It is terrific to hear there are so many up there. We have more than usual here, but they aren't migrating yet---just hanging around nectaring. I love seeing them.

I've never seen that; oh, that would be so lovely!

I have seen swallowtails off and on all summer, the adults nectaring on the zinnias and the larvae eating the parsley. But I have seen very few monarchs this year which I realized when I saw one in the garden today.

We had lots and lots of swallowtails, Dorothy--but like you, haven't seen many monarchs. The swallowtail cats devoured my dill and fennel and parsley, bless their hearts--I was happy to see it.

Between the Tachinid flies and braconid wasps I've had very few monarchs this yr. they are killing them like crazy! Same thing happened last yr. but not as many. I had cocoons lined up along the porch 2yrs. ago but last yr and this no! So sad to see the cats hanging on branches dead and cocoons with the threads of the Tachinid fly on it!!

https://usat.ly/2wBQo3D

Saw this & thought of you. Butterflies caught on radar.

Dawn I didn't see as many around Leedey last weekend. Some of my cover crop has been blooming for the last 2-3 weeks. Propably had 1-2 hundred that stayed in the garden in it. I needed to mow it but waited until yesterday. That is the first day I didn't see any. So guess they may of finally moved on. They sure seemed to like what ever had the white blooms.

Our plants are so messed up. We still have white autumn asters (the little native ones) in bloom for the butterflies, but most other autumn wildflowers seem like they are finishing up, so the monarchs need to hurry up and get headed south. The last day or two, I've seen several new, freshly emerged monarchs hanging onto plants, wings stretched out---like they are drying their wings before they fly. Since the fall wildflowers are finishing up (goldenrod and liatris are done, white asters and some of the blue autumn sage still are blooming in the fields, and some of the helenium too), I think the butterflies cannot delay heading south too much longer. However, we have some spring bloomers, largely red Indian paintbrush and the pink Spring Beauties, and some tiny frogfruit flowers too, that have emerged and are blooming. I assume that they went dormant in the hot, dry summer weather as always and then, when all that heavy rain fell at the end of August, they reacted as if it were spring, and sprouted, grew and are blooming now. It is odd, but not unheard of after a very dry summer.

The various types of butterflies that hang around the garden still have morning glories, four o'clocks, daturas, moonvine flowers, periwinkles, zinnias and more in bloom, but the monarchs that are traveling are going to be finding less and less in the fields at this late date. Normally the monarchs all have cleared our area by now, but I've seen some every day this week so they're obviously lagging behind. If yours left a couple of days ago, then ours should clear the area here soon. We've been pretty warm during the day, but some of the nights have been in the 40s at our house and in the 30s at our Mesonet station at Burneyville. I'm not sure what their cold tolerance is, but surely they know they need to be getting further south than here by this late in October.

Thanks jlhart.