{"id":70953,"date":"2020-06-18T05:38:43","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T11:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=70953"},"modified":"2024-09-15T12:24:44","modified_gmt":"2024-09-15T17:24:44","slug":"my-first-of-year-monarch-butterfly-sighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/18\/my-first-of-year-monarch-butterfly-sighting\/","title":{"rendered":"My First of Year Monarch Butterfly Sighting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MonarchMonarch Butterfly on a Netleaf Hackberry – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m always happy to photograph “other things with wings” when I am out in the field so last week when I spotted my first of year Monarch butterfly I had to take a few photos of it.<\/p>\n

The male Monarch butterfly landed on a Netleaf Hackberry and seemed to rest there for a bit. I wish I had been a little closer to the butterfly but I am happy he landed because they are such a challenge to photograph in flight.<\/p>\n

Monarch butterfly numbers are dwindling and we need to do all we can to help them. Getting rid of sterile lawns and planting native wildflowers and shrubs instead would help all butterflies but the needs of Monarch butterflies and many other butterfly species are specialized.<\/p>\n

Monarch butterflies depend on milkweeds because without milkweeds their larva couldn’t survive and if they don’t survive they don’t become adults with wings. I had noticed several Showy Milkweeds in bloom along the road before I saw the Monarch butterfly on the wing.<\/p>\n

I don’t recall photographing a single Monarch butterfly last year or remember if I saw any at all. I’ll be looking for more this summer though.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Netleaf Hackberry are small native trees or large shrubs growing to 30 feet with spreading crown and trunk diameter of 1 foot or more. Usually found along streams, canyons, and washes, in moist soil, plains grassland, upper desert, desert grassland, and woodland zones. The fruits are edible.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m always happy to photograph “other things with wings” when I am out in the field so last week when I spotted my first of year Monarch butterfly I had to take a few photos of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1148,1171,5346,5345,26],"tags":[4004,6041,6042,9874,6040,4098,4062,1172,9873],"class_list":["post-70953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-monarch-butterflies","category-shrubs","category-trees","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-celtis-reticulata","tag-danaus-plexippus","tag-desert","tag-male","tag-monarch-butterfly","tag-netleaf-hackberry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-netleaf-hackberry-mia-mcpherson-3891.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-isp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48219,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/23\/rocky-mountain-bee-plant-monarch-butterfly-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":70953,"position":0},"title":"Rocky Mountain Bee Plant & Monarch Butterfly In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographing birds while they are flying can be challenging and photographing Monarch Butterflies in flight can be just as challenging to do too.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Monarch Butterfly landing on a Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-flight-mia-mcpherson-5916.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-flight-mia-mcpherson-5916.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-flight-mia-mcpherson-5916.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-flight-mia-mcpherson-5916.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":134664,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/09\/16\/my-first-monarch-butterfly-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":70953,"position":1},"title":"My First Monarch Butterfly In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On the same day that I photographed the Carolina Wren, whose photos I shared yesterday, I saw and photographed my first Monarch butterfly in Arkansas!","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Monarch butterfly in Arkansas, Sebastian County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1158.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1158.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1158.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1158.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135485,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/11\/autumn-female-monarch-butterfly-in-my-viewfinder\/","url_meta":{"origin":70953,"position":2},"title":"Autumn Female Monarch Butterfly In My Viewfinder","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"What's up today? I've got a few female Monarch butterfly images I\u2019ve been meaning to share but I hadn\u2019t edited them until now. This morning seems perfect!","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Monarch butterfly nectaring on flowers, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/monarch-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-7412.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/monarch-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-7412.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/monarch-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-7412.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/monarch-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-7412.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135857,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/21\/male-and-female-monarch-butterfly-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":70953,"position":3},"title":"Male And Female Monarch Butterfly Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As the Monarch butterflies made their way through Arkansas at the end of September, I had the chance to take a couple of photos that really show off the unique features between the males and females.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Monarch butterfly in autumn, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/monarch-butterfly-male-sedum-mia-mcpherson-9234.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/monarch-butterfly-male-sedum-mia-mcpherson-9234.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/monarch-butterfly-male-sedum-mia-mcpherson-9234.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/monarch-butterfly-male-sedum-mia-mcpherson-9234.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53362,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/08\/05\/monarch-butterflies-and-rocky-mountain-bee-plants-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":70953,"position":4},"title":"Monarch Butterflies and Rocky Mountain Bee Plants in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year I found plenty of Monarch Butterflies on the Rocky Mountain Bee Plants on Antelope Island and they were a delight to photograph as they fluttered around going from flower to flower sipping nectar from the delicate blossoms.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Monarch Butterfly nectaring from a Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-bee-plant-mia-mcpherson-4732.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-bee-plant-mia-mcpherson-4732.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-bee-plant-mia-mcpherson-4732.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/monarch-butterfly-bee-plant-mia-mcpherson-4732.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141709,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/16\/monarchs-at-a-crossroads-in-an-era-of-butterfly-decline\/","url_meta":{"origin":70953,"position":5},"title":"Monarchs At A Crossroads In An Era Of Butterfly Decline","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The contrasting fates of eastern and western Monarchs underscore that their future is still uncertain. With dedicated efforts, we can help butterfly populations rebound\u2014but time is running out.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Monarch butterfly feeds on purple flowers, showcasing its distinctive orange and black wing pattern, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/monarch-butterfly-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-7435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/monarch-butterfly-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-7435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/monarch-butterfly-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-7435.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/monarch-butterfly-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-7435.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}