Having had 5-10 Monarchs a day for a couple weeks about a month ago, I expected that the peak Monarch migration in our area would be early. We have only one week before the usual peak period begins in our area and I'm seeing only 1 or 2 Monarchs/day in our butterfly sanctuary. I guess it's time for some of you kind folks north of SW VA ( like Maryann in SE CT) to raise my spirits by informing me that the Monarchs are coming my way.

mike

I'm in Chapel Hill, NC and I've seen so few Monarchs. I have so much milkweed for them and I'm just not finding eggs/cats. We've had a lot of rainfall this summer. In last year's drought, I had so many more Monarchs.

Fewer butterflies overall, too. It's disconcerting to me.

On a happier note, I counted THIRTY BST cats on the bronze fennel this morning!

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: my garden

Still finding cats here in Nova Scotia, Canada. Yesterday there were three Monarchs in the gardens feeding from the Buddleias. It was 20C (70F) with a wicked wind (we live close to the Atlantic Ocean). Found three more small cats on the Incarnatas and brought them in to join the party of 10 which are all in different instar stages. Temperatures at night have been eratic, ranging from 7C (48F) to 15C (60F).

Mike, I wish that I could help. It may be another strange year.

According to Chip Taylor:
"The leading edge of the migration in the middle of the country is presently near 38N - Kansas City, Lawrence, Topeka - and it is a thin edge due to the poor flight conditions over most of the last week."

He says Lat. 38. The migration time data says
Lat. 39- Sept. 19th to Oct. 6th. Their BIG tagging event is scheduled for Sept. 20th. So, I would say that the Monarchs in the central U.S. are migrating about a week early. I'm sure that there will be other waves, but perhaps not as large. :(

My Lat. is 35- Sept. 24th to Oct. 6th. So, they may be here a week early. Who knows what the hurricaine coming up Okla. and Arkansas will do???

Keep watching, and keep us posted. If you're not seeing them in the garden, then Look Up!!! If the weather conditions are perfect, they may not stop, but just pass over ahead. That's what hapened to me last year.

I stand corrected. The leading edge is not the peak migration dates, rather it occurs about 5 -7 days BEFORE the actual peak migration. The key is to watch for "Fresh" Monarchs.

The influx of Monarchs that you had about a month ago were "pre-migrating" Monarchs that had started coming south, and laying the eggs of the ones that will be migrating.

How 'bout that???? I am learning their quirks, but have so much more to learn. The rain or cooler weather may have slowed them down.

Are released Monarchs included in this data set?

I guess that I don't understand your question, Jeff. The fresh Monarchs that are migrating are from the North, and could either be wild or raised.

Your newly released Monarchs may also join the migrating Monarchs if they are in diapause. I have had some newly released Monarchs take off immediately upon release in a SW direction. I have had some newly released Monarchs that decided to hang around, and get immediately pounced upon by a Monarch not in diapause,eager to mate. Alot of that tends to happen, I've found when the temps are really warm.

Did that answer your question???

Well, I was assuming that Monarchs released about now in our area were going to join the migration (I'm going to tag them, if MonarchWatch sends them in time!). Mid-September to early October is the last brood around here.

Am I mistaken?

Jeff

Jeff,

Why not include released Monarchs? I think we're interested in the numbers we see and the predictions for their migration.

Linda,

Thanks for the update on how the actual and predicted peak migration periods compare this year. I'm glad you sent out the correction. According to your first message, we should have been beginning PEAK MIGRATION and I saw only one Monarch today.

mike

After a very slow couple of weeks, the Monarch activity picked up today in our butterfly sanctuary. Almost no wind, temps in the low 80's and I spotted 6 Monarchs in my 10-minute stroll through our garden.

mike

Partly cloudy, temps in the low 80's, little wind in SW VA

I spotted 5 Monarchs in my 10-minute stroll through our one-acre butterfly sanctuary. Butterfly activity in general has been low for the past week or two. One reason could be the drought in our area. We've had less than 2 inches of rain in the past TWO months.

mike

Driving this afternoon from Saltillo, Nuevo Leon, to Reynosa, Tamaulipas, an east-west route just south of the Texas border with Mexico, I saw more butterflies than I've ever seen in one place, with the lone exception of the Monarch sanctuary El Rosario in northeast Michoacan. The greatest numbers were Southern Dogface and a small orange butterfly that I could not identify (but I'll bet some of our RGV members know what it is -- wingspan about one inch; loopy, hard-working type of flight pattern; fly in groups of three to six). But also occuring in notable numbers were Tiger Swallowtails and lots of Monarchs.

While we waited in line at an inspection station outside Reynosa, dead butterflies lined the roadside like fallen flower petals. And sadly, quite a few succumbed to impact from our windshield.

I was surprised to see Monarchs this far south this early, but they all appeared to be flying south. Is is normal for the Monarchs to be migrating through south Texas this early, or am I premature to attribute this population to migration?

I just hope there will still be Monarchs in north Alabama when I get there in three or four days.
geni

Hi Geni, so good to hear from you!!! So, you won't be in Mexico for the hopefully large influx of Monarchs the 1st of Oct. I don't know alot about the South Texas and Mexican Monarchs, but there seems to be a "Pre-migration" about a month or or sooner before the actual migration where some of the Monarchs start heading south to lay eggs. Someone on the Monarch Watch D-plex posted that about a week ago, one of her friends in Piedras Negras had Monarch eggs and caterpillars. Rains during the
last of August have brought the Hierba de Zizotes back to succulent life and
plants are approaching 18" in height with full blooms.

Still too early for peak migration here.
Beautiful fall day. Temps:82 degrees. Wind: light SE at 5 mph. On way home from OKC, noted 6 singletary Monarchs from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in a S to SW directional flight about 20ft. in the air. I am beginning to release the Monarchs brought in as eggs about 1 month ago. I just love this time of year, though I am still finding cats and eggs on my skeleton milkweeds. Will be few blooms on the trop. mw for them to nectar on.

Partly sunny,low 80's, wind about 9 mph from the north

Strange experience with Monarchs today-spotted 17 this morning around 11 and found NONE around 1:30 p.m. I realize they may have headed south, but I noticed only one heading in that direction. Monarchs tend to hang around our one-acre butterfly sanctuary and this should be even more likely now because our region is in a drought with only 2 inches of rain in the past TWO MONTHS. Our butterfly sanctuary shows the effects of the drought, but I've been watering for an hour or two almost every day.

mike

Traveled today from the Rio Grande Valley to Lafayette, La., and the Monarchs flying along U.S. 281, 77 and I-10 decreased steadily as I went north. In fact, all the butterfly numbers decreased.

I was able to identify the little orange butterfly that first caught my attention before I crossed the border. It was a snout, I believe the American Snout. I usually see one or two a year in Alabama, but there were millions of them in south Texas.
geni

Throughout most of September, Moanrchs have been steady visitors, maybe 5-6 in my yard on a warm, sunny day, although I did notice some in flitting still during the early evening when the temps were cool.

On Weds, 9/17, there was an explosion of Monarchs00didn't get an exact count, would have been impossible, but I would guess there were upwards of 25-30 Monarchs. It was warm, 70's and calm. A friend in a nearby town reported the same level of activity in her yard.

Yesterday, I didn't see one. Weather was the same.

Partly sunny, low 80's, little wind

In my 10-minute stroll through Camelot around 1 p.m., I spotted 8 Monarchs. All but 2 of them were nectaring on mexican sunflower (Tithonia).

mike

bernergrrl,

Thanks for the report about the explosion of Monarchs in your area. It raises my hopes that I'll get my usual "plethora" of Monarchs eventually in our butterfly sanctuary in SW VA.

mike.

In the last 3 days, I have seen no more than 5 Monarchs during any 10-minute period in our butterfly sanctuary. The peak period for Monarch activity in our area usually ENDS about October 1, so I'm starting to give up hope for sizeable numbers this year. The entire area (SW VA) is undergoing a 3-month drought. We're about 8 inches below the normal 3-month total. My hypothesis is that there are too few nectar plants IN THE AREA to attract many Monarchs and that the big numbers have selected other flyways this year.

mike

Sunny and breezy, mid-80s in northeast Alabama. I've been back four days (just got reconnected to the internet today). I haven't seen a single Monarch.
geni

This morning, in a quick walk around, I saw 12 wild Monarchs in my garden. There were half a dozen on my white buddleia which has a fresh flush of blooms this month. Others were nectaring on curassavica blooms. It is interesting as these are huge, fresh-looking Monarchs, both male and female. This is the first day I have not seen any attempts at mating. They all seem to be intent on nectaring.

All of the 100 Monarchs that I raised/tagged in the last couple of weeks have left, most immediately after releasing them. A few of those released/tagged on Tuesday hung around overnight, but took off the next morning. I have small roosts at night--up to about a dozen BFs--in the trees that cluster together at the back of my yard. This has been going on for over a week now. I am hoping that I will get a larger roost as the peak migration is scheduled to hit here early next week with a cool front that is approaching. It is exciting, as I am seeing so many Monarchs coming through daily.

Sandy

There have been one or two during the week here, and I saw a chrysalis hiding in a bush here. I'll have to check on it to see if it has eclosed. It seems that there are some really late "bloomers" here. It has been cooler (50's-60's) but sunny this past week. We've even had some nights of light frost. :(

Someone (think he was in Texas) on the NABA chat list reported seeing a "flock" of 100-150 Monarchs flying over his head. Can you imagine?

Also, NPR had a program on (think it was actually a program from BBC being aired on NHPR), and Chip Taylor from Monarch Watch was being interviewed about the Monarchs and their migration. I was pleased to see the attention Monarchs are getting.

I have not had ANY Monarchs until probably the 1st of Sept. I have one mama that keeps hanging around the yard everyday. She flies from the front yard to the backyard nectaring on the Blue Mistflower, which is their favorite this year, as well as the Verbena bonariensis and the lantana. My Golden Crownbeard is blooming, but haven't seen any Monarchs nectaring on it yet.

Just goes to show you their tastes vary in favorite nectar plants from year to year. I still have cats on my milkweed - they really love the Gomphocarpus this year and I have found a few on the incarnata and curassavica.

Saw the mama again this morning. She flutters all over. The blue mistflower (ageratum houstonianum) blooms in both shade and sun, so she has my wild backyard full of it, plus a humongous shrub of it in the front yard (about 5' across and as wide) to nectar on.

Haven't seen any large numbers flying so far, though. My aster aromatica is about to burst into bloom, too, so hopefully it will draw some nectarers as well. The aster tartaricus 'Jindai' is mostly attracting honeybees. My yard is absolutely full of honeybees right now, and I'm very happy to see so many. Maybe they are making a recovery from CCD???

Susan

I saw two Monarchs at Lowe's in Oxford, Ala., yesterday, and today -- finally -- a gorgeous male visited my garden. He hung around like he owned the place, and even the aggressive Gulf Frits couldn't chase him off the Lantana.
Mid-80s, no wind, but gathering clouds.
geni

On Sept 20, we tagged about 130 Monarchs at hammonasset beach in Madison CT. What fun, with all the kids running around with nets.

Then by the middle of the next week I had very few if any, and it's rained now for three days. But today, the rain stopped and I had about 6 Monarchs in the yard on buddleia. (It's still warm and humid.)

I'm hoping for more since I have about 30 tags to still use up.

Maryann in CT

Congratulations with your successful tagging, Maryann. What fun. Hope that find some of your Monarchs in Mexico.

Things are starting to pick up in central Okla. This morning I had a few hours before a meeting, and easily tagged 15 Monarchs- the most that I've seen in the garden. They would leave as I tagged, and more would show up. The wind changed to the north this morning, though it was still only a light wind. On my way to the store, I counted 5 Monarchs heading south in 15 min. And, another 5 on the way home.

linda and maryann,

Congrats on all your tagging and your many Monarchs. I'm glad somebody is seeing a lot of Monarchs. The most I had in our butterfly sanctuary this year was 17. In the previous 3 years, I saw between FOUR AND TEN TIMES that number on the best days.

mike

Great moving days for Monarchs in Okla.

Yesterday from Stillwater-
After making multiple peaks outside today in the hope of seeing the vanguard of this year's monarch migration, my hope was fulfilled at 6 pm, while watching my daughter's soccer game on the north edge of Stillwater. Hundreds of monarchs flew over the soccer field in 30 minutes, most of them quite high (over 50 feet?).

Yesterday in Norman-
There's a nice flight of monarchs going over tonight- many dozens up to a hundred per minute. They are coming down to feed in the flowers but are flying anywhere from a few feet above ground to hundreds of feet up.

And, this morning I saw-
They're coming through!!! They did not cover the sky with my naked eye, but large numbers came through my area this a.m. At 9:50 a.m. went out to check the garden, and I only counted about 12 Monarchs. I looked up into the sky for a few minutes, and low and behold they were there. High in the sky, circling around trying to catch the light north wind current, and then vanished from sight. From 10:00- 10:20 a.m., I counted 1-4 Monarchs, mostly singles, every 5 seconds. At 10:45 a.m. and at 11:00 a.m., I was still counting at least 1-3 Monarchs every 5 secs. At 12 noon, there were only a few to be seen. And, at 2:00 p.m., I did not see any.
At 10:00 a.m., Temps: 68 degrees, Wind: N at 8 mph, sky clear, Vis: 10 miles

Come on Monarchs! Hopefully, some will be entised by my lush garden, and stop for rest and food. :)

I'll try to keep a better lookout for them especially during the times you've mentioned, Linda. Whenever I am outside I check the skies, but haven't seen any significant numbers yet. There are usually a couple in the yard during the day nectaring, but so far, not a lot.

Susan

Today, Oct 1, and yesterday, I saw a large increase in Monarchs in my yard. Both mornings, at around 10 a.m., I had at least 6 or 8 on the white buddleia. When I tagged one it would rapidly fly off to the southwest never to be seen again. Only to be replaced by at least one other.

This morning, Wed, I recaptured the last one that I tagged around 5 on Tuesday. It's the only one to stick around so far after I tagged it.

So, Mike, hopefully this latest influx will come down the pike to you when the air mass changes on Thursday.

Maryy, upstream in CT

Yesterday morning, I definitely saw Monarchs moving through. They were flying low. Some stopped to nectar in my yard, and others continued to fly south. One, two or three monarchs were nectaring on the Oscar Milkweed, White Buddleia, Vitex, and curassavica plants. I observed this behavior for 45 minutes before having to move on. I estimated 100 Monarchs an hour were moving through at that time. Later, when I went out to check again, all activity had stopped. Winds had turned around and were coming in southerly gusts. No monarchs were nectaring.

This morning, one lonely Monarch was attached to my lavendar buddleia. We had temps in the 40's over night and a cool start. Hopefully we will see more today.

Maryann,

Thanks to you, I'll keep my hopes up for sizeable numbers of Monarchs. However, I've not seen more than 4-5 each day for the past 2 weeks. Here's hoping for favorable winds.
Linda,

What a thrill it must be to see HUNDREDS of Monarchs flying overhead in 30 minutes. It would be tough for me to keep my eyes on the soccer game.
mike

I am beginning to see them, which is WEIRD, because we have had the strangest weather lately here in SoCal. It is SO hot right now that I can't imagine what the Monarchs are thinking! It wasn't this hot this summerÂ

I had about 15 nectaring in the garden today on the Aster tartaricus 'Jindai', Blue Mistflower (ageratum houstonianum), and the Aster oblongofolis (aromatic aster). I couldn't believe it! The most Monarchs I have seen in my garden to date! I have a very small garden in the front sunny area, too. Only about 20 sf.

I'm going to check out the back yard this evening to see if they might be roosting overnight.

Susan

Many here today as well.. We had a brisk 20-25 mph wind here from the southwest all day. They had a tough time flying against all that headwind and apparently decided to stay put for today at least.

Maryann

One on Thursday, two on Friday, all males. Temps in the mid-80s, sunny, no wind.

I'm seeing between 5-7 Monarchs about anytime I count between 10-5 each day for the past 2 weeks. I've noticed that the Monarchs are nectaring almost exclusively on our tithonia (mexican sunflower) even though buddleia, zinnia, aster, sedum, lantana, Senecio, four o'clocks, wave petunia, silver lace vine, salvia, cleome, datura, ironweed, cardinal lobelia, etc. are still in bloom.

mike

Mike, Since my last report on Friday...On Sat I visited Harkness park in Waterford, CT. and there were many, many Monarchs. On Sunday, I'd planned to show an older couple how we tag Monarchs, and woke up to a steady cold rain. Monday was cloudy and cold..no Monarchs..Today was cool but sunny and I only managed to tag one.

I'm hoping for more this week when the weather warms.

Maryann

Four Monarchs on Tuesday, nectaring on Lantana, Tithonia and Cosmos in northeast Alabama. Partly sunny, breezy and low-80s. Wednesday, clouds and intermittent rain. One Monarch between showers. My daughter is seeing large numbers on the Alabama Gulf Coast. She says it's the most since the October following Hurricane Ivan.
gcertain

I'm so glad that some of you are reporting very sizeable numbers of Monarchs. It makes me less worried about the overall Monarch migration even though Monarchs through SW VA are way down this year. Thanks for all the reports.

mike

I had a few on monday but yesterday and today my neighbor(buddlia black knight) and I (white budd.) have been sharing about a dozen. They go back and forth all day.

Meredith

Today was a beautiful day, in the low 70's with a very brisk SW wind. I had a couple of Monarchs in the yard and tagged them. Then I visited Harkness again and there were hundreds. They have a beautiful cutting garden with lots of flowers still in bloom. The Monarchs were on an assortment of flowers, but they were really thick on the tall cutting dahlias. Especially the single yellow and white ones.

I tagged over 30. It was so easy, I didn't need a net, just gently plucked them off the flowers, tagged and released..no stress at all!

Maryann

Sounds wonderful, Maryann! I agree that the Monarchs are easier to just pluck off to tag when the temps are cooler. Not as easy to come by when the temps are warmer.

Geni, can you give me more information about your daughter's sightings so that I could report it to Journey North? Large numbers as in hundreds??? Alabama Gulf Coast as in nearest city???

Thanks.

Here in NE OK at any given time of the day I am seeing at least a dozen or so Monarchs in my yard. The prevailing southerly winds seem to be causing them to stop and nectar. Many are getting tattered. I even saw a pair in copula yesterday. I'm also seeing other migrating BFs including lots of sulfurs, Oranges, Little Yellows, and Cloudless.

I saw two this week, both were flying south (one in Belton, MO and one in Overland Park, KS). I don't know how to judge wind speed, but the days were in the 70s and sunny.

Linda, use Gulf Shores, Alabama, as the city reference for the Alabama Gulf Coast. My daughter is seeing them flying in ones, twos, and threes.

I had a couple in my garden here in north Alabama today, too. Partly sunny, low 80s, light breeze.
geni

Maryann,

Guess the Monarchs you reported are not coming through SW VA. I haven't seen any Monarchs for the past 2 days. In fact, I saw no butterflies at all yesterday in my 10-minute stroll through Camelot. Temps. were in the mid-60's.

mike

I had 2 or 3 pass through my yard this morning, sunny, light breeze, maybe in the upper 60's, low 70's. I also have other b-flies passing through, but unsure of the kind. I also reported on the other thread that I released my last 2 today.

After a few lean days at the beginning of the week, the end of the week turned better for Monarchs.

The number of them that I see seems mostly dependent on the weather. Warm (70 or so) and humid with a southerly breeze seems to pile them up here at the coast. They spend the day nectaring and lazing about.

On the crisp, dry, fall like days, only one or two are seen all day long.

Right now we have a very cold and dry air mass moving through and I won't expect many today.

Hopefully, they'll all ride this front out of New England because, after all, November will be here soon.

Maryann in CT

Thanks for all the Monarch reports. It looks like the Monarch migration hit a new low in SW VA this year. The most I've seen in any 10-minute count in Camelot (our one-acre butterfly sanctuary) was 17 and I haven't seen even one for the last three days. This part of VA has been declared a severe drought area for the past 3 months and my guess is that this kept the large numbers of Monarchs away from the area this year.

mike