Sunday, September 17, 2017

Releasing our Monarch

We found her on our Milkweed plant and brought her indoors on August 24th.

She ate all the Milkweed and by August 27th she was full grown.

By September 1st she had pupated into chrysalis,
green with gold flecks, attaching to the top of the butterfly cage netting.

On September 10th the chrysalis turned black 
and if you looked closely, you can see the Monarch inside.

On Sunday the 10th, the chrysalis turned clear,
you can see it behind her in this picture, and she emerged.
It was late in the day, with a cool night forecasted,
so we kept her indoors for the night.

On Monday the 11th we took her outdoors and she flew off immediately.

I had this pretty sunflower ready for her to latch on to,
but she was ready to fly high, and that she did!

27 comments:

Andy said...

Way to go Debbie. I like how you documented the event with the photos.

Adam said...

They look fairly different as a caterpillar

eileeninmd said...

Hello, Yay for the Monarch! You are becoming a pro at raising butterflies. Kudos to you! It is beautiful, great photos.
Happy Sunday, enjoy your day and new week ahead!

Kim said...

How fascinating! What a pity she didn't sit atop the Sunflower for a bit but I guess she had sights to see and things to do. =)

Debbie said...

translated: How wonderful this sequence of photographs. A hug and a good Sunday.

Marie Smith said...

I love how you nuture the tiniest creatures, Debbie. They never disappoint in their beauty!

Changes in the wind said...

Isn't nature the most awesome thing....

Beside a babbling brook... said...

Another one, leaves "the nest." :-)

It has been a lovely summer, for this project, for you.

And thank you for sharing it all, with us.

Luna Crone

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

awwwwwwwwwww the miracle of life

Sally said...

Amazing journey, Debbie. I love this!

xoxo

Michelle said...

That is wonderful!!

Jenn Jilks said...

Isn't that fun? I have one off the front deck, but I cannot find the chrysalis. I'm sure it is fine!

Noke said...

Schön die Bilder vom Leben der Schmetterlinge.

Noke

Cathy H. said...

What a wonderful experience for you! She is gorgeous!

Sue (this n that) said...

Incredible! I love how we could see the butterfly inside the black chrysalis. A beautiful visual recording of it all, thanks so much Debbie :D)

Pam said...

Beautiful.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Beautiful butterfly. Having her sit on that sunflower would have been a wonderful photo opportunity.

Conniecrafter said...

It's amazing that you can see it in the sack, amazing the stages they go through, I bet it never gets old watching them go through all those stages, such a miracle!
I was so saddened on our trip we hit a few of them with our car and we had to pull them out of the front grill of the car :(

Judy Biggerstaff said...

I love the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. Great pics of the cycle. Perfect pic of the sunflower.

Linda said...

Such a beautiful experience! I'm so happy you documented it and shared it with us!

Anvilcloud said...

And off she goes. Great stuff.

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Brian King said...

How cool! I'm glad you were able to raise a monarch! Beautiful!

Prunella Pepperpot said...

Another amazing butterfly free to fly werever it pleases. Beautiful :)

Lowcarb team member said...

Fascinating and wonderful.
Thanks for sharing these photographs.

All the best Jan

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Such a wonderful thing to do -- exciting to see in pictures and must be the greatest feeling of accomplishment!

Unknown said...

She is a true beauty, Debbie!
Thank you so much for sharing the stages here.
It is truly such a wonderful thing to see.
xo.