The backyard fills with migrating robins this morning. Several rim the bird bath, drink, others wait on the ground, lift to the rim or to the trees ringing the yard. It makes for a constant flitting to and fro. I wish I’d thought to have seed on hand for this passage, but I don’t, only a container of sesame seeds in the pantry which won’t be much help at all.
Suddenly, the fountain crowds with several taking a bath at the same time.
I so missed birds and butterflies in the back garden this summer.
“Have you seen any butterflies?” I asked often in early summer. No one had, the usual yard visitors a casualty of climate change, I surmised, even though all of us commenting on the lack had planted butterfly and nectar plants in our gardens.
I did see monarch caterpillars munching away on one plant and creating a trail of filmy spun nets. So maybe a nursery at least.
Will humans in 50 or 60 years look back on this time as “the good old days?”
Thankfully, the robins aren’t a casualty. At least for now. I expect I’ll see them again next spring, heading north. There’s hope in that.
janetsunderland.com 
Wonderful to read about your robins and butterflies, with the promise of Monarchs. Recently I saw a lone Monarch in the vacant lot I pass walking to the grocery store. We have lots of robins in the spring. The Canada geese that have made a permanent home nearby are my great delight. Every morning they fly past my window in a vee going nowhere.
Thank you, Vivian. I was so pleased to see the robins coming through. That means they’re surviving in this less than sane year. Must be fun to watch the geese heading out in a giant V, even if they don’t go any further than the next watering hole or golf course!
We have been seeing lots and lots of butterflies in our yard the past couple of weeks–they seem to love the ‘butterfly bush’ (fancy that!) and the lantana. Possibly monarchs migrating south.
Fabulous! I never saw the monarchs when I lived in New Mexico but then I was at such a high elevation they may not have liked it. And yes, I expect they’re migrating to Mexico. I would too were I them. 🙂
Thanks so much for your comment and company here in digital land. J.
We have a butterfly bush and some milkweed, so I did see some butterflies and some hummingbird moths (http://www.crystalgraphics.com/powerpictures/images.photos.asp?ss=hummingbird+moth). A few days ago, I saw three small baby moths, which was lots of fun. Hopefully the butterflies are just elsewhere this year.
janet
Well, good. That gives me hope. I expect they are somewhere else this year although with the erratic weather, they could be anywhere. When I lived in Mexico, a friend and I took a road trip to see the mountain where they over-winter. It was magical. So many butterflies they sometimes broke branches. A caretaker walked the paths, gently brushing aside butterflies with a leaf covered branch. One butterfly road on my shoulder for a time, whispering secrets I couldn’t hear in my ear.
It would be incredible to see that many butterflies!
It may be that your butterflies are east or west of you. So much depends on their sense of where the food sources are. I’m no expert on that, for sure. But it is true that, while I’ve been traveling, the butterflies have been abundant, especially in western Arkansas and Missouri. Even here, around the Flint Hills,there are stragglers, though the nectar sources are fading away. I’ve seen viceroys and queens, a variety of swallowtails, hairstreaks and plenty of what I call “those funny little jobs” that probably are a dozen or more species: well known to those who really spend time figuring out what’s what. And, there have been reports of monarchs galore farther west.
There’s a butterfly tracking site I can’t find just now, and I don’t have the bookmark since I’m not on my home computer. (No, I’m not all synched up!) I’ll try and remember to send it to you once I’m home. I worry about the “flutterbyes” too, and it’s such fun — and reassuring — to see reports about sightings from all over.
That’s what I’m beginning to think too from the replies I received. And for that I’m grateful. My sister lives in Las Cruses and she has seen them in her yard. I never saw butterflies when I lived in New Mexico, so yes, I expect they are finding a new path to the Mexican mountain. So, like you, I am reassured. And grateful.
We saw very few butterflies up on the farm this year and when I went into the farmer’s market one Saturday, I asked the gardeners if they had seen them and the response was the same… no, and we’ve been wondering where they went. So, somewhere else. And that’s fine. As long as they still exist, their pathway is less important. I did get to see their over-wintering mountain one year in Mexico, however, and that was absolutely magical.
Glad you’re home again in your quiet little space. Catching up, no doubt. J.
I hope that the butterflies will return. A tragedy if they don’t.
Well, from other comments of sightings, I’m beginning to believe they have a different migration route — for now, anyway. And that’s okay although I miss seeing them. But there’s so much corporate farming here in this area now that their food sources has all but vanished. Finding a new route is good.
Thanks for commenting!