70 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2015
L
ooking into the sun, at first I thought that odd-shaped creature fluttering off in the distance
was a small prairie sparrow of some kind, loping along as if its own weight was too heavy,
struggling to fly. But when this winged creature lit on the stalk of a tall prairie plant, I
quietly moved closer and couldn't believe my eyes. It was two mating monarch butterflies.
In more than 20 years of photographing on the prairie, I had never seen this before. It was
a poignant moment to be sure.
Monarchs are diminishing in number throughout North America due to continued habitat loss
of both their prairie ecosystem and their forested wintering grounds in Mexico. But somehow this
experience deep in the grasslands of the Nebraska Sandhills gave me some hope.
Each spring succeeding generations of short-lived monarchs move up
the Great Plains as far north as Canada, following the prairie bloom. In fall
they make an astonishing long-distance migration to the forested highlands
of central Mexico. I doubt these monarchs are the generation that will
make the long distance journey to their wintering grounds, but hopefully
their next generation will, continuing an ancient migratory tradition as long
as we allow them to do so. In large measure, it's up to us.
Michael Forsberg
August 19, 2015
Mating Monarchs
