From Hatch to First Flight - An Afternoon Spent Following a Female Monarch

I saw two of the three chrysalises flutter away. This morning a freshly hatched female was waiting for me at my door. On a warm day, a newly hatched monarch can be on the wing in 20 minutes. It was a cool morning, however, and almost 4 hours - and many changes of light - passed before her wings dried and body warmed enough for flight.

It seemed as if every flutter would be ‘the one.” As there is nothing more important than watching butterflies live, I spent the afternoon documenting the slow process of wings expanding and hardening, flight muscles strengthening and activating. That was Sunday.

This morning, another of the missing chrysalises appeared on the porch. This one, also a female (no spot on the lower wing.) hatched on a warmer, wetter day.. She hung upside down under the baby spruce as the rain hammered. Shortly after the rain lifted, she gave a first flutter to climb up the porch post. Of course, the minute I turned the camera off for a moment to readjust, she was off into the sky, the trees, to Mexico.