Tasting red flowers
and dreaming of Mexico
in mid-November
a monarch butterfly
stops in San Antonio
with little time to stay…
Winter weather on the way.
The peak time for monarch butterflies to migrate through San Antonio is from October 10 through October 20. So I was very surprised to see this one fluttering around the bright red flowers of the ‘Little John’ Dwarf Bottlebrush (Callistemon Viminalis) on November 20—all alone and a month later than normal!
Now it has been 10 days since I saw my ‘one and only’ monarch butterfly–a bright light during this strange and troubling year of 2020. It’s November 30th and the temperature is expected to drop down to 30 degrees (Fahrenheit) tonight, which is freezing cold. However, I have read that these butterflies can travel 100 miles or more a day, so I am hopeful that she has already found her way south to warmer weather. Maybe she is even resting in Mexico, surrounded by the gentle fluttering sound of other monarch butterflies.
** If you would like to virtually fly away to one of the awesome monarch destinations in Mexico, watch this incredible video made by naturemovie.ch
Before I Forget 
Thanks Mary for this wonderful story. It would be nice to be a butterfly right now and fly off to Mexico.
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Oh….I wish that we could do that!
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I’m so glad you still had blossoms to feed her!
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Yes. The bright red flowers bloom all fall and into the beginning of December. The monarch butterfly did have to compete for the flowers with a humming bird and quite a few bees, though.
Luckily, there are lots of flowers on the ‘Little John’ Dwarf Bottlebrush–but I did see honey bees bouncing off of the butterfly’s wings every once in a while (trying to find a way underneath her wings to reach the same flower).
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All our flowers died in late September, so there would have been no food for her here! I’m glad she stopped by your place during her late migration. I hope she gets to Mexico in time!
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you are lucky! I will so love to see so many monarch butterflies at a place! 🙂
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Yes….I should have flown away with the butterfly. I would love to actually visit that place (not just virtually on a video). But it seems that no one is supposed to go anywhere anymore.
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What gorgeous photos, and thank you for sharing them.
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Beautiful piece! I love butterflies, especially the Monarch. All our butterflies flew away in November as well. We had a nice long Fall though, and I’m grateful!
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