie

Hi Robin,
I just saw my first female also, but she was not laying eggs.
I did collect two caterpillars that have gone into Chrysalis stage, so I am hoping to breed them, it they are male and female and not both male or both female.
I also live in SE Michigan.
I live near Washington Mi. Are you anywhere near there.
Connie

I see an occasional Monarch, but no ELFs yet. I did have a BST ELF visit though.

Congrats, congrats!!

Sherry

So HAPPY to see your report, Robin. I'm getting a bit nervous now, too, with so few reports of sightings.

... handle those little eggs with kid gloves! :-)

Mary
Monarch Way Station # 6730
... interested in planting Milkweed to help the Monarch Butterfly, check out:
MonarchWatch.org 'Milkweed Market' ... http://tinyurl.com/c5oeesu

Yesterday I had knee surgery but my sister and nephew found the first two eggs on my milkweed! I can't believe that I can't go out and look myself, but I'm happy to have a couple of eggs to watch anyway.

I found two eggs on Friday! One was as I left a patient's house. There was milkweed along their dirt road/driveway, and I saw the egg from my car. I searched for about 10 minutes, but didn't find more. Then, at home, I found one on my own milkweed. I spent about 45 minutes combing my and the neighbor's milkweed patches, but didn't find any more...so far. Now that I know they're here, the hunt is on!

Martha

I think I was wrong about my eggs. The closer I look at them, the less they seem like Monarch eggs. I'll try to get a close up picture and see if anyone can tell me what I've got. They seem too big and smooth to be eggs, but I don't know what they are.

{{gwi:498851}}
I am pretty sure they are not eggs of a Monarch.
They really do not look like a dried milk drop.
Keep them and see what hatches.
Connie