What a day! I had planned to grab a shot of something ordinary with my phone while walking the neighborhood and be done; however, the last two chrysalises decided to eclose! With the first one I ran into the house to grab the husband, then took video. While I was Tweeting the video, the other chrysalis began to emerge. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I watched over both of them like a hawk for two hours as their wings dried and they did all they were supposed to do in order to fly. The feeling of joy that came over me as I watched them float high across the sky on such a beautiful day was indescribable. I thank God every day for all He has created and marvel at the complexity and beauty of it all.

After losing several caterpillars to black death, one that started a chrysalis but died before completion, a chrysalis swept away during a thunderstorm, and one that emerged from its cocoon deformed, I was pretty deflated. The two successful Monarchs today made up for all the previous failures.

This is a male and the second one to eclose. He started on the amaryllis and then flew over to a Coreopsis flower bud (shown). While he was doing his thing, the other butterfly paid us a quick visit--a pleasant surprise. After pumping his wings a few more minutes, he flew up into our Crape Myrtle, then he was gone. Godspeed, little creatures!

115/366A God Day
100mm | f/8 | ISO 400 | 1/400 sec