Migrating Monarchs

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

There's gobs of migrating monarch butterflies in our area. No telling how many, probably thousands. Everywhere you look during the day you see dozens.

Tonight a few hundred have settled into the trees out back near our covered deck. They have settled onto bare branches and look like leaves until you look really close.

We've never seen anything like it before.

[Carol C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carol C]

Beautiful! I once visited an area near Monterey Bay Calif where monarchs over-winter. It's a spectacular sight!

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

I wish I could see them!

I just love Flutter-Bys.

When I was very small my mom would give me "Butterfly Kisses" which is accomplished by putting your eye near a chubby little child's face and rapidly batting your eye and brushing thier cheek with your eyelashes.

My DS has gotten his share of them too.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I wish I could see them!

I just love Flutter-Bys.

When I was very small my mom would give me "Butterfly Kisses" which is accomplished by putting your eye near a chubby little child's face and rapidly batting your eye and brushing thier cheek with your eyelashes.

My DS has gotten his share of them too.

Oh that is just too sweet!! My boys are too old to appreciate them, but I can save them for grandchildren and a choice niece, thanks Lawren!

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Take a picture and post it! They must like Western Missouri and not Eastern Missouri

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

JLB....Wow, that really sounds magnificent......I would love to be able to see them. Maybe you can take some pictures.



Lawren......'Butterfly Kisses' .....that's so sweet. Isn't there a song about them?

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Lawren......'Butterfly Kisses' .....that's so sweet. Isn't there a song about them?

Huh I never knew that! But sure enough there is! Col

Bob Carlisle - Butterfly Kisses Lyrics
There's two things I know for sure:
She was sent here from heaven and she's
daddy's little girl.
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night
She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and
I thank god for all the joy in my life
Oh, but most of all
For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;
sticking little white flowers all up in her
hair; "Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride."
"I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried."
In all that I've done wrong I know I must
have done something right to deserve a hug
every morning and butterfly kisses at night.

Sweet 16 today
She's looking like her mama a little more everyday
One part woman, the other part girl.
To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls
Trying her wings out in a great big world.

But I remember
Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer; sticking
little white flowers all up in her hair.
"You know how much I love you, Daddy, But if you
don't mind I'm only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time."
With all that I've done wrong I must have done
something right to deserve her love every morning
and butterfly kisses at night.

All the precious time
Like the wind, the years go by.
Precious butterfly.
Spread your wings and fly.

She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride-room just staring at her.
She asked me what I'm thinking and I said "I'm not
sure-I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."
She leaned over...gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there,
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair
"Walk my down the aisle, Daddy-it's just about time."
"Does my wedding gown look pretty, Daddy? Daddy, don't cry!"

Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must have
done something right.
To deserve your love every morning and butterfly
kisses-I couldn't ask God for more, man this is what love is.

I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember
every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

lawren,

Yep, that's the one I was thinking of.....It's very sweet, but it gives me a lump in my throat.

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

JLB - You are so lucky to see the monarch butterflies in your back yard

The awesome sight of hundreds of monarch butterflies flying across a vast expanse of land inspires a feeling of wonder in all who are lucky enough to see such a beautiful sight

Unlike most other insects in temperate climates, Monarch butterflies cannot survive a long cold winter. Instead, they spend the winter in roosting spots. Monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains travel to small groves of trees along the California coast. Those east of the Rocky Mountains fly farther south to the forests high in the mountains of Mexico. The monarch's migration is driven by seasonal changes. Daylength and temperature changes influence the movement of the Monarch.

In all the world, no butterflies migrate like the Monarchs of North America. They travel much farther than all other tropical butterflies, up to three thousand miles. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, two way migration every year

The Monarch Butterflies need to be in warm climates
So they head south at the end of summer - Aug/Sept
and arrive in California and Mexico around November 2

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

A couple of you have forgotten how technologically backwards I am. I don't know how to get the pictures form my Kodak Brownie on the Internet.

We had a visitor from Canada arrive last night, a cold, blowy front. The flutter-bys had settled in the NW corner of our property, but a line of trees somewhat protected them.

This morning they are still there, just now beginning to open their wings and leave.

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

May Two Thousand Ten - Monarch Butterfly - US Stamp $.64


Monarch Butterfly

On May 17, 2010 the Postal Service will issue a monarch stamp, the first butterfly stamp design that will be issued for use on large-size greeting cards. Many cards that require the additional postage will carry an outline of a generic butterfly to suggest to customers that they may want to buy the new butterfly stamp. The Monarch First-Class Surcharge Rate stamps will be published as a pane of twenty.

Nationally acclaimed artist Tom Engeman used images of mounted butterflies to inspire the stamp art he created by computer. The result is a highly stylized, simplified image of a monarch - more the illusion of the butterfly than an exact replica.

Engeman, of Bethany Beach, DE has designed a long list of stamps for the U.S. Postal Service including the Liberty Bell Forever stamp, various stamped cards in the Historical Preservation series, and sixty stamps for the Flags of Our Nation series that began in 2008.

USPS: 2010 Monarch Butterfly Stamp

[jlwquilter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jlwquilter]

I gew up in Orchard Park - a south town suburb a Buffalo NY. On the country/farm side of town. One year when I was a kid a swarm of monarchs(I don't know what a large group is called) landed for 2 days on our lilac and snowball trees. They looked like dull dead leaves with the wings closed but when they opened, WOW! It's a once in a lifetime sight to see.

[WanderLust Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close WanderLust]

Several months ago, there was a pbs special concerning the migration of these beautiful creatures. This special was the first time I had heard that the butterflies that migrate to Mexico are the fourth generation of that particular year.

Found this info: Did you know that monarch butterflies go through four generations each year? The first three generations hatch from their cocoon state (also known as the pupa or chrysalis state) and live for up to six weeks, but the fourth generation continues to live on for up to six or eight months so that they can migrate to a warmer climate, hibernate, and then start a new first generation in the spring time.

Monarch Butterflies- Facts to Amaze Your Friends!