Monarchs in Vermont.

9-23-19 VERMONT: I arrived yesterday on a hot afternoon. Checking out the pasture and barn repair work, the dogs and I saw a ton of monarch butterflies. [It takes a lot of butterflies to make a ton, BTW.] I put a short video on FB and some pix on this site. I would guess that there are at least a hundred monarchs in the pasture, most of them on the mint flowers, along with lots of bees and other pollinators.

Everything looked very dry, but tonight it's raining with some thunder rumbles.

The barn work is progressing well, most of the floor and floor supports and some siding are out of the barn. Some of it to be re-used, and some on a big burn pile. Excavators have removed a lot of the dirt under the floor and a lot of the foundation. Drainage work and re-building to follow.

New blooms: toad lily, hardy hibiscus, ligularia dentata, pink turtlehead, bottle gentian, tree hydrangea.


Many, many monarchs on different patches of mint.

The mint is very popular for pollinators at this time of year.

More monarchs, I would guess that there are a hundred in the pasture. There's a video on FB.

From the game cams-one of several pix of a fox, but all at night.

Foliage is on its way. I would guess peak here will be about two weeks.

The barn partly undressed.