Monarchs making migration

Photos by Barry Wallace

Two monarch butterflies appear on the same flowering plant in my backyard in King City.   These are migrating monarchs which are engaged in intense nectaring after a productive breeding season across the northern range, including Ontario.   Declining daylight is a key clue that triggers the monarch's migratory instinct.   Migratory (non-breeding) monarchs live up to eight months. Intense feeding now builds body fat to fuel migration and to survive the winter in Mexico.   In the second photo below, a monarch shares a feeding spot with a very close bee.

Whenever I see a butterfly picture, I always think of the photo below, which my sister Denise took a couple of years ago in the village of Wemindji, in Quebec, on the shores of James Bay, where she lives.   She captured a precious moment when three fritillary butterflies, close together, posed perfectly for her.

Photo by Denise Georgekish

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace