Monday 2 August 2021

Monarch butterfly eclosed

 I spent hours doing this. Looking for caterpillars. This leaf was amazing, with an egg and a caterpillar on it. Last year, they'd crawl up under the ledge of the porch. 


This one was the first to eclose, July 25th of this year.

This monarch chose to hang off of my spruce tree, which I was trimming. I found it a couple of days after the one above. I stuck it on the front porch, where it would be safe. 


Friday, July 30

You can tell, once they begin to turn black, that they are on their way! I figured it was a great opportunity to film it.


I set the videocamera up and filmed for hours on Friday, July 30th. It put up a piece of paper on the wall to reflect more light. I hung a couple of lanterns there for yet more light. 

Next, I trimmed the branch for a better view.  It was getting black. 

What happened? Well you might ask. I was using a 32GB memory card. I filled the 16GB one twice. Switched them out.  Nothing happened on Friday, my legs were sore from jumping up and checking it. 

Saturday, July 31

Saturday morning, I was up at 6 a.m.! We began again. I took the lights away, since it was now a sunny morning. I kept running back and forth, checking the memory card. 

The black became transparent, and I could see the true colours coming through.

Finally, around 9 or 10, I went out and there was a glorious monarch. It moved from the chrysalis, and let its wings fall with gravity, and straighten. I had it all on tape! I kept watching and taping, maybe thinking I'd get its first flight. 

Well, fat finger delete and the cosmic joker. It's a teeny screen, and the videocamera isn't as simple as my old one. I accidentally erased the whole memory card, not jut the last video which was 30 minutes long. (I think.) I have strict orders to hang onto the card, and submit it to my SIL. He may be able to recover them for me. I am so upset with myself. 


 I took a video after its wings were dry and it rested. It moved. You can see its proboscis moving.

monarch butterfly from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

15 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

I have thought that it would be nice to do a time lapse someday. I think it might be easier and even more effective than a long video.

Olga said...

Such a magical event. Thank you for sharing it with us!

Tom said...

...how neat!

Jenn Jilks said...

It's really tricky either way, A/C. You have to keep coming and going. What I do is clip and put together snippets of the video, speeding it all up. It's energy-consuming, and you have to keep paying attention. I'm finding it hard in this day and age!

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
...this is a situation where bringing in one of the camera traps might have saved you a lot of to-ing and fro-ing! I do hope SIL is successful with recovery on the card. Your photos share a lot of the excitement though - what a wonderful thing to be part of!!! YAM xx

Linda said...

Amazing. There is a program you can get to recover items on an SD card, I've used it before, but can't remember the name. Will check.

Jeanie said...

What a breathtaking and magical event. I love it!

RedPat said...

The best laid plans! Too bad but it is a beauty!

Still struggling with blogger.
http://occasionaltoronto.blogspot.com/

Lorrie said...

What a wonderful marvel to observe. Too bad about the memory card. But you have it stored in your memory forever!

Lowcarb team member said...

Nice display of photographs and I enjoyed the video. Yes, you can see its proboscis moving!

Happy Monday Wishes.

All the best Jan

Ontario Wanderer said...

Excellent effort !!!

Cloudia said...

What a thrilling post! These are all learning experiences and what a great one that was. Can't wait to see what you're up to next

NatureFootstep said...

what an adventure! Just sad you lost the recording. Still you have some shots. :)

Far Side of Fifty said...

Wonderful!!

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Wonderful to see the Monarchs doing well.