Looking for fairies

[Alliecat]

Thank you so much, everybody! I love getting really absorbed in photography projects like this. The rest of the world goes away...
They are actually pretty easy to handle, having just hatched. I used to tag them for migration research (not enough around to do that here). I had to keep them overnight till the wings were hard enough to apply the sticky tags, so I still have the "cages" (cardboard boxes with sheer-curtain "windows"). So I can still keep them till they get restless. Also if it's cold they aren't too active. So I get a little time to play with them. Once they start flying away from where I put them it's time to take them out into the sun and say bon voyage.
davidd, have a look for "Monarch Watch" at U of Kansas if it's not one you've seen already. They're carrying on the migration/population research that was first done by Fred Urquhart in Toronto (for whom I tagged) & they have lots of resources. http://www.monarchwatch.org/
Milkweed seeds are hard to germinate and it takes a long time to get them big enough to host butterflies. If you can get seedlings or even dig some up on the roadside somewhere you'll have a little bigger start with them. I spent a winter in Hawaii and was astonished to find a) monarchs and b) that they ate something other than milkweed. Cool
I do have a wonderful yard & back woodlot for dolly adventures, and the ferns are right beside the front steps And a shoutout to "Mei4Life" on Etsy, creator of the gorgeous wings! (And DeadlyNova who first posted a photo of some!)

I don't understand why my computer will NOT play Flickr videos So I don't know if this works or not, but here is the last of 4 who hatched all in the same evening, & had to be watched and removed ASAP so they didn't damage one another.