Our warm, sunny days are limited now. Each day the sun rises a little later and sets a little sooner. But between those two markers is enough time to warm some air and raise a few spirits.
Today I’m featuring a tiny, helpful animal who takes advantage of warmth, sunshine, and late blooming plants. You’ll find them flitting from one colorful blossom to another. They’re searching for drops of nectar, a last burst of energy, before they need to pass the cycle of life to the next generation. Or, in the case of some species, migrate to a warmer climate.
If you can find a sunny patch of blooms I advise you to stand (or sit) very still and wait for them to appear. They may bring friends – bees and dragonflies. But the star of the show is the colorful, always-in-motion butterfly.
You know, Ellen, I try to avoid freeways. Driving north from Madison WI to Eau Claire on State Highways after Labor Day, I could drive slow enough and ever pull over to enjoy a herd of buffalo and watch flowers waft in the wind.Then along the roadside, I spotted tiny spots circling. The closer I drove, the more color I saw. It was monarch butterflies. I told a friend later I’d seen a swarm. She told me it was a KALEIDOSCOPE of butterflies. What an appropriate word for a swirl of color!