Last week while winging my way home from Oregon, I read this article on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Facebook page. The article, from The Atlantic CityLab, by John Metcalfe, discusses a weird “cloud” moving southward into and through the mid-western states. Meteorologists realized that the “cloud” is actually swarms of migrating Monarchs. They’re coming! By the thousands and thousands, so it seems.  After the steep decline of the Monarch butterfly species in the past two decades, for this season at least, the numbers appear stronger than in recent years.  Not as strong as they should be, but better than they’ve been. I hope this might indicate that the population of this iconic and unofficially threatened North American butterfly, is on a rebound.  Considering the threats to their habitats and migration routes, time will tell whether this butterfly species will survive.

I’ve only seen a couple of Monarchs here in Austin, but am heartened by this news. Truly, truly heartened.  My garden is flush with blooms of all sorts, so I hope these lovely insects will stop by for a visit, a sip and a re-fuel as they make their way to Mexico.

I doubt this dude is waiting for Monarchs, but what could he be waiting for? 

Maybe for Wildlife Wednesday and his chance to shine in the garden blogosphere? Wildlife Wednesday, which is this Wednesday, October 1, showcases the wild and wonderful critters in our gardens. On the first Wednesday of each month, garden bloggers are welcome to join with me in sharing photos and stories about wildlife in our gardens: the flighty, fluttery, creepy, and crawly who are essential to the purpose of a garden.

Be there or be square.  Wildlife Wednesday, this coming Wednesday, October 1.