Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How Much Does a Monarch Weigh?

 How much does a Monarch butterfly weigh? As we rode the mid-morning sun on our backs, our shadow detailing Kessy's every beautiful stride, I couldn't help but ponder that question.

We'd been going along alone, no birds or butterflies when we rode into a thick yellow patch of Goldenrod literally swarming with hummingbirds and butterflies. Far too many to count. I lost count at a dozen Monarchs, and simply sat Kessy to take in the show.


I did manage to count five hummingbirds buzzing about the tiny yellow blooms. Never knew hummers like Goldenrod.

We sat in the sun, amid knee high Goldenrod, listening to the buzzing of the hummingbirds. One swooped so near Kessy's knee she bowed her neck to look at it! I suppose they were trying to steal the show from the majestic Monarchs. It was then that noticed a lone Monarch on the outer edge of the Goldenrod patch drifting from bloom to bloom as if tasting appetizers in order to find the most preferable dish for his mid-morning meal. One tall single spike of brilliant yellow seemed to be to his liking and, as gently as a snowflake, he drifted down upon the tip of the flower ... It bowed beneath the Monarch's weight!

Walking around the flower, spreading its beautiful orange and black wings for balance, the Monarch checked each tiny flower in the tall bloom for nectar. The flower bobbed and swayed with each move the Monarch made! I glanced at the hummers, few of them ever bothered to light on a flower as they do the feeders on the porch, but one did finally settle atop a golden yellow spike, and for sure it sagged, straining under the weight of the massive hummer who thrust his beak high declaring this bloom's for me! … But a flower bending Monarch had come as a surprise to me.

I asked Kessy if she'd ever noticed that before. She had nothing to say. But I wonder now, how much does a Monarch butterfly weigh?

Have a great Wednesday, and Gitty Up! ~ Dutch


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