Monarch on Woodland Sunflower

Mr. Togrrrl and I pulled ourselves away from household drudgery to go out to a hawk watch site on top of a very small hill in Toronto's High Park.

Pleasure


While waiting for hawks, I crouched in the tall grasses and watched the insects go by on their business. Small blue butterflies, hover flies fighting over their tiny patch of flowers, bumble bees covered in pollen, blue damselflies, wasps and grasshoppers jumping from perch to perch.

We were surrounded by dozens of migrating Green Darner dragonflies and monarch butterflies flitting doggedly to the south, their migration less dramatic than the bird's but just as mysterious and awe inspiring.

Mr. Togrrrl and I sat for a long time by a patch of woodland sunflowers watching tiny goldfinches balancing on the flowers eating the newly forming seeds.

We drank in the scent, the colours, the peace and the beauty. It was a wonderful way to spend a few hours.