Many years ago we went on a bird walk with an ornithologist with the Cape May Bird observatory. At that time ornithologists were involved in a new form of bird classification. His job was to listen, watch and monitor robins for an entire summer -- morning, noon and night. He was an esteemed ornithologist, and we felt fortunate to be in his company. I was certain that staring at a robin all summer might bore him. Instead, when we were all quiet, and as a robin alighted just in front of us, he stopped and said, "There is my beloved robin." Then he continued, "If you spend all your time watching, listening and completely knowing anything, you can't help but fall in love with it."
As the birds migrate in the spring to find food and nesting locations, monarch butterflies are also on the move. In mid-March, monarch butterflies leave their roosts in the mountains of central Mexico, fly north and east to find milkweed plants on which to lay their eggs. Monarch butterflies are the only butterflies known to migrate in two directions, like birds. The monarch's migration is the second longest of all known insects, which is why it is thrilling to see one show up on our property. (A tiny dragonfly is known to experience the longest migration.) There is another butterfly very similar in coloring and size, the viceroy. Viceroy butterflies do not migrate. They are a bit smaller than monarchs and have a telltale diagonal black line through their bottom wings.
Many years ago we went on a bird walk with an ornithologist with the Cape May Bird observatory. At that time ornithologists were involved in a new form of bird classification. His job was to listen, watch and monitor robins for an entire summer -- morning, noon and night. He was an esteemed ornithologist, and we felt fortunate to be in his company. I was certain that staring at a robin all summer might bore him. Instead, when we were all quiet, and as a robin alighted just in front of us, he stopped and said, "There is my beloved robin." Then he continued, "If you spend all your time watching, listening and completely knowing anything, you can't help but fall in love with it."