This butterfly had its choice of flowers as I chased after it last week at Green Spring Gardens, but it chose instead to grab some nectar from a lowly clover plant. Still, I can’t complain—it was my first sighting of a Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) this season.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Always a treat. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I’m definitely hoping to see more, Dan. It is a little disconcerting how few butterflies I have seen this year.
We haven’t seen very many either.
Yeah! The monarchs are here. I love them. Have not seen any here. I was so pleased to enjoy your stellar photo Mike. Cheers🦋
Thanks, Suzette. Hail to the Monarchs. I will keep my eyes open and with a little luck I’ll find some more.
Awesome.🦋👍
I had a monarch last week in my zinnias. We’ve had few butterflies this year.
Monarchs on zinnias are a great combination. One of my favorite photos of a monarch was on a Zowie Zinnia (https://michaelqpowell.com/2018/08/19/zowie-zinnia-and-monarch/) . As for butterflies, I have received comments from a number of folks who have noted a scarcity of butterflies this year, but a few others have noted that they are seeing more than normally. It’s another thing to add to the long list of strange things in 2020.
Great shot! Monarchs are one of my favorite butterflies!
Thanks. It was not exactly the kind of shot that I was hoping for, but sometimes you have to be content with what you get. I love Monarchs too and will be keeping an eye open for more opportunities to photograph them.
Namaste again, Mr. Mike! This is a beautiful butterfly! I betcha it is a newbie cause its wings are perfect. I like that I can see the proboscis in the pretty clover flower. Clover and the flowers are important. Gem lets the clover grow in the backyard and doesn’t let the men cut it with a mower. Do you know why? Cause the little Cottontail rabbits and all the bees love it. So does the Groundhog family. There is a big big Daddy, a big Mommy and a little kid. Sometimes all 3 come and sometimes just 1. When it’s just one big Groundhog I don’t know if it’s the Daddy or the Mommy. Gem and I named them Punxsy, Tawney and Philben. I named Philben! They eat the Squirrel’s and Chipmunk’s peanuts too. Thank you and Bye again.
Thanks, Benjamin. I think you may be right about the butterfly being a new one. I love that Gem lets the clover grow for the animals. I sometimes see some little cottontail rabbits in my neighborhood, but so far no groundhogs. It’s cool that you have a whole family of them to watch. Take care, Benjamin.
Nice photo, Mike. We have had an opposite experience with butterflies this year as there seems to be a surplus. Perhaps some of yours spending summer with us?
That’s interesting and might be the case. We have had a similar issue with dragonflies, with some areas reporting fewer than usual and other areas reporting more than normal. I am not sure what it doing on–perhaps it is weather related.
Lovely!
Thanks.
Nice Mike! It does seem like butterflies around us are scarce so far!
Thanks, Reed. I don’t know if it is perception or reality, but a number of people have made similar comments, thought some say they are seeing more than normally.
Hark, the Herald!
Hopefully the vanguard…
I had my first a few days ago. With all the visits, both observed and not, there were few opportunities for a posed Monarch until then. Glad that you got one and hope you are able to photograph a few more before they migrate.
Congrats, Steve. I am hoping too that I have at least a few more encounters with Monarchs.
We have zero caterpillars so far on our large milkweed drop. So sad. I hope they show up soon. I can count on one hand the monarchs I have seen this year. 😦
So sorry to hear about the lack of caterpillars. I was happy to see a couple more Monarch this week.