I saw several monarch butterflies at the botanic gardens up in the hills yesterday

I saw several monarch butterflies at the botanic gardens up in the hills yesterday, but no more than about three at a time. Numbers have dropped drastically over the last few years.

#photo #butterfly #MonarchButterfly #nature

Monarch

Monarch

On Photog.Social
On iNaturalist (crop of first photo only)

Some butterflies spotted over the last few days

Some #butterflies spotted over the last few days:

A monarch that nicely paused on the grass with its wings open, long enough to catch a clear photo.

A swallowtail that I sort of caught in flight, at a distance. It’s very low-resolution, but it’s also clearly identifiable!

A cabbage white that I was able to catch with a zoom lens.

#photo #nature

On Photog.Social
Monarch on iNaturalist
Cabbage White on iNaturalist
Swallowtail on iNaturalist

A monarch butterfly in flight

A #monarch butterfly in flight. I’ve been seeing one or two each time I go for a walk in the neighborhood, but mostly they’re flying around too much for me to get a decent photo. This one decided to stick around this one bush for a while.

#nature #butterflies

kelsonv: A #monarch butterfly

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On iNaturalist

About a week later…

Someone on Flickr invited this photo to a UFO/paranormal/unexplained phenomena group. 😕

Maybe they meant to invite it to something else they manage?

Or are there butterfly UFO stories out there that I’m missing?

On Photog.Social

Monarch (in the sky)

Monarch

Saw this lone monarch flying around above the sidewalk next to a busy street. Took my phone out on the off chance I might be able catch it in frame and maybe be able to tell it was orange in the picture. Had no idea I’d actually be able to see the pattern on the wings once I’d zoomed in on it!

On iNaturalist

A few of the *real* animals that I spotted on my hike in the botanical gardens

A few of the *real* animals that I spotted on my hike in the botanical gardens today: a #MonarchButterfly, a #BlackPhoebe, a #hummingbird and a #rabbit.

#animals #birds #butterflies #nature #inaturalist
On PixelFed.Social

Monarch on iNaturalist and Flickr
Black Phoebe on iNaturalist and Flickr
Hummingbird on iNaturalist and Flickr
Desert Cottontail on iNaturalist and Flickr

Two of many monarch butterflies I saw today on a walk at nearby botanical gardens. …

Two of many monarch butterflies I saw today on a walk at nearby botanical gardens. Most of them were too busy flying around to stop anywhere I could catch them on camera, but there were a few that paused long enough.

#butterflies #nature #photo #MonarchButterfly

Two of many monarch butterflies I saw today on a walk at nearby botanical gardens. ...

Two of many monarch butterflies I saw today on a walk at nearby botanical gardens. ...

On Photog.Social