Hmmmmm, there's still quite a bit of monarchs here. I stopped by a nursery on Thursday and was getting a nice show, them dashing by me. Even though it's rainig here, I'm still seeing quite a few on my buddleias, and have one that just eclosed a few hours ago.

I'm going to say 72.

Tracey (flamingonut at gmail dot com)

CLARIFICATION ABOUT THE CONTEST:

I check both this thread and the enter the contest thread for guesses about the highest number of Monarchs spotted in Camelot before Sat. Oct. 6, so put your guess on either thread.

mike

I just got back from a vacation in the western No Carolina mountains and saw a mention of the monarch migration over the Blue Ridge in a tourist handout. Of course I had to see it.
{{gwi:520605}}

This is the spot although I'm not sure butterflies read and stick to this area strictly. It's not thick with monarchs but every minute one or two fly by without lingering (unlike the other butterflies who stop and smell the flowers). They zip right past even with the wind against them heading south-east.
{{gwi:520606}}
This is the marker (sign is poor not my photo) on the BRParkway. I don't know what the Mile# is but if you look at a map and find Brevard NC there is only one road heading west to the Blue Ridge parkway. Turn south when you hit it and Cherry Cove is just a mile or 2 from the intersection.

I have a Monarch waystation at home in Florida and didn't plan this vacation around butterflies but some of our best moments featured them. I saw some great pipevine BF's in Cherokee NC and monarchs were everywhere we went.

Thanks for the picture and the description of the location of the marker.
I'll keep it on file and visit the next time we're down in that area.
mike

My guess is 89

The NC Dept of Transportation plants roadside wildflowers. In several locations, they have planted milkweed for the Monarch migration. I've put their weblink below (the one inside the text is where the beds are planted).

http://www.ncdot.org/doh/operations/dp_chief_eng/roadside/Beautification/Butterfly/milkweed.html

I had lots this summer and lots of cats, then everyone went scarce. In the last few days, I've started seeing 3-5.

My guess for # of Monarchs is 93.

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: NC Dot Monarch Program

Seven people have already sent in their guesses about the highest number of Monarchs spotted in my daily 10-minute walk through our butterfly sanctuary. All guess are on either this thread or on the "Enter the Contest" thread. I'm refraining from posting any more Monarch numbers lest I disrupt the contest. I'll post a daily count when I announce the winner of the free homemade butterfly stepping stone.

mike

The contest is attracting a lot of interest. Entries are now up to NINE. I guess the homemade butterfly stepping stone is a big draw.

mike

Mike, I would like to personally thank your wife for doing the Breast Cancer walk. As a BC survivor (who is unable to walk due to another issue), she is another of my heroes, and there are many, I know, but please give her my thanks and blessings! BC is a scary thing but I heard on the news the other day that the numbers are declining, probably due to fewer women doing hormone therapy and the lower dosage hormones used to treat menopausal symptoms now as well. I was fortunate to have a Grade I post-menopausal tumor and I had surgery which eliminated the need for chemo. I will be 5 years cancer free October 1st! Yippee!!

Susan

Monarchs have definitely started moving across Okla. This evening I counted 65 in 1 minute, high in the sky, and on a mission. No time to nectar today.

Woo! Hoo! Come on Monarchs!

Mike, seems like there has been talk of good numbers in the East. I would say, in your lush garden that there should easily be 150-200 in garden during your walk. My guess would be 175.

On Wed. six biology majors and their professor visited Camelot to enjoy the butterflies and esp. to tag Monarchs. They tagged 24 Monarchs in less than an hour and would have tagged a lot more but they used up their tags. They tagged 17 females and 7 males. Yesterday, I spotted 6 of the tagged Monarchs during my daily 10-minute count. The students really enjoyed the experience. It was such a joy seeing their reaction to the butterflies and every other living thing in the butterfly sanctuary.

mike

On Wed. six biology majors and their professor visited Camelot to enjoy the butterflies and esp. to tag Monarchs. They tagged 24 Monarchs in less than an hour and would have tagged a lot more but they used up their tags. They tagged 17 females and 7 males. Yesterday, I spotted 6 of the tagged Monarchs during my daily 10-minute count. The students really enjoyed the experience. It was such a joy seeing their reaction to the butterflies and every other living thing in the butterfly sanctuary.

mike

I had 7 this afternoon on my grouping of 3 big lantana shrubs. Today, I decided I needed a better book, so I got the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies. I want to be able to tell the difference between the males and females (my challenge for the next week!).

Cameron

Susan, how excellent that you are a survivor with such a great attitude...

That's certainly not an easy journey and the medical/doctor/hospital scene is such a maze now that it adds to a person's burden instead of lightening it.

Mike, I've had a few less Monarchs here in CT in the last two days but I think that whenever a NW front comes through it sweeps them southward.

76 is thae number I guess... only because it's the year I graduated from HS...not because of any great insight as to the migration. hehe..

Ps. do I have to pay postage due on the prize if I win???

Maryann

Maryann,

I should have told everyone that I will take care of the postage, packing/handling of the homemade butterfly stepping stone with original inlaid glass designs. It won't be long before the winner will be posted on both threads(Oct. 6).

mike

Monarchs continue to have a nice show across Okla.
9-30 Apparently 1-40 in the Texas Panhandle going into Oklahoma/Erick crossed the Monarch's migratory path yesterday at about 1:00 pm. I saw them at the rate of about 10 per second -- seemingly flinging themselves down from the sky. I am sure 9-11 received several reports of a drunk driver heading west from Texas toward Oklahoma City -- it was me swerving the best I could at 70 mph to miss them.
Erick is west central Okla.
T.R.
9-30 Hundreds of monarchs flying south southeast over northwest Oklahoma City, altitude around 100 feet. Wind currently 8-10 MPH at 6:15 PM. There is a cold front moving through, aligned from southwest to northeast. A "dryline" is also moving through now, and winds are shifting from southwest to northwest.
From Journey North- John
A friend said that she saw at least a couple hundred of Monarchs roosting and stirring amongst a heavily wooded area on both sides of the road early Sat., Sept 29th a.m. , 12 miles NE of where I live.

10-1 Co-worker called to let me know that she found a roost of 100+ Monarchs tonight on her farm, 5 miles N.E. of where I live. Woo! Hoo! Love to hear the roosts report around here!!!

I've been seeing only about 6-12 at a time. They leave, and more comes. Still waiting for my big numbers....

Here's the Biggy report

Dear Chip:

I had a great experience yesterday which I would
like to pass on to you. A local farmer called me
approximately at noon and indicated that he had
seen a huge amount of monarchs adjacent to a
field in the Neosho river bottom. I went to the
location with the presumption that I might see a
few hundred or even a few thousand monarchs. The
population was much greater. Obviously, I cannot
give you an accurate amount or even a valid
estimate. I do know that it was very large. The
monarchs were located in a woods adjacent to a
field of sunflowers that I would say was at least
400 acres. The sunflowers were in full bloom. The
wood circles the entire field. In addition, there
is a levee which is approximately 15 feet tall.
Sunday, we had a strong southerly breeze that was
probably 20 to 30 miles per hour with stronger
gusts. I don't know if the monarchs had
congregated because of the nectar source, the
strong southerly winds, and the protection
provided by the woods and levees, or for some
other reason. Regardless, it was one of those
once in a lifetime experiences. Many were
clinging to the leaves of the trees and many more
were flying in the wood and the open fields to
the North of the levee and tree line. As
indicated, it would be impossible to estimate the
total. As you probably now I have been to Sierra
Chincua and Rosario. While these butterflies were
not that dense, there certainly was a large
concentration. I know at least in the tens of
thousands. I followed the tree line around the
sunflower field for approximately mile in both
directions and the concentration seemed to be
uniformed the whole 1 mile distance. Many of the
trees had a dense concentration of butterflies.
The butterflies were not hanging from each other
in a curtain effect but they were dense. The
trees located right on the levees did not exceed
15 to 20 feet in height.

While my amateur observation may be incorrect the
butterflies appeared to me to be in fairly good
shape overall. They appeared to have fairly plump
bodies, fairly large wing spans, and overall
there wings appeared to be in fairly good shape.
Quite frankly, I was a little worried at least
about the monarch local population. I did not
have nearly as many caterpillars this year in my
Waystation stations as last year. I was hopeful
that this was due to the fact that we have had
lots of rain and lots of wildflowers so they were
not concentrating on flower gardens as much.
Regardless of that issue, I certainly saw a huge
amount of monarchs yesterday. I don't know how
long they have been there or how long they will
be staying. It rained last night, a front is
going through, and the wind may change. I took
numerous pictures and I am sending the CD to you
by mail if you have the time to look at it. I am
going to check the location tonight to see if
they are still there.

Richard- Erie, Kansas

Comments:

This is a moving day and most of these monarchs
are surely leaving this site as I write this note.

I'll have to wait until I see the pictures but
Richard has described what may be the largest
concentration of monarchs seen in Kansas in at
least a decade. The numbers of monarchs may rival
those reported from SE Arkansas (>100K) last Oct.
This report represents the largest concentration
of monarchs observed this year!!!
Chip- Monarch Watch.

Come on Monarchs!!!

No Asclepias within many miles of my place that I know of. So the first two Monarch's that stopped here to nectar today are probably the first on their way to over-winter along the California coast.

The Vanessa have been coming through in ever increasing numbers the last week or so, but the fall flight will be no where near the numbers seen every year heading north in the spring.

The Phoebis and Eurema are about done flying here, and so probably mostly south of here now.

It was a great day for Monarch migration in central Okla.
Hundreds of Monarchs moved across central Okla. today. A perfect day for moving, as at 9 a.m. This morning temp was 64 degrees, winds were from the ENE at 9 mph. They were flying lower initially, then would circle around, catch the wind current, and fly as high as my naked eyes could see. Even with binocs, they were like lil dots that dissappeared into the sky. I saw at least 10 per minute from about 9 a.m. to 12 noon. The numbers dropped off after that. Some flew lower, and stopped to nectar in the yard for a while, and were gone. But, there was still a steady trickle of them coming until 6:00 p.m.
The winds from the south pick up for the next 3 days. The next front is Sunday.

Unfortunately, with high flying, and only a few stopping to nectar, makes it hard to tag, or have high numbers stopping to nectar. The weather needs to get considerably cooler than high 80's.

Hope that you are seeing good numbers, Mike. If you are not, look high up into the sky, and see if they are there.

Linda and other observers of the Monarch migration,

Your detailed reports have been WONDERFUL. Those of us who are enthralled by the Monarch migration thank your for all your detailed observations. I'll forward this thread to Chip at MonarchWatch.

THANKS,

mike

Mike,

It's not over yet! I'm still waiting. Today I had the most action yet. I tagged 10 Monarchs out of about 20 that came through my yard. And I wasn't out all day long. They are all stalled north of here because of the strong southerly winds we've been having. I saw more Monarchs everywhere today, so I feel like this may be the leading edge. We have had very few cold fronts, but one is coming through this weekend. So...don't close out the thread yet!

OKSandy

Well, there's still plenty of monarchs up here in CT, too!

Today I went to harkness park in waterford and there were many,many in the sunken garden where they plant the heirloom heliotrope.

I can almost tell now when the day will be thick with Monarchs. It starts with a still morning, with a gentle southerly breeze and somewhat humid.

Today was such a perfect day. I think they get stalled here on the coast. They seem to enjoy nectaring in the warm autumn sun.Most that I see now are very fresh with that sheen you see on the wings when new. I wonder how many of these will make it to Mx?

Maryann in CT

Monarchs and Queens passing through my sunny front garden, stopping to nectar for a while, sometimes all day, but view from the shady backyard reveals a few flying thru (front faces North; back faces south) as they make their journey to Mexico! Lots of big ole girls and boys, too!

Also have a Queen or two that stop to enjoy the milkweed as well. I have one that has been here 3 days now, though. She may be a newbie and really needs to gas up!

Wind is from the south, but they are fighting it hard!

Susan

Susan, I've noticed a vaaration in size this year. Some are noticeably larger than others.

Do you think that size has a bearing on whether they successfully make it to MX?

Maryann

If there is not enough food available, they will pupate early resulting in smaller butterflies. I've had that happen, too. What is MX? Not sure what you mean, Maryann. All the Monarchs I've seen have been large. Some of the Queens are much smaller, but seem to show more variation in size than the Monarchs so far.

Susan

AND THE WINNER OF THE HOMEMADE BUTTERFLY STEPPING STONE IS:

AGGIE WITH A GUESS OF 121. SHE WAS CLOSEST TO THE ACTUAL HIGH OF 129. I'll mail your stepping stone on Monday.

FYI, here's the daily 10-minute count of Monarchs in Camelot during the contest.

SEPT. Monarch count

18-- 21
19-- 35
20-- 44
21-- 51
22-- 85
23-- 102
24-- 128
25-- 56
26-- 129
27-- 123
28-- 51
29-- 22
30-- 15
OCT.
1-- 8
2-- 20
3-- 26
4-- 31
5-- 35

Thanks to all FIFTEEN people who submitted guesses and to all of you who have supported this thread. I'll keep it going until observations dwindle and then submit it to MonarchWatch.

mike

mike

I think I have more monarch today than any other day this year - about 15 to 20 at top count in my small garden! They are going crazy for the purple top verbena, lantana and echinacea but seem to be ignoring the zinnia and asters, which I thought they liked. I'm a newbie to butterfly gardening this year so I'm not sure if it is normal to have so many this late in the season.

Late afternoon yesterday, there were about 8 monarchs feeding on the butterfly bush. It was a remarkable day for me as I have just gotten into Monarchs. In the morning about 9 am a butterfly emerged from a pupa I had found on the underside of milkweed leaf. Eclose? Is that the word for that? It took almost 3 hours before it was up and away. Perhaps it was sluggish because it was cool and overcast? Then 4 pm or so, the 8 or so adults showed up, and while I was observing them, a pair connected to mate. I had never observed that, and it amused me that they stayed connected for hours! I was so busy with that that I almost missed a caterpillar shrugging out its skin, doing that prolonged wiggle, and reinforcemnt of the attachment. I had filmed this once before, and although my pictures were not good ( I was using my husband's camera for the first time and I was too shaky to allow a viewer to realize how much action the change from cat to pupa was engendering) it took 7 minutes! Today was quiet, fewer BF, pupae at rest, and nothing new found. I am hoping that the prolonged mating may mean some new finds but perhaps it is too late for late this season.

A-mating is a-going on in my garden right this moment! Yesterday a pair were at it as well. I haven't released many either so as I have mentioned before, I have a feeling the Monarchs are on the move in the West...

I've been outside and have seen at least four Monarchs right now...

Carlanne, you had a really great butterfly day!

Unfortunately, I have no butterfly reports to add about today due to the fact that I worked 10:30am-10:30pm today at the restaurant.

But yesterday my last Monarch pupae eclosed. I have about 20 more tags to use up. I hate to use up my last few tags in case I find a late cat or two.

The local paper carried a story about monarchs in CT..about how their numbers were so hight this year. I have many people commenting to me about this at work, since they know I'm a fanatic.
Maryann in CT

WOW!!!!! It's great that we're still seeing Monarchs in socal, nj, conn,nc,okla and swva. I spotted about 25 Monarchs yesterday. Thanks again to all who help keep us up-to-date on recent Monarch activity. You'll note that several others have echoed my appreciation of all your contributions.

mike

Ok, so my guess is.....66

Mike,

The migration is starting here in NE Oklahoma. Last week I was able to tag 50 wild Monarchs in my BY. I would estimate that I saw between 20 and 40 monarchs a day.

This morning as I finished walking my dog, I looked up and saw them. I counted 40 Monarchs in a short span of time. They were high and traveling. I still have Monarchs nectaring in my garden--about a half dozen at the moment. The monarchs are coming in spurts, so I'll see a large bunch, then nothing, and then another bunch. I can barely see some of them, they are so high.

OKSandy

We've seen quite many flutter by...
At last one lands... a butterfly!

A rare shot of one of many migrating Monarchs:
{{gwi:520607}}

Kenn :)

Okay, MDN, here's a Southern California report, from my DH (Dear Hubby, as opposed to Dumb Husband as he likes to say the acronym represents!)

DH was at Newport Beach when he spotted Monarchs flying along the beach this morning. It was the first time he'd seen them along Newport's coast this Fall which goes along with my thoughts that the migration has begun along the West Coast. :) I knew it! He also saw them in Costa Mesa, later in the day. When he went to 'babysit' his mother in upper Newport this afternoon, he noticed several Monarchs fluttering along the streets. This is above the coastline of Newport Beach.

So, the West Coast Monarch migration is definitely going right now. This is earlier than last year, if my memory serves me correctly.

(but then again, don't trust MY memory...)

tdog,

Tough life for DH. Just from your posts on this Forum, I know that DH:

sits under an "umbrella tree" with Chelsea sipping water after an exhausting day surfing and reports to you on butterfly activity

examines his world class Plumeria collection almost daily

sits in a restaurant with his surfing buddies and notices the Monarch migration-even sees them turn down a street(last year?)

goes wind surfing while you sit on the beach and protect Chelsea from the sun

wins, or places high, at age-group surfing contests

tends your cats while you're at conferences

names a new Plumeria species after his beloved

MDN

After listening to our extended weather forecast last night, I am wondering if we will see Monarchs for a bit longer in Oklahoma. We are settling into an El Nina pattern, which means we will have warmer, drier weather thru December, they have predicted. Don't know if that will keep them around longer or not?????

Saturday I caught 11 on the fly high in the sky, and 4 nectaring in the garden. The Queens were mating, as well as the Monarchs. I still have cats on my milkweed.

Susan

Let's all search our memory banks for how long we continued to see Monarchs in past years. I'm going to record Monarch numbers in Camelot until they stop coming this year so I won't have to rely on my feeble memory. If enough of you keep posting your Monarch numbers here we can use this thread as an aid to our memory banks. BTW, I spotted 20 Monarchs in my 10-minute walk yesterday.

mike

I am still only seeing a few Monarchs, but am seeing lots of cats. I hope my milkweed holds out, some of it is stripped clean!

{{gwi:520608}}

{{gwi:520610}}

Hardly any Monarchs in Jacksonville! Mostly G.F's

I'm still seeing about 8-10 per day right now. No more Monarch cats (just BSTs), but the milkweed is reblooming nicely. However, the Monarchs are much more interested in the buddleia and lantana for nectar.

Cameron

Yesterday it was much cooler( mid-50's) and butterfly numbers were down considerably. I spotted only 6 Monarchs in Camelot in my 10-minute stroll.

mike

Mike, last year I released my last monarch on Nov 1.

I continued to see adults later into the month of Nov.

I believe a few people here in CT saw monarchs into the beginning of Dec. last year as it was mild until mid Jan.

This year may mimic last year here in CT.

Maryann

Yesterday( temp. in the low 50's for the second day in a row) I SPOTTED NO MONARCHS AND NO OTHER BUTTERFLIES in my 10-minute walk through Camelot. It should be in the 60's for the next few days and I hope to spot a few Monarchs.

mike

As the temp. rose into the mid 60's for Sat.-Mon., the Monarchs returned:

Sat.---12

Sun.---20

Mon.---5

mike

Mike,

I have a garden full of Monarchs today. They are nectaring on every Buddleia and Curavassica plant, as well as some of the other plants. These are big, gorgeous, beautifully colored BFs.

OKSandy

Here in Austin yesterday I saw tons of butterflies, but no Monarchs. It was hot, but a cool front came in last night and it is about 60 this morning - nice!

We had 3 Monarchs at once in our garden this morning! They've been fluttering through the neighborhood for some weeks now and we see them nearly every day. But our butterfly bushes are mostly spent and they rarely land. This morning they seemed to favor our Cleomes... so once again I get a a chance for a photo :)
{{gwi:520612}}

Kenn

Kenn,

Thanks for the picture of a Monarch on a cleome. I have many cleome flowers right next to many mexican sunflowers and buddleia and have never seen a Monarch on my cleome.

Sorry to have faltered on reporting my daily Monarch count lately. I'm helping a contractor remodel almost everything in our main bathroom( and watching my Red Sox) and seldom get on the computer.

Oct.

16--3

17--0 ( rainy/cool

18--1

19--1(even though it was sunny/mid-70's)

mike

While looking at Home Depot's garden plant deals yesterday afternoon, I spotted 2 monarchs fluttering nearby. I turned around and saw them settling on the 'White Profusion' Butterfly Bush behind me. Needless to say, the butterfly bush was one of the plants I bought there at 50% off! It was a beautiful, but unseasonably warm day (70 degrees) yesterday. As soon as I planted the bush in the soil yesterday, the first monarch appeared in my condo complex since I moved there last November! Gotta love those butterfly bushes.... :-)

Hmmmm, I just might have to check Home Depot for some buddleia bargains. I still have 2 monarchs on my white buddleia and 2 on my potted asclepias curassavica's. They've been for a while now (over a week); always 2 on the buddleia & 2 on the milkweed. I keep my buddleias (for the most part) deadheaded, so with all this lovely weather we've been having, I have some nice blooms for the late migrators. Next year I'll have to do more A. curassavica; it always blooms until frost for me, and I'm sure the late monarchs appreciate it ;)