Monarch butterflies have been hit hard in recent years, and as a result of pesticides, the elimination of far too many milkweeds—the "weed" on which their caterpillars depend—the destruction of their wintering grounds in the mountains of Mexico, bad weather, and just plain bad luck, the Danaus plexippus population is down by as much as 90 percent. In fact, over the past few years around here, I've seen very few monarchs, and I was beginning to lose hope for a recovery. But there was an increase in Monarch numbers in their wintering area, and there were reports that the insect was seen in plentiful numbers to the south, where successive generations were born and maturing before reaching our area. In the right spots, August has borne witness to lots of these glorious orange and black butterflies, and if you take the time to examine the hairy undersides of Milkweed leaves, there are frequent sightings of eggs (above) and newly hatched caterpillars (below). If the youngsters are on the right side of good fortune, perhaps the species will once again prosper... and amaze butterfly-migration observers in late summer and early autumn.