Yesterday, September 27, I spotted my first Monarch of the day at about 12:57 PM, nectaring on Bidens alba in my pollinator habitat. Within minutes, a Monarch landed on the Blue Mistflower in my new wildflower bed. I can’t say for certain it was the same butterfly, but it probably was.
That Monarch stayed. It moved from plant to plant and flower to flower, nectaring on the Blue Mistflower for about two hours and ten minutes.
Then, around 3:00 PM, shortly before the first one left, a second Monarch arrived and nectared nearby on the Blue Mistflower. It stayed less than a minute before a Gulf Fritillary loosely chased it off. But for those few seconds, I had two Monarchs nectaring on the Blue Mistflower at the same time. As far as I can tell, that’s a first for this bed this year.
One Monarch settling in for over two hours tells me this bed is doing its job as a fueling stop during fall migration. It’s only a beginning, but it’s a good one.
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