The Monarchs Are Coming. . .

October is when my favorite butterfly makes an appearance in Oklahoma. I have always been fascinated with butterflies, especially Monarchs. Yesterday I saw several Monarchs flying around our yard. Of course, I got very excited! I knew I was going to be seeing a lot of my little friends in the coming days.

I love the richness of their orange & black contrasting colors.

Several years ago when we still lived on Lake Keystone I was walking behind our house enjoying a little walk just before sunset when all of a sudden I noticed that the tree branches were full of Monarch butterflies. What an unexpected, breathtaking sight! What I saw that evening was not quite the number of butterflies you see in this picture, but close. I decided that the Monarchs were 'roosting' for the night, just a resting place on their journey of migration. This beautiful spectacle continued for several evenings, almost a week. I had known for many years that the Monarch butterfly migrated through Oklahoma in October. We would see many flying around on bright sunny days during the first weeks of the month, but never had we witnessed them settling in trees for the night. That particular year was the biggest migration we had ever seen. That year I began teaching a science unit about the Monarch in my classroom. The day after seeing so many Monarchs I took my class outside to count the number of butterflies that were fluttering by the school. There were so many that day it was virtually impossible to count. How exciting! Since that year we have not seen the large number of Monarchs coming through. Maybe this year!

Here is a map showing the path they take during the seasons of the year. Come on little friends, come this way, you're welcome to visit!

God's creation is so awesome, thank you Lord for making your presence known in nature!