Monarch visiting today

What a wonderful surprise to discover this male monarch visiting our garden!

We first noticed him sipping the nectar from several flower heads of red valerian plants growing near our kitchen door.

By the time I got my camera, he was happily flying in the breeze.

And then he landed on the stalk of a naked buckwheat plant.

You can see that his left wing isn't perfect, a little crumpled on the bottom third of it.

Fortunately it doesn't affect his ability to fly or balance.