ATTENTION NEEDED

Monarch on a Blazing Star --------

My German photography friend Maren Arndt knows how to make good macro shots of butterflies and insects https://marensfotoblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/alle-lieben-rainfarn/. She is a true artist and environmental conscious photographer. Her latest blog post has inspired me to put the Sigma 150mm / f2.8 and 1.4x Teleconverter on the camera today and try to hunt for butterflies between Joan’s flower beds in the yard. My best shot was the one above of a Monarch butterfly, an insect that is in big trouble, mainly due to the loss of habitat.

Milkweed is the only plant where the Monarch butterflies will lay their eggs. It is not the prettiest plant on the planet but we let the milkweed grow wherever it comes up in our property. Iowa has a strategy designed to help keep the threatened Monarch off the national endangered species list. To make it short, recreating habitats (instead of steril grass patches) can make a difference. Below are a few links to sources that explain why this should be a big deal for all of us here in the Midwest. If we can’t fix it, our grandchildren may not be able to enjoy this butterfly when they are grown up anymore.

https://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/monarch/annual_cycle_wheel.gif

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2017/02/27/iowa-launches-plan-save-threatened-monarch-butterflies/98492138/

http://monarchsineasterniowa.blogspot.com

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ia/programs/financial/eqip/?cid=nrcseprd889463

If you are still with me after looking at all the links (thank you, if you do!), here are some thoughts about the photo. First, it’s just a photo, and it doesn’t tell the full story. Sometimes I have to acknowledge that the picture alone is not enough to create the awareness a particular environmental case needs. The text, or like today pointing out to other sources, may make our brains working. The photo becomes second nature, it just supports the message. Still not a bad thing…

 

NATURE CLICKS #294 - MONARCH

To be honest, I postponed writing a blog post about the Monarch butterfly for quite some time, hoping to get still more and better shots of it as the summer season progressed. I hope it was a good year for this species, at least I have seen a lot more of them than during the last 3 - 4 years. Millions of Monarchs from central and eastern North America migrate to the mountain forests of central Mexico each year to spend the winter there. If you use the internet you will find out why the Monarch butterfly is a candidate to be on the list of endangered species. It is a very complex thread, ranging from extensive logging operations in Mexico to the consequences of climate change, especially global warming. It is, as so often, not just one man-made event but the summary of several factors that have lead to a dramatic decline in the last years

Every website that talks about solutions to stop the decline recommends to plant and care for Milkweed (see the second image). This is the plant the Monarch caterpillars depend on. Hey friends here in North America, let this plant grow in your front and backyard!! Who needs “golf-course-look-alike” grass patches around the house? Only your ego! Your kids and grandkids will never ask in 2035, how did your grass look twenty years ago? It is a sad question if they will ask you, have you ever seen a Monarch butterfly?...!!!