#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
Monarch in the yard this afternoon
From the US Fish and Wildlife Service Website
The monarch super generation and their phenomenal migration
Written By
Mara Koenig
As fall approaches, we at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have something special for you to watch and celebrate. Mid-August typically marks the start of fall migration for millions of monarch butterflies. Adult monarchs are partway through their lifecycle, but their reproduction is on hold. These monarchs are different from their parents, grandparents and even great grandparents. Previous generations completed their life cycle in four weeks. Each of these previous generations migrated north, resulting in four generations over the course of the summer. Butterflies in this last generation are members of the generation that migrates south, often called the monarch super generation.
Imagine the journey - flying more than 3,000 miles to Mexico, not knowing where you can rest or where you will have your next meal. The sun is your guide on daily flights, traveling about 50 miles each day. You often catch free rides on thermal air currents, sometimes flying a mile high. When rain splashes down, the wind blows strong or your body temperature drops below 86 degrees, you are unable to fly.
I like to say good morning to the cows grazing in the field of the Farm Institute as I did this morning, a bright and warm morning and I walked for seven miles in Katama thoroughly enjoying myself. It was lovely having the alone time with Frank, and now today the house filled with our daughters and Wave and Will and we’re all happy to be together on our favorite island again. Franci and Will are both getting over being sick. Wave and I had delicious time in the Katama waves, the mean ones, the fun ones. The sun was hot and he filled his bathing suit up with sand from the frothy surf. We biked to the beach and back. I had an excellent poetry workshop this morning and I’ve been happy about it all day. I felt quite encouraged with the poem I brought today. The poems shared by others were stimulating and we had great conversation about poetry and it was just very heartening. I’m grateful for such a rich and rewarding day today. Wave slept through dinner but is awake and getting his meal now. I heard him share a little bit of anxiety about kindergarten with his mother and she, of course, was very reassuring. This is so normal. What a big rite of passage. He starts a week from Thursday. And didn’t my daughter just bring him home from the hospital yesterday?