Releasing the monarch butterfly

Here is an image of the female monarch butterfly we released yesterday close to midday.

Isn't it funny how you just can never tell how butterflies respond when they are released after having been raised in a temporary home.

Last year the two male monarch butterflies that I raised in the same conditions indoors as this butterfly didn't fly as far when released.

They each flew immediately to our tomato plants, where they spread their wings in the sun and remained on the tomato leaves for about ten minutes. Then they flew out of the garden, soaring high in the breeze.

After this female butterfly was released from her temporary home (the mesh hamper) yesterday, she flew high in the air, circled around and then landed on our neighbor's shrub, right on the other side of the fence.

There she remained for about ten minutes, warming her wings in the bright sunlight.

After that she flew around the neighbor's garden.

A few hours later I spotted her in our front yard, checking out the flowers there.

Here is a video of the female monarch's release.