OntheRez
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I don't show up here very often though I do stalk the wily vulture, the crazed hummer, the slinking bobcat, and all the other beasts of the Sonora. This was cross-posted in the Canon Forum, but then I got to thinking: it belongs here more than there. Just ignore the fanboy joking.
Lincoln Brower, who spent six decades studying the remarkable life of the monarch butterfly, died this week. (NYTimes, 18.07.27) He lived, slept, ate, dreamed this glorious butterfly. He also fought for their habit and nothing grieved him more than the horrible decline in their numbers due to insecticides and the destruction of habitat. I have a special place in my heart for this glorious bit of flashing color. Brief and beautiful.
One of Brower’s great contributions was that he demonstrated conclusively that the monarch that arrives in the northern part of the continent each spring is not the monarch who returns to Mexico in the fall. That’s right. Somehow the larvae knows the way to San Jose - Mexico that is.
The picture below shows Brower in action a decade before his death. Once I got past the blizzard of monarchs, I started examining his gear. There it is: a Canon. Can’t quite tell what it is: older xxD? xxxD? Incidentally, there is no truer proof of gear head than the fact that she/he starts looking at the camera instead of the image. Kinda sad really 
We rarely see monarchs here in the Sonora. But ever so often, in the spring, some of them get lost or something and show up for a few days. Those of us who watch the changing beauty of this desert go nuts. The second image is my tribute to the reigning Monarch of the Butterflies.
I doubt that I will be remembered for much when I shuffle off this mortal coil, but can’t think of a great epitaph than: He was the Monarch's Friend.
Enjoy.
Brower in action (© NYTimes)
Monarchs of the Sonoran sky
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