South Auckland / Clarkes Beach / 2005-09-17 22:00:00
We had lots of Monarchs here during the summer, many people grow the swan
plant, including me. It would often be easy to look out my upstairs window
and see 5 Monarchs flying around in my garden, and another up to 7 sitting in
the Australian Bottlebrush tree which flowers all year round - it must be a
good source of nectar.
A short time before Winter set in - so probably May - a local said they had
been walking along one of our pathways, through grass and tree planted area,
and they saw a group of folks staring into one of the trees. They were
looking at a huge gathering/hanging/swarm of butterflies, like I have seen in
a movie and understand that it is a gathering before they take off to the
wintering area.
However, now for the interesting bit. Beginning of Winter I didn’t notice any
Monarch around here, but about 10 days before reading your letter in the
paper I noticed one flying in my garden and have made a sighting of a single
butterfly flying on a very regular basis. I would say at least 4 days a week.
- City/Region: South Auckland
- Suburb: Clarkes Beach
- Site: home garden
- Weather: fine
