Autumn Equinox: Migration Time

September is my favorite month of all.

Monarch butterflies are migrating overhead, following air roads only they can see and travel to their winter homes.

Autumn officially starts with the equinox, but for insects and birds and trees (and anyone who rises at dawn) the journey that leads to a New England winter is already in progress

Welcome to fall. Orange and deep purple are the colors of September.

Pumpkins and mums, orange-yellow goldenrod and the purple New England asters - cold nights and colorful leaves overhead, the sound of birds flocking to fly south. Time to don wooly sweaters and workboots and chop some firewood, clean the chimney and ready the woodstove.

Monarch Migration Time: Milkweed

Milkweed seeds are getting ready for dispersal - more milkweed plants mean more monarch butterfly food and landing platforms.

Streams of migrating butterflies follow age-old pathways in the sky to migrate thousands of miles to winter in Mexico.

For details see www.monarchwatch.org, or www.monarch-butterfly.com to get an idea of the butterfly's journey and life cycle

The milkweed's sap is both acidic and somewhat poisonous to many animals. As a catarpillar feeds it absorbs the chemicals into its body - so the orange-and-black monarch tastes bitter to many of its predators.