Solo butterfly flying the train tracks

[texas butterfly]

I had an interesting experience this week.

As I was sitting at a train track, I had time to check out my surroundings.

Just after the train passed, I saw what looked like a leaf blow in front of my window.

I watched closer as the leave rose and fell. The train had passed and the lights turned to green.
This leaf continued to rise and fall dodging the now moving cars. It was after watching it rise and fall for several times that I saw that it was a Monarch butterfly.

The Monarch made it across the busy traffic intersection and continued following the railroad track.

If this Monarch continues this path. He/she will have to repeat this process hundreds of times before making it to Mexico.

[Mona Miller]

It won't always fly so low. I'd bet the wind direction was not favorable to gain height. But, it wanted to move so it began to travel lower. I've seen them follow the major roadways here. A very good book is "Chasing Monarchs: Migrating with the Butterflies of Passage" By Robert Michael Pyle He talks about them following rivers, too.

http://books.google.com/books?id=gO9eXQ ... q=&f=false
Parts of it are on google books. Pyle is an incredibe writter.

I haven't seen them, yet. But, I am hoping soon they will be here following the roadways and crossing the intersections. I hold my breathe when I am stopped at a light and have to watch them try to nagivate the intersection--especially, when semi trucks roar through the intersection.