An Empty Cocoon and a New Butterfly

When I had returned to the location where I have been watching for the Monarch Butteryfly to finalize the chrysalis stage of its development I found an empty cocoon. Four hours earlier I had seen a Monarch butterfly folded up within it.
However a quick glance showed me the adult Monarch Butterfly that had emerged was close by, hanging upside down under a Milkweed leaf. The butterfly was now going through the stage when its wings would dry and stiffen as hemolymph, an insect blood like substance, is pumped through its veins allowing the butterfly to
fill out its shape.
This stage took quite a while. I must have arrived very soon after the Monarch had completed its pupa stage. I had taken my first photo of it at 12:56 pm and at 2:11, when I had taken my last photo, the butterfly had opened its wings several times but it still was clinging to the Milkweed leaf.Although it had opened and closed its wings several times, as if experimenting, the butterfly did not leave them open but always returned to the closed wing position.
This was a wonderful adventure to have followed; from finding the beautiful jade green cocoon of the pupa, the chrysalis developmental stage of this female Monarch butterfly, to finally getting to see it as an adult. I did not see its total transition, missing the part when it had emerged and unfolded its wings, but I am satisfied with what I was able to observe.
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I had stayed by the roadside, sitting in my, car for a little over two hours while I watched this beautiful, brand new creature gain control over its wings. It was still there, clinging to the Milkweed leaf when I left to return home.