Another Life Saved

 This morning I noticed when i got up #10 was black so figured soon it would pop out. Nope so here I go again helping this one out of it's shell.  I really thought it was a goner cos when i got part of the shell  off there was no movement, nothing.  As I was pulling the rest of the shell I noticed movement.  Ok quick get this baby out.  I  was surprised when it came out and grabbed on my hand for dear life.  I thought I had a mini butterfly and what was I going to do with it, it could not fly.  I know there is a place in town that would take it.  As I was looking up the address I see the wings have unfolded and voila it is a real butterfly afterall.

I have sure enjoyed this season of successfully having 10 butterflies.  Thank you Lord for allowing me to participate in the miracle of life.

Miracle

 I feel like I participated in a miracle this morning. Last night when I went to bed I noticed that #9 was turning black meaning it would soon be a butterfly.  This morning it was all black but nothing, it was not wet and soggy so no parasite but yet why was it still not out?  I figured it had died so left it until I let #8 go.  A couple hours as I was going to let #8 sit in the cage outside for a bit I noticed I saw a wing.  OK but still after a while nothing. I looked up online that it should be out in 15 minutes and if not I could help it out.  

I kind of freaked out a bit, what if I hurt it, all these questions going through my mind, but I asked God to help me.  I pulled the cocoon off the top of the cage and got a straight pin and started pulling the shell off. I felt movement and saw it wiggling around and pretty soon the wings were free. I pulled the shell of and set it upright and pretty soon it was climbing up the walls of the cage.  I put it in a cage by itself so I could let #8 out.  It is a boy and while it looked smaller and somewhat deformed I think it will be ok.

He will go out tomorrow morning.

#8

 #8 is a girl. I let her go this morning, took some coaxing.  A bittersweet day.  Hope you have a long life.

3 More on the Way

 Yesterday 2 and this morning 1 spun theirselves into the last stage of their journey.  Next week I hope I have 3 more Monarchs, will they be boys, girls, or both?  Look closely up to the top and see if you can find the 3.

Around the Yard

 My salvia is out of control, I already have a whiskey barrel full as well from this plant that I accidently pulled up.  This Vinca is on its 4th summer, I bring it in in the winter and thought last winter it was not going to make it but outside it is thriving and the first bloom.

I found this acorn squash plant on the almost gone shelf for $.50 at Menards, it had 2 leaves on it. I thought maybe I can save it, well it just needed some care and look at it now.  I got a package of asparagus to plant but only 1 is coming up that is ok you have to start somewhere.  My lavender died I think it got too much rain this Spring. 

And Then There Were 3

 How many more will I find?

Not Done Yet

 Since it is about to be brutal weather wise I went out to water my flowers.  Well look what I found. I noticed I had drowned a bee who I think will be ok cos I did not see him and as I was looking at the bee I saw one and then 2. I quickly looked over the rest of the milkweed and did not see anymore but with the first batch I kept finding them, so there may be more.

Here we go again.

His Eye is on the Sparrow

 My dad's fav song.  When I got the bulletin early in the week and saw we were singing it, I knew I would be blubbering like a baby.  I am Liturgist this week and sure enough we sing this right before I read the Bible verses.  

This morning before I went to church I could not find my tomcat.  He was sitting on his haunches chattering to a bird outside in the mulberry tree and it was a cardinal.  The male was flitting from branch to branch and talking back to the tom.  I sat there and watched them, the cardinal got close to the window and the tom just sat there talking to him. I know it was my dad telling me to just sing the song at the top of my lungs and he would be singing with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgymGaMn5lg

It's Been A Year Already

 A year ago today I had to return you to God.  I know you are in kitty heaven and you have your buddy Harry back again. I hope Hermione is not being mean to you. I also know my dad is watching over all of you.  I miss you, the house is quiet and I don't have to clean off the counters so you don't knock things off on the floor and break them.

See you someday.

6 Boys, 1 Girl

 All 7 have emerged and become Monarchs.  If the sun remains out today I will set them outside around noon and let them out this afternoon, let them warm up in the sun.  I hate to let them go but it is time and they need to go populate the milkweed with more eggs.  It has been a fun 3 weeks taking care of them and now I must let them go.  Thank you God for giving me the chance to help this miracle of nature become a reality.  Until next year.

1st Butterfly

 This morning I got to watch this one emerge.  She has been exercising her wings and letting them dry.  Because it is to rain tomorrow I won't be able to release her til hopefully Thursday so I made up some nectar to feed her and will see if I can get some fruit as well.  I have 2 turning dark so there will be more soon I hope.

It is a girl no dots on her bottom wing.  And of course curiosity from the Tom. He knows she is in the cage but he also knows he will get in trouble if he knocks the cage down.

Watching the Decorah Eagle Nest

 As you may know Mom and DM2 built a new nest, N3, and it is out of sight and no camera.  Well looks like we won't ever be able to watch them at N3.  See below from Rapture Resource Project.  I have missed them so much and wonder about all the antics and head bonkings and wingersizing we missed.

We're getting a lot of questions about watching the Decorah Eagles in the 2021/2022 season. John talked about this during our interview with Iowa Public TV last night and I wanted to share it with the wider world.

Are we going to be able to watch the Decorah Eagles next season? It's gotten very complicated. The N3 nest tree (as many of you know from Robin's Day Trips) is dead. Even if the landowner was excited about streaming, we can't climb the tree to install cameras and we don't know how well we can see them from adjacent trees, or how long those trees will remain healthy.

Bald eagles tend to abandon nest trees once the crown has died back and stopped producing leaves, so we don't even know whether Mom and DM2 will stay. They could return to the hatchery and N2B or build a new nest in another tree. Eagle researcher Mark Stahlmaster didn't count eagle nests as abandoned until they went five years without use, which gives us hope for N2B. Here's a video that gave several of you hope for a new nest at N1. Mom looks lovely and neither of the eagles seem ready to rent out N2B! https://youtu.be/GKGPrrRszOs.

So: we were working on ways to stream N3 until we learned that the nest tree was dead. This new wrinkle has caused us to rethink our plans. We'll continue to watch the hatchery in person and remotely, and hope to know a little more about Mom and DM2's plans by early September. We'll share our observations with you. You can help us by sharing your observations via youtube, explore, facebook, and our website as we watch and wait to see what they do!

Exciting Times

 So this just happened I watched it. Nature is amazing.  So excited to have all 7 getting ready to become Monarchs.  Stay tuned for more pictures.