Monday, September 1, 2014

A Monarch!

On the last official day of summer, Labour Day, we finally saw a monarch!  Hadn't seen one for two years until this.  Maybe my scattering Milkweed seeds around the meadow last winter helped!

It was perched on a thistle blossom, and I was able to get close enough to get several pictures before it fluttered away.

My wife spotted it from the deck and I hurried to get my camera; this was my first clear picture, the pattern on the underwing showing it's a Monarch, not a Viceroy.

But it sat still long enough for me to creep closer and get a couple of good shots that also managed to be pretty well in focus - the autofocus on my camera isn't working, which I find frustrating.

Meanwhile, my main computer has died again.  I think I'm going to give up and get a new one.  Someday I'm going to lose a lot of pictures if I don't get things set up correctly.


19 comments:

  1. Hi There, Gorgeous butterfly. Loved your photos. The Monarchs are some of the prettiest ones of all I think. Glad you saw them. Hope you have a beautiful Fall. I am SO ready for it here.. It's still pretty hot right now...
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  2. Monarchs are the royalist of all butterflies, in my eyes, and we have some here, as we are into the second day of spring.What have they been doing all winter, I know in one area they hibernate under huge pine trees, till the new season calls them into the sunshine and warmer days. Mr FG, a new laptop or desktop, go right out there and get the very best, with your tramps, trails through the forests, snow trips, and flowers, ferns and more, your photos deserve, and you do too, the top of the line. I have a Toshiba, but not enough RAM now I am taking photos, Windows 7, OH for an upgrade!!! It has been quite adequate for a few years, but I guess we can all dream. Cheers, Jean.

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  3. p.s. I did not say, those photos are truly superb, specially the last one... Jean.

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  4. I can't think of anything much more heartwarming than seeing a Monarch.

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  5. Nice sharp focus. Lovely captures all.

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  6. So fun to see this. I haven't seen any here for a couple of years either.

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  7. the monarch is the supermodel of the butterfly world me thinks, they're so photogenic.

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  8. I am glad you saw one. We have seen one or two here. It does not seems enough to ensure their survival. There is a huge patch of milkweed here but hardly a Monarch. I hope they can make it. It is amazing how they seemed to have collapsed suddenly. There were still quite a few in 2012.

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  9. What an excellent photo of this little beauty.

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  10. That's so wonderful! I bet the milkweed seeds did help. Haven't seen one here yet. Good luck on the computer front. What a pain!

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  11. How lovely!
    Please link up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2014/09/shell-game-linky.html

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  12. Beautiful shot of the butterfly. Ken is right now backing up everything on his computer. He thought his computer died yesterday but managed to work some magic and get it working again. Not taking any chances now. Maybe a warning for you. : )

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  13. Nice shot! It's always so hard to capture a butterfly as they never seem to hold still for very long.

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  14. The contrasting colors with the thistle flowers are beautiful. The monarchs have such perfect coloring, and you did a good job of capturing them!

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  15. What a beauty… I was visited by a single monarch this summer too, it lifted my heart to watch it dance from blossom to blossom.

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