Monarch Love

 Celebrating the Monarch Butterfly.

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Dominion Arboretum Ornamental Garden, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

National Geographic January 2024 Cover.

National Geographic has chosen Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) as its feature for January 2024. The poor Monarch is going through its woes as of late having the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species list it as vulnerable in 2023 Migratory Monarch Butterfly . Here in Ontario, Canada we find the Monarch to with the Conservation Status: imperiled (S2N,S4B) in Ontario, CA (NatureServe). Which is more worrisome for the poor species. These beautiful butterflies migrate from here in Canada all the way to Mexico and they used to be seen all over Canada doing their thing on Milkweed plants each year. Now we are lucky if we just see one for the year.  

My only photo capture of a Monarch this year in Ontario 2023.

The once numerous encounters with this insect are now gone, I count myself as extremely lucky if I get to see one of the beauties in my home town of Ottawa. It was a great adventure to visit the cottage in Alleyn-et-Cawood, Québec, Canada, to see the Monarch going through its metamorphosis in the summer time in the great Milkweed fields found up there. 

On roadside Milkweed in Quebec. Taken July 7, 2019

Alleyn-et-Cawood, Québec, Canada.

Loving the Milkweed.

Taken July 24, 2021 at Kaz Station, Quebec, Canada.

Making sweet love at Kaz Station, Québec, Canada. July 14, 2018.

It used to be great fun to go to the Dominion Arboretum here in Ottawa each summer to find the butterflies working their pollination magic in the gardens but since the re-landscape of one of the gardens we no longer find their presence there. 

Loving the Purple Coneflower at the Dominion Arboretum Ornamental Garden, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Taken July 24, 2021

It is not just Ottawa that has lost the antics of the beautiful butterfly but all over Ontario their quiet disappearance is coming to fruition.

Hendrie Park, Royal Botanical Garden, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Taken September 21, 2022

Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area, Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. October 11, 2019

Jack Pine Trail, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. July 20, 2018.

Larose Forest, Limoges, Ontario, Canada. July 28, 2012.

Andrew Haydon Park, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. August 25, 2018.

Petrie Island, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Taken August 19, 2018.

2018 was a good year for the Monarchs and was the last time I got to see them throughout Ontario & Quebec doing their special things. 

Cooper Marsh Conservation Area, Lancaster, Ontario, Canada. October 20, 2019

Prescott-Russell Recreational Trail, Ontario, Canada. July 28, 2021.

Petrie Island, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Taken August 19, 2018.

Taken July 20, 2012. Alleyn-et-Cawood, Québec, Canada.

2011, is the length I have photographed this beautiful species and have recorded their whereabouts in Canada. I do so wish to run into them again on my future outings, I will have to cross my fingers. If you are interested in the plight of this wonderful species check out what National Geographic has to say about them in its 2024 January issue.