Monarch migration

I spent most of today inside, specifically, inside the computer lab of our local middle school where I had the incredible honor of teaching, via a conversation and a Power Point presentation, sixth grade science students about invertebrates I have known, photographed, studied, and written about. I love having this opportunity—thanks Kristi Williams—and I especially love the chance to answer questions from the students. One dealt with how many monarch butterflies I have ever seen, and that brought me back to a remarkable afternoon on 30 September 2006. I had seen monarchs heading over our fields towards the local beaches, so I bundled up my grandkids and we headed down to Napatree Point, a long sandspit that migrants, avian and insect alike, use as a highway. The butterflies were there by the hundreds, and, perfect for my camera, they were settling in, on cedars and goldenrods, for the night. My three grand-guys were mightily impressed. Given how much trouble the monarch is in these days—trouble from many fronts that has caused a population crash in our area—I worry that the pictures I took that day might be a record of something I'll never see again. I hope I'm wrong. I hope that this year's documentation trip to the shore will be blessed with hordes of migrating monarchs and other species. I hope I can wrench the grandsons away from computer screens and take them along for the trip.