Either I am extremely lucky this year or the Monarch count for the season is stacking up to be very good.

I believe I have had at least one Monarch visitor almost every day since mid Aug. Many days I've had two and even three at a time. If I didn't see them with my own eyes, I would find it hard to believe. I don't know if some stayed around for several days or if they were mostly new visitors. Based on the few years I've grown milkweed and nectar plants for them, if I actually saw one in my garden during the season, I was thrilled. I'd find eggs, but rarely actually set eyes on a flying Monarch. This year has been absolutely glorious.

I can tell by reading the various forums and blogs, that there are many new milkweed gardeners and I've no doubt this has made a difference.

My final count of released Monarchs for this year, providing my last 7 are healthy, will be 119. I am still feeding one baby but he is in his third instar now so it won't be long before changing Monarch diapers will only be a distant memory. :-)

I had three who escaped and crawled off to find their special place. I didn't even know they were missing and didn't discover them until I spotted their last molt below their chrysalis. One I didn't know about until I walked into the kitchen to fix dinner and found him flitting about the kitchen. That was the first time I've ever held one by their wings, like it shows you to do when you're preparing to tag them. He just wouldn't crawl up onto my finger so finally decided if he wasn't to become a long term boarder, I had to pick him up. It was a learning experience for me but holding him that way didn't seem to faze him. I took him out onto the deck and set him on a milkweed plant. Within seconds, he had taken off to his next adventure and seemed none the worse for wear.

Now to plan for next year!

Mary