Keeping watch.
Don’t worry little monarch. Keeping delight on for you.©
Remember that feeling of being wedged in the back seat of a hot car in between two hefty relatives in the summer? Time crawling as much as the traffic. Desperately wishing some breeze would make it through the car window, past the mountains of people and give some relief.
That’s what it’s like. Waiting for the cold front. Steamy: spa hot and humid.
Monarch butterflies, however, are all aflutter about it.
Just like movie stars, monarchs crave humidity to keep them from drying out – remaining wrinkle free – while they conserve energy.
With Oct-Nov. travel advisories including shorter days and dropping temps, the butterflies hit the skyway. The neighborhood’s seen them passing through on their way to staging grounds to wait their Uber lift by the cold front’s north winds.
Hey, it’s not cheating!
Well, there was that NASCAR inspired individual that flew went 265 miles in one day. Must have been super charged.
Inquiring minds want to know if it was from the lanky, Lantana that’s struggling to give a few end of the season blooms.
And just like the past years, Mr. Pinchy fingers is at it again. (Catch up on last year’s episode, “Dastardly Bushwhacker. Santa Knows, Dude” here).
Undoubtedly it’s the old guy who’s the local landscape Nazi: reporting to the HOA which yards needing mowing, whose trees are leaning, or if some potting soil bags sit too long on the driveway. You know the kind.
Must think I’m a total dunderhead who doesn’t understand how to pinch back sprawling bushes to fluff them up, so he will demonstrate. Or that I’m just falling lazy. (Secretly, he is jealous of our lush tropical resort.)
Worked for Gloria Swanson. Useful for Vegetable Invasion sentry duty, too(USPD/ Commons.wikimedia.org)
Not taking it to DEFCON 3 at this point.
Posted a keep you darn mitts off my plants, you idiot polite, friendly “Please help save endangered species by protecting these flowers” sign.
And I’ve got a motion activated critter cam in the window – not turned on yet. Yet.
And the Fall flies
Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge
Read more?
- Mexican monarch butterfly reserve damaged by storms. (Aug 2016)
- Mexico closes 7 sawmills in monarch butterfly reserve (Sept 20, 2016)
- Monarch migration update: winds from south, hot temps stall butterflies on Llano River (Oct.16, 2016 Lots of them waiting in Central TX)
- Watch the current action. Monarch butterfly sightings on maps as they move south.
Monday night’s super moon. Looks like this neighbor fired up beacons for monarchs and owls….attracting the skunk was probably totally unintentional…©
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Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge 
we have such a landscape nazi too… he even told me that I should clean my windows… as I offered him a bucket and a sponge he disappeared :o)
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People are so odd, Easy. Sounds like far too many Mr Buttinskies out there with nothing to occupy their time/lives. Thanks for pawsing to chat
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I’m surprised you have neighbors who care. Most families in our neighborhood have professionals do everything in the yard (no, not us!). Even their teenage sons never walk behind a mower. The only thing that would get attention here is a tire at the end of the driveway. Yes that happened. It was there for 3 months because the dunderheads who lived there didn’t want to pay the fee to have it removed. We believe that in the dark cover of the night they put it someplace inappropriate.
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A tire sat there for 3 months? And no kid stopped and got it rolling down the street? Sigh. Kids just do not play outside enough any more.
We have noticed few kids mow yard…too good to do that? Snort. Mowing lawns does seem to teach a kid about hot, unpleasant, hard work and that there might be easier ways of earning a living. That’s what husband swears was behind his childhood of yard work.
Thanks for raking up a comment for this basket
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Kids wouldn’t touch anything as dirty as a tire. (Don’t tell them how disgusting electronic devices get.)
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The tire might “accidentally get rolled into the street on a dark night here…fun and games!
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I was going to nail it to their front door. Oh dear…did I say that out loud?
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I’ll bet they don’t know about pumpkin rolling, either. Gtranted, there aren’t hills in our neighborhood to really increase the excitement of it all, but still… The best pumpkin rolling I ever saw was in Berkelley — from the top of Marin Avenue, all the way to the bottom. It was a long, long, steep roll, and a really big pumpkin. I still smile.
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Rolling pumpkins is probaby more fun than jumping out from a slow rolling car and snatching up Fed-Ex/UPS boxes on porches.
Fun and games has to adapt in the big city?
Thanks for bakin’ up a pumpkin of a comment
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Did not see as many monarchs passing through as other years. As for a neighborhood landscape Nazi, we could sure use one here. I have never lived in a community where people commonly park their cars all over the front yards, and trash and weeds are seldom dealt with. However, we do have a kook living across the street who is OCD about his yard. And, I have caught him throwing his rose bush clippings over our fence (my mom-in-law’s yard), dumping oil and his three dogs crap over our fence, and discarding dead snakes across the fence to our pasture. I’ve tried talking to him and his wife but he claims he hasn’t done anything – even when I’ve caught him red-handed!! I have all day to play that game… it goes right BACK into his yard… and to boot, I’m likely to sprinkle in a few goat heads, grass and cockle burrs in with the mix. We have plenty of those to share! 😀
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A secret fence flipper – we have one of those. What’s the deal with that? He’d skim his pool and but the skimmer pole over on our side of the fence, bang it up and down on the fence until al the crud dumps in my flowerbed….until he looke dup and saw me standing there. Tree branches he trims – the same way. It’s not like he never sees us and we don’t know. Yeah, flip all that back over with a little note (Ooopsie – you forgot these. Kindly returned them to you….I keep threatenting to do that. No incidents rcently – probably worried we’ll turn him in for being over the limit for dogs as he is now raising them …can you say close to puppy mill? Poor dogs…not breeding for brains.
Keeps life interesting…and MOlly keeps hoping one will dig under the fence and come play..she sits quietly waiting…waiting…waiting. Wish we had a yard big enough for a companion dog ( and enough money to pay to another’s health and upkeep. Sigh.)
Thanks for lobing a comment this way
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We have a butterfly bush and let a few milkweed grow in our garden to help lure butterflies. Not anywhere near as many as I ‘d like to see, but every few helps.
janet
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Those plants are the ones identified by environmentalist as critical food sources. So much wild milkweed disappearing seems to be a major cause of monarch species decline. We don’t have the right spot for milkweed or butterfly bush to thrive, but the native Lantana seems to be popular with butterflies, bees, and birds, so I’ll endure the disheveled sprawl…and keep an eye out for Mr Pinchy. Thanks for soaring by with a comment
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I’ve always heard about the monarch migrations, of course, but it seems that other species might hit the road, too. Or at least, they have gatherings. I came across viceroys and what seems to be some sort of blue and black swallowtail. I wish the swallowtails would land somewhere, just once, but I’ve not been clever enough to catch them in flight.
Just so you know, it’s 51 degrees here at the edge of the prairie. Tomorrow morning’s low? A cool 40. Those butterflys better get flying.
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Heavy clouds but little wind to whoosh them on their way this far down the coastal plains.
Winter is coming…they keep promising. It’s dark now when RC says her breakfast is behind schedule. (About time to Fall Back, but she scoffs at all that human manipulation of time as foolishness: obviously if it’s breakfast time, it’s breakfast time – turn on the darn lights if necessary.
Thanks for scouting out signs of fall
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Awwww, butterflies! So pretty! Can’t imagine the world without them; hope we don’t have to.
People? Gah.
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Some still dawdling around here and trying to walk with Molly…maybe they were both lonely and wanting company for a walk? Go flutter-bys. May your winter resort be perfect this year. Thanks for winging by
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My dad is in northern Arkansas. He said there have been a LOT more monarchs this year! Now, they did plant milkweed on purpose to help them out, too.
Tell Mr Pinchy someone wants those seeds! Not just me, but birds eat them too.
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Last Friday on the road it was worse than dodging inattentive scquirrels on one road. “Don’t rush the windshield or grill, butterflies.”
I tried to save you some seeds last year – but it was so rainy, then I forgot to check on the harvested ones and they got yucky. If you know any helpful hints to save some this year, let me know. I’ll fight the teenage bluejay.
N. Arkansas must be gorgeous this time of year – I really want to see the art museum there. Thanks for flying in with a comment
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Fall is moving so fast. I swear I just got back from Denver and it was almost 6 weeks ago! We got our first snow today.
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