Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Fantastic closeup of this open-winged beauty. Fantastic Calvin!!!!

Stunning capture of this majestic Monarch!!! Looks very similar to our Striped Tigers!!!!

I finally got around to looking up the Striped Tiger and yeah, same Genus and quite similar looking. I'm lucky enough to be about 2 hours from a number protected sanctuaries. So if I'm willing to brave the cold in October-November, they are not too tough to find.

Their decline is depressing though. 10 years ago I could visit that sanctuary and the eucalyptus trees would be covered with them, like living "butterfly trees." Now it takes more work to shoot them with quite a bit of magnification.

This beauty happened to drop right into the visitor viewing area and the ranger was keeping everyone away from it (no touching, taking, helping, etc.). She was nice enough to let me get in close to take some macro photos. I have a great shot that is so close you can see the fuzz on the body.