Wow. How cool! Thank you so much!

Thanks windberry. I didn't hear the music but it wasn't needed. The angles the hummer was making, the colors of the bees, the beautiful Mexican bats. The hummer and the spider web.

I am sad to post it here but I just stumbled upon an article at the Xerces Society website about the results of the 2017 Thanksgiving Monarch counts in California. The results are alarming.

They" currently have preliminary count results from 97 sites, which includes many of the most important overwintering sites. In 2017, these sites accounted for 77% of the total monarch overwintering population, hosting approximately 148,000 monarchs. In 2018, the same sites have only 20,456 monarchs. This represents an 86% decline since last year. . . . the magnitude of this year’s drop is of significant concern because the monarch population was already at a new low after the 97% decline it has experienced since the 1980s " https://xerces.org/2018/11/29/critically-low-monarch-population-in-california/

There is alarming decline in overall insect populations as well, reported in other publications, you will find links here:

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/name-that-insect-dsvw-vd~5574073[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/name-that-insect-dsvw-vd~5574073) and https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5559078/im-just-going-to-leave-this-here

Where are we heading?

I did read this. No idea where we are heading. All I can do is trying to do my best for them all in my little patch of the world.

Ditto, Iris! :)

Double ditto Iris & javiwa!

Yeesh windberry. Those are quite terrible data! I had several Monarch eggs in Portland this year and didnt notice a change in migration this far north from years past.

This is all despite our best efforts. I’ve been one third of a nonprofit dedicated to inexpensively selling Native Asclepias for the past few years... too little too late apparently. I blame Monsanto and population growth.

O.E. and a bunch of western Asclepias species that never die to the ground! The population that overwinters in the southern U.S. also has a higher rate of infection due to highly contaminated milkweeds. There is a stable non migratory population in Mexico. one in Hawaii, one in Spain and one in New Zealand. Too many are being lost on the journey to Mexico, but that is happening accross the board with all species especially our migratory birds. It appears that lack of milkweeds is not the reason for their rapid decline. I raised several monarch cats last year and there were a few crysalises that were infected. It's heartbreaking to see their lives end in that stage!

https://youtu.be/8q44uzoTR2E

http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2018/01/29/monarchs-milkweed-in-mexico/

Interesting articles. So I may not ever notice a decline in the northern populations until the wintering population completely collapses...