Sometimes a true adventure is just around the corner.
Two weeks ago colleague asked us if we would like to see his savanna blazing star plot—it was dripping with monarchs, he said.
How could we refuse?
Although somewhat skeptical—I had been on other 'chases' to habitats dripping with this or that—we headed out to a nearby town.
The site, unremarkable itself, was nestled between a corn field, some sort of agro-industrial complex, and an unremarkable windbreak of evergreens. From a distance, the weedy field seemed predictably mundane, except for the large pink spires punctuating the goldenrod and foxtail.
As we approached, the movement of numerous orange and black forms progressed from obvious, to notable, to just plain remarkable.
Towards evening, the nearby evergreens became a Christmas tree, lit by the flashing wings of roosting monarchs.
