Monarch butterflies breed several generations during their migration northward to all parts of the U.S. The last generation of the season flies all the way to a piece of land of about 10 acres on a Mexican mountain where they winter. For the past 20 years scientists and others have tagged Monarchs in an attempt to track the generations. We did this last year at LBL and there were more than one hundred butterflies in the relatively small stretch of field on a few hills beside the trace through the park where we were catching them.
This year, however, we (and more so, the butterflies) fell victim to the extreme temperatures and drought in the central U.S. The purple flowers we were told last year are their favorite food in LBL were virtually erased from these fields. Add to that a stiff wind that was almost constant and the fields were virtually absent butterflies. :-(
Lilly caught one and I caught two... that was half the number our entire group of 12 -15 people caught. Here's a picture of Lilly and one of our guides, Aviva, tagging Lilly's catch.
Hopefully next year will present more favorable circumstances for us to catch and tag more butterflies. It's great fun!
We accompanied Maria and Katlyn to the Elk & Bison Prairie on our way out of the park. Last year we made the same trip and heard the Elk bugling and saw a fight for dominance between a young male and the alpha male. It was really exciting. Although we didn't see any drama this year we had a great view of the herd just off the road from us. The Bison were further back, but visible. Later, we found these other males tramping around the far side of the prairie away from the main herd. This is the largest of the "outcast" males.
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