This is the time of year for the monarch butterfly to begin its journey from parts of north America and Canada to California and central Mexico. Their numbers have declined in recent years and in 2014 the number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico plunged to its lowest level since studies began in 1993.
Guardian reader, Anthony Poole, spotted both a male monarch (main image) and this female monarch in Wave Hill, Riverdale, Bronx, New York just a few days ago.
She is the fifth generation of the migratory monarchs. If she makes it safely to the overwintering sites in Mexico and survives the winter, come spring, she may succeed in doing her part to produce the first generation of 2015. Her offspring, once they become adult butterflies, will fly as far northeast as possible and start producing the second generation and the cycle will continue until, eventually, the fourth generation arrives in the U.S. Northeast, even as far as Canada, to produce the fifth generation of 2015. I have not seen too many monarchs in the last two or three years, so it was good to see them.
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