Murray in My Garden
At about 7 am today, I introduced Murray to my garden flowers. After briefly climbing on to my fingers, I placed him onto an hydrangea.
It was quite cool this morning so Murray was not anxious to fly away just yet. This was a fortunate circumstance, allowing me to take photos of him in various positions.
He made his way to the flower where he rested before venturing out. About 12 hours after his “birth”, Murray went on his way.
Bon Voyage Murray!
Murray on an Hydrangea
Most migration of monarchs take place in the early Fall. So, it is possible that Murray will be the last of his generation up north to mate. His children will travel thousands of miles from the northeastĀ to spend the winter monthsĀ in a state of semi-hibernation in Mexico.
According to reports, monarchs can travel up to 50 miles a day for a total trip of about 2,000 miles. Their destination is one of five “official” wintering sites in Mexico. Swarms of thousands of butterflies are often seen at these sites (wish I could go to seem them myself).Ā This YouTube video shows one of the migrations sites.
The image below is Murray in full wing. You can easily see the bumps on his inner wing veins that indicates that he is a male. Now he will seek a mate and hopefully produce enough eggs for some to survive to adulthood.
My Murray