First monarch emerged from its chrysalis yesterday

The first chrysalis from our current group of monarch caterpillars emerged yesterday!

It was in chrysalis mode for 14 days.

The photo above was taken a few hours before it emerged.

It is so incredible how these beautiful creatures can fit their wings in the tiny chrysalis which is only about 3/4 inches long.

After the butterfly emerged it hung to its chrysalis skin as its wings dried, then it just stayed there, flexing its wings now and then.

We put a little wedge of watermelon at the bottom of the hamper this morning, in case the butterfly was hungry, but it wasn't interested, although it walked on the melon to inspect it.

When the temperature was nice and warm and it was a little breezy outside, we took the hamper out to release the butterfly. When I opened the lid of the hamper the butterfly was a little hesitant at first, and walked along the inside wall of the hamper.

Just as I reached in to guide it out of the hamper, the butterfly suddenly took flight and quickly flew up and out, high into the air, landing on our neighbors shrub on the other side of the patio fence.

It was such a liberating feeling to see the butterfly take flight on such a beautiful day.

Now we have 15 more caterpillars to go.

Of those, eleven are in chrysalis mode, one is in "j" mode, and three caterpillars are still in the eat and poop phase.

Here is the release of monarch butterfly number one of our current brood.