Monarch Butterfly Egg

Many people who lead busy lives never stop for a moment and watch the world around us. There is usually something interesting going on, but we just have to pay attention. One afternoon I took my camera to the the Park Circle butterfly garden, and I was captivated by a Monarch butterfly as she flew among the milkweed plants. Occasionally I would see her touch the tip of her abdomen to the plant, and I realized that each time she did that, she was laying an egg. I followed her around the garden as she started stage one of a new generation of Monarch butterflies (they can lay as many as 500 eggs over a two to five week period) until I got this photo. Since then, I have been able to photograph most of the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle with the exception of one emerging from a chrysalis so stay tuned for that one.