Many monarchs were seen above the dunes at Cape May Point this morning. Many seemed to be milling around in the air above the dunes, testing the winds. Some would fly out over Delaware Bay a short distance only to return. By about 8:30 am we started to notice good numbers heading well offshore and probably committing to fly across the Bay. There were still reasonable numbers of monarchs around last night's roosts and in the air above the residential neighborhoods.
The cold front appears to be stalling out, and weather forecasts are changing every few hours. The winds are starting to switch around to the NW right now, which could trigger monarch movement both away from Cape May and also into the area from the north. Most forecasts currently seem to suggest a stalling of the front later today back to our north, with more southerly winds this afternoon and tomorrow, but with northwest winds on Saturday. If this forecast holds, monarch numbers will probably dwindle today and tomorrow, with a chance for another major influx beginning on Saturday. As always, we will report back with observations that we make, which are (naturally) more reliable than our speculative predictions.
How is it looking for tomorrow morning?
ReplyDeleteAfter the morning rain clears out, weather.com is predicting NNW or NW or WNW winds for the rest of the day, which should be terrific for bringing the Monarchs into Cape May. So tomorrow morning probably won't be great initially but it could build up to a great afternoon and evening roost.
ReplyDeleteAwesome thank you so much for your response! I may try Sunday morning too.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely try Sunday morning, it should be wonderful along the dunes of Cape May Point. Get out there early if you can, the gentle northwest winds forecast for the morning might trigger an early departure of thousands of monarchs heading to Delaware.
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