The Monarch Monitoring Project is a long-term study on monarch migration through Cape May, NJ. It is a part of the New Jersey Audubon Research Department, and closely affiliated with the Cape May Bird Observatory.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Modest Monarch Numbers Continue

We grew used to monarch numbers dropping off quickly during the second half of October, but the pattern seems to be changing.  For the fourth year in a row we are seeing steady numbers of monarchs continuing late into the month.  Cape May Point is engulfed in a cloud today (Wednesday), with a misty drizzle coming and going, so the monarchs are not very active, and more rain is in the forecast, so we don't know if there will still be monarchs around after the rain.  But until there's a hard freeze in the areas to our immediate north, our guess is that modest numbers of monarchs will continue to be seen.


Seaside goldenrod, a favorite late season nectar source for monarchs, is fading now, with about 90% past bloom.  Monarchs are now being seen most often in gardens that still have flowers in bloom.




Monday, October 14, 2019

Monday morning update

We are seeing the biggest numbers of monarchs of the season thus far at Cape May Point this morning, with good numbers both along the dunes, feeding on seaside goldenrod, and also in various private gardens.  Winds are ideal for monarch movement, but we don't know if there will be more monarchs arriving or departing this afternoon, or perhaps equal numbers of both.  We don't know how it will be in a few hours, but right now there's a pretty good monarch show happening.  Visit any of the dune crossovers in the community of Cape May Point to watch them, but remember, never leave the formal pathways and walk into the dunes, it's not just harmful to the environment, it's actually illegal.

Monarchs on Vitex ("Chaste Tree") in private garden

Monarch on seaside goldenrod in Cape May Point

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Update for weekend of Oct. 12 - 13

Monarch numbers have been gradually increasing over the last few days.  If you've never seen more than a few monarchs in one place, you'll be delighted with what can be seen in Cape May right now.  Those who have been here when monarchs seem to be everywhere, however, will realize that these are just moderate numbers by Cape May standards.  As is typically the case in October, most are found along the dunes in Cape May Point and next to the Promenade in Cape May City, feeding on the flowers of seaside goldenrod.  If you come to see or photograph monarchs at these locations, it's crucial to stay on the paths and never enter the dunes.

Female monarch on seaside goldenrod

We are receiving reports of big numbers of monarchs at Stone Harbor Point.  Our volunteers up there, coordinated by Sue Slotterback of the Wetlands Institute, use monarch tags that are colored green, so that we can quickly recognize them if they come to Cape May Point.  It's surprising how seldom we see the Stone Harbor monarchs, suggesting that once they leave that spot they just fly right over Cape May on their way south.  Will we see a lot more monarchs arriving into Cape May Point today?  There's no way to know, but we'll be out there watching.

Our team is very busy with our program schedule.  Our last formal tagging demos of the year at Cape May Point will be held this Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm.  We hosted over 100 people at each of our demos last Friday and Saturday.  These free programs are held at the East Picnic Shelter in Cape May Point State Park.  Next Friday through Sunday, Oct. 18 - 20, we will have our tagging demos at 12:00 noon at the Cape May Convention Center as part of the NJ Audubon Cape May Fall Festival.  Learn more about this fabulous event here: https://njaudubon.org/nja-events/cape-may-fall-festival/.  Our informal "drop-in" programs at Triangle Park, held Mondays through Thursdays, will continue through October 24.  And, of course, the big Monarch Migration Festival will be held at the Nature Center of Cape May on Sunday, Oct. 13, details here: https://njaudubon.org/event/monarch-migration-festival-2/.  We're hoping that there will be good numbers of monarchs at each of these events.

Big turnout for one of our tagging demos.

We also work with school groups; naturalists Anya Held and
Brendan Schaffer are shown here teaching a class.









Thursday, October 10, 2019

Thursday update 10/10/19

It's been a very slow week for monarchs.  A storm developed out in the Atlantic, and while it didn't bring much rain to Cape May, we've had several days with strong winds out of the east and northeast. We don't expect to see many monarchs under those conditions, and indeed it was tough to find any monarchs.

Seaside goldenrod is blooming; where are the monarchs?

We had a lot of east winds in 2018, and while many areas saw excellent numbers of southbound monarchs, the Cape May totals were below our long term average.  This might be happening again in 2019, but there's still a chance that we will see big numbers during October's last three weeks.

Thursday's forecast is for north winds from 10 to 20 miles an hour, which should certainly bring us at least a modest increase in monarch numbers.  The forecast for the following few days is very favorable for the migration of monarchs - north winds on Friday, northwest on Saturday, and north-northwest on Sunday.  Will these winds bring a lot of monarchs or just a few?  We don't know, but our fingers are crossed!

Conditions look great for NJ Audubon's third annual Monarch Festival, which will be held from 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, October 13.  Details here: https://njaudubon.org/event/monarch-migration-festival-2/



Saturday, October 5, 2019

Saturday update 10/5/19

The temperature dropped into the upper 40s Friday night, yet many of the monarchs that moved into Cape May Point yesterday were still up early on Saturday, leaving their roosts before 8:00. Moderate NE winds were ideal for crossing Delaware Bay, and many of them headed out over the water to continue their migrations. There's a chance that more will arrive on Saturday afternoon, but as of late morning, monarch numbers had declined dramatically from Friday's peak. We are still seeing reports of many monarchs to our north, so we know there's a lot of the migration yet to come.

Friday, October 4, 2019

Friday afternoon - numbers increasing


Monarch numbers have increased significantly at Cape May Point this afternoon -- big numbers were seen flying down the beach between about 1:00 and 4:00 this afternoon.  It did not seem that many were leaving the Point and heading to Delaware, so we think some sizable overnight roosts may be forming.  Our team is currently searching around the Point to see if we can find where the monarchs are settling in for the night.  Monarch numbers should be high again tomorrow morning, but northeast winds are predicted, which the monarchs might use to leave Cape May and fly over the Bay to Delaware.  We'll be out there watching!

Midday Friday update

Steady north-northwest winds have been blowing across Cape May all morning, and while we're seeing an excellent flight of hawks and falcons, the numbers of monarch butterflies have not increased substantially.  We did find a few small clusters this morning, and we are seeing a fair number feeding on the seaside goldenrod along the beach, and a few here and there in the gardens, but no major influx.  It could still happen later today, and we'll certainly post something if it does.

Small cluster of monarchs at Cape May Point this morning
Cooper's Hawk over Cape May Point



Thursday, October 3, 2019

October 3 Update

Monarch numbers around Cape May Point were exceptionally low last Saturday, to the dismay of many visitors.  Numbers have been gradually increasing each day since then, but there still has been no major influx, and we continue to receive reports of large numbers monarchs from observers to our north.  We expect to see lots of October monarchs, but we still can't be sure of how many will come here, nor when the better days will be.

Wednesday was an exceptionally hot day, and our team found a fair number of monarchs around Cape May Point, especially areas closest to the beach.  For the last two weeks a preferred nectar source has the native wild sunflowers of Cape May Point State Park.  These flowers are now fading, but the seaside goldenrod has started to bloom along the upper beach and dunes of Cape May Point.  These beautiful flowers are also common along the Promenade in Cape May City, and many can also be seen in gardens around Cape May.  Seaside goldenrod is a favorite nectar source for monarchs all along the Atlantic coastal migratory route.

Monarch on native wild sunflower at the State Park
 Thursday has dawned cloudy and cool, and badly needed rain may fall (we all are hoping for some rain, our gardens and wetlands are extremely dry).  The wind is blowing from the east at 15 - 20 mph, so an increase in monarch numbers seems unlikely today.  A cold front is predicted to pass over the Cape Thursday night, bringing northwest winds of 15 to 20 mph on Friday.  Northwest winds are generally the best for monarch migration into Cape May, but it's usually better if the winds aren't so strong.  Winds like those that are predicted can sometimes blow monarchs out to sea, which few can survive.  It's one of the reasons we ask monarch enthusiasts to never bring monarchs from elsewhere to Cape May.

Monarch on seaside goldenrod in Cape May Point
What do we expect to see on Friday?  There's a good chance that many monarchs will be moving into Cape May, and if that happens, this could be a good weekend to visit and see good numbers of monarchs at Cape May Point.  We'll be sure to update, we could certainly be wrong this time.  If you do come in search of monarchs, the seaside goldenrod along the upper beach and the dunes of Cape May Point are likely to be the best viewing locations.  Do not enter the vegetated area of the upper beach or the dunes for any reason, stay on the footpaths at each of the dune crossings or walk along the open beach and view from there.  Almost every dune crossing at Cape May Point has a viewing platform and most have benches, these are great spots for monarch viewing.  There may also be lots of monarchs this weekend along the waterfront in Cape May City; a walk along the paved waterfront Promenade should provide excellent monarch viewing.  If there are a lot of monarchs present, we could see good numbers gathering into overnight roosts, most frequently found in the conifer trees along Harvard Ave. in the community of Cape May Point.

Don't forget to come see our team at our tagging demos, held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2:00 pm.  No reservations are needed, just head to the East Picnic Shelter at Cape May Point State Park.  It's the perfect time and place to get an update on how the migration is proceeding, and for tips on the best viewing locations.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Midday Update 9/26/19

Winds switched around the the south-southwest today, and as expected, movement of monarchs around Cape May Point has stalled out.  The last two days brought us winds from northerly directions, and monarchs were clearly on the move, but the wind speed and direction were ideal for monarch movements, and most seemed to cruise right over Cape May and continue on to Delaware.  For an hour or two on Wednesday afternoon it seemed that many were dropping onto the beach and into the dunes, but then they lifted off again and headed out over the Bay.  That's good news for the monarchs, of course, they've got a long way to go, but we feel a slight twinge of disappointment that more didn't stop over here.

We're not without monarchs today, of course, as a small percentage did stop over.  It's a rare day indeed when there aren't some monarchs in Cape May Point during September and October.  We're not seeing many in the air, but certain wildflowers and gardens have good numbers of monarchs feeding.  The native sunflowers in Cape May Point State Park are once again a hotspot -- an especially good area is along the park's yellow trail, where several dozen have been nectaring on a big patch of the native Helianthus gigantea.  We tagged a few here, and many had very little fat reserves, so they needed to feed.  Our best guess is that most monarchs arrived in Cape May on Tuesday and Wednesday with good fuel reserves and didn't need to stop, but those with low fat have stopped and are currently refueling.

Winds are predicted to blow from the south or the east for the next few days, and those winds typically don't bring many monarchs to Cape May, but as we always point out, all of our predictions are just slightly better than wild guesses, the monarchs don't tell us when they plan to come visit.  So we will be out in the field every day, conducting censuses, tagging monarchs, and sharing the wonder and joy of monarch migration with anyone who will listen.

Female monarch sips sunflower nectar

Male monarch at wild sunflower

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Midday Update 9/24/19

Tuesday morning brought northwest breezes and brilliant sunshine to Cape May Point, and it also brought a gradual increase in monarch numbers.  Early in the morning we saw some monarchs flying around, not many but more than the last few days.  As the morning progressed the numbers gradually increased, and by midday we were seeing a few monarchs drifting overhead every minute or two.  Most were seen right along the dunes, or from the hawkwatch at Cape May Point State Park (where a very good hawk flight is taking place).  A few monarchs were settling into the gardens, but many more were seen flying overhead.  It's possible that many just continued across Delaware Bay and are now on the other side.

Monarch at Cape May Point State Park, Tuesday morning 9/24/19

Northwest winds are predicted to continue all afternoon.  We know better than to make bold predictions, the butterflies keep us humble by surprising us, but our best guess is that numbers will continue to gradually increase at Cape May Point, and that by mid-afternoon more monarchs will be visiting flowers in the area's gardens and parks.  There may be some small roosts of 20 - 50 monarchs forming late in the afternoon, most likely along Harvard Ave., next to the dunes, or along the trail behind the dunes at Cape May Point State Park.

We'll post another update tomorrow, or sooner if monarch numbers or behaviors change dramatically.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Update and Reminders

Update for Monday, Sept. 23, 2019.  Monarch numbers remain relatively low in Cape May today, as has been the case for most of the month.  We may need to remind our readers that "low" numbers still mean that monarchs are here, and at certain times and locations there may be several dozen in a garden or flower patch.  But veteran observers know that every fall we have at least a few days when monarchs seem to be everywhere in Cape May Point and along the waterfront in Cape May City.  We haven't had such a day yet this season.

We hate to make predictions, but we might be on the verge of the season's first big flights.  A change in the weather is coming, with a cold front due to bring winds from the northwest on Tuesday and from the north on Wednesday.  These are winds that typically bring the best flights into Cape May during the fall migration -- the biggest numbers of monarch butterflies and birds.  Our fingers are crossed, and we're ready to be in the field all day tomorrow.  We will report back on what we find around midday, earlier if we see the monarchs pouring into the Point during the morning.

Tagging demo at Cape May Point State Park

We can predict that our programs will continue.  We have had large, enthusiastic audiences for all of our tagging demos, which will continue through October 13 every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Join the fun this weekend at 2:00 pm, when we gather at the East Picnic Shelter in Cape May Point State Park.  If you're here at 1 pm on a Monday through Thursday, "drop in" to visit with a member of our team at the Triangle Park, located at the junction of Lighthouse and Coral Avenues in Cape May Point.

We do want to remind monarch enthusiasts who visit Cape May about our few requests, which we last published back in August.  We welcome all monarch enthusiasts, whether intense or casual in interest, to come to Cape May and join us in appreciation of this migratory phenomenon.  Three requests for the more serious monarch fans:

1. If you tag monarchs in Cape May, please share your tagging data with us, as we want to keep track of all monarchs tagged in and around Cape May, and of course never enter private property or closed areas (such as the dunes at Cape May Point).

2. Don’t net or tag any monarchs at Cape May Point during these intervals: 9:00 - 9:30 am, 12:00 noon - 12:30 pm, and 3:00 - 3:30 pm.  These are the times of our censuses, and it’s crucial that all monarchs be undisturbed during these time periods.

3. If you raise monarchs, please do not bring them to Cape May for release.  This will be our 28th year of conducting systematic censuses of monarchs in Cape May, one of the longest, most consistent data sets on monarch populations in existence.  Imported monarchs can skew our numbers and reduce the validity of our data.  Also, the water crossing of Delaware Bay is hazardous -- you're probably not doing monarchs a favor by bringing them to the Cape.






Thursday, September 19, 2019

Still Waiting

Thursday evening update: As reported earlier, there were a good number of monarchs around today, the most we have seen so far this season, but it did not blossom into a major arrival event. The biggest numbers were seen at Cape May Point State Park, nectarine on the native sunflowers that are in peak bloom right now (Helianthus giganteus). The show was great there, especially in the morning and early afternoon, but big monarch numbers were not seen elsewhere around Cape May Point. We saw reports of many monarchs at East Point, just one county north of us on the shores of Delaware Bay. We keep thinking that a big arrival is imminent, but we don't know if it will happen tomorrow, this weekend, or maybe not for a while longer.






Quick update

Monarch numbers rising significantly in Cape May Point today! Cape May Point State Park is the recommended destination.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Tagging demos, monarchs coming?

Our tagging demos are going strong, with 85 in attendance at the demo on Saturday, Sept. 14, and that coming after private, pre-arranged demos for two other groups earlier in the day.  We love to share the story of monarchs and their migration, and (we hope you'll forgive us for this) to boast a bit about the work of our project, now in its 30th year.

Naturalists Anya Held and Victoria Cope at Friday's demo.
Our tagging demos will continue every Friday through Sunday at 2 pm at the East Shelter, Cape May Point State Park, through Oct. 13, and then switch to noon at the Cape May Convention Center Oct. 18 through 20.  Each demo begins with a brief talk about monarch biology, migration, conservation, and the work of our project.  We then break into small groups, each led by one of our naturalists or interns, where visitors can see a monarch up close, watch as we place a tag on the wing, and then a few lucky ones become the launching pad for a just-tagged monarch, sending it on its way to Mexico.

Anya Held shows enthusiastic visitor how to tag a monarch.
We've had plenty of monarchs to tag each day, but we haven't seen the first big influx of the season yet.  One of these days we'll see a lot of monarchs flying into Cape May Point, and the first such flight could possibly occur on Sunday, Sept. 15.  We received a report of big numbers flying through Ocean City, NJ, this afternoon, which is just 25 miles to our north.  The weather forecast for Sunday isn't perfect for monarch migration -- we like to see northwest winds, and the prediction for Sunday is for southwest winds and a chance of showers.  But you never know, we'll be out there watching, for sure.

And we'll be out at Cape May Point State Park at 2 pm Sunday, that's a guarantee.  We'll be talking monarchs and tagging a few for our visitors, and we hope that many of our readers will be there, too.

Victoria Cope at Saturday's tagging demo.
Our Field Coordinator Louise Zemaitis tagging a monarch.
Visitor releasing a just-tagged monarch.










Friday, September 13, 2019

Week 2 Update

We're nearing the end of our second week of studies for the 2019 Monarch Monitoring Project, and the monarch numbers continue to be low.  We had a bit of northwest wind early in the week, but that was earlier than we usually see our first big arrival event, and indeed those favorable breezes just brought modest numbers into Cape May.  We continue to see a slow trickle of monarchs at the Point -- we don't go a day without seeing a few, but we're still waiting for the first big flights.

Monarch feeding on lantana in a Cape May Point garden

We expect big numbers of monarchs to get here eventually.  There have been many reports from our north of observers seeing excellent concentrations; you can see some of those reports via Journey North here: https://journeynorth.org/monarchs/news/fall-2019/.

In staff news, we are excited to report that the Migration Count Coordinator for NJ Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory, Tom Reed, is now tagging monarchs.  Tom's a busy guy at this time of year, coordinating the hawk watch, sea watch, and morning flight counts, plus doing pilot work on studies of migrating bats, dragonflies, and moths.  If it migrates through Cape May, Tom studies it, so it's not surprising that he wanted to add monarch tagging to his impressive list of skills.

Migration Count Coordinator Tom Reed with tagged monarch.

Our program season has begun, and we met with enthusiastic visitors last weekend at our first two tagging demos at Cape May Point State Park.  Monday through Thursday featured our first four informal "drop-in" programs at the Point's Triangle Park, with attendance ranging from 2 to 15.  We love to talk about monarchs with everybody, and hope that many readers of our blog will attend one or more of our programs this fall.  The Triangle Park programs will run through Oct. 25 every Monday through Thursday at 1 pm.  The Triangle Park is at the junction of Lighthouse and Coral Avenues in the Borough of Cape May Point.  Our more formal tagging demos are held at 2 pm in Cape May Point State Park, at the East Shelter, which is adjacent to the big Hawkwatch Platform.  Those programs run every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through Oct. 13.  We'll also be part of the big NJ Audubon Monarch Festival on Sunday, Oct. 13, details here: https://njaudubon.org/event/monarch-migration-festival-2/

The following weekend, Oct. 18 - 20, our demos move to the Cape May Convention Center as part of the NJ Audubon Cape May Fall Festival and will take place at 12 noon (and possibly at other unscheduled times).  See details about the festival and the schedule here: https://njaudubon.org/nja-events/cape-may-fall-festival/

Nothing in the weather forecast suggests that we'll see many monarchs this weekend or early next week, but as we always say, patterns are sometimes broken.  We will hope to be happily surprised.  But even if the big flights don't start up yet, there are always some monarchs in Cape May Point, and this fall we're seeing lots of other butterflies as well, as illustrated below.  You can't go wrong with a visit to Cape May in the fall; we hope to see many of you at our programs and out in the field.

Red Admiral

Red-spotted Purple
Common Buckeye







Friday, September 6, 2019

First week

This was originally posting on our FaceBook page, "Cape May Monarchs," on Sept. 5:

Early September is usually slow for monarch migration in Cape May, and this year is no exception. Our staff has tagged a few monarchs each day, but they've also had time to bring a few eggs and caterpillars into the exhibit at the CMBO Northwood Center, shown here. Our census numbers have been low, as expected.

A cold front is expected to pass through Cape May on Friday night, bringing northwest winds for the weekend. These are typically the best winds for bringing migrating butterflies and birds into Cape May. It's still a little early in the season, so we can't promise lots of monarchs this weekend, but it is possible.

We can promise to present the first two monarch tagging demos of the year, at 2 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Meet at the East Shelter in Cape May Point State Park, the picnic pavilion adjacent to the hawk watch. There's no fee for the program, but donations are accepted. Expect about ½ hour talk about monarch biology and the work of our project, then watch as a few monarchs are tagged and sent on their way toward Mexico.

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Day 1, 2019

September 1 marks the beginning of our field season each year.  Now our 30th field season is underway.  Our two field naturalists, Anya Held and Victoria Cope, went to work, learning the census protocol and meeting several Cape May Point residents whose gardens will host lots of migrating monarchs.  They also netted and tagged their first monarchs.  They'll both be working from now until mid-November, counting monarchs, tagging monarchs, and talking with hundreds of people about monarch biology and conservation.  If you see one of them in Cape May Point with a butterfly net in hand, don't hesitate to stop and ask them about monarch butterflies and the work of our project.

Anya Held with her first tagged monarch






Victoria Cope with her first tagged monarch

In addition to informal meetings, you can come to one of our formal educational programs.  Here's our schedule for 2019:

Monarch tagging demos: Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Sept. 7 through Oct. 13.  Our signature program, held at the East Shelter of Cape May Point State Park, begins at 2:00 pm with an overview of monarch biology and conservation, and a description of the work of the Cape May Monarch Monitoring Project.  

Project founder Dick Walton discussing monarch biology at a tagging demo
After the 20 - 30 minute talk, our staff bring out monarch butterflies for tagging.  Several members of our team are always present, so we can split into small groups and everyone in attendance can get a close-up look at the process.

See monarchs tagged at close range
NJ Audubon's Cape May Fall Festival: Running Oct. 17 - 20 this year, our fall festival is NJ Audubon's biggest event of the year.  On Oct. 18, 19, and 20 we'll have a table and some monarch caterpillars and chrysalides at the Cape May Convention Hall, where there will be a series of presentations and booths with lots of vendors.  We will offer several tagging demos at the Convention Hall, or visit us any time to talk about monarchs with members of our team.  We'll also have an illustrated talk about monarch biology and conservation as one of the festival events.  Learn more about this great annual event online here: https://njaudubon.org/nja-events/cape-may-fall-festival/.


Drop-in programs at Triangle Park: Mondays through Thursdays from Sept. 9 through Oct. 25.  On the days when we don't have one of our formal tagging demos, you can still meet one or more members of our team for an informal chat at 1 pm in Cape May Point's Triangle Park, located at the corner of Lighthouse and Coral Avenues.  When monarchs are present at the park you may see an impromptu tagging demonstration, but at the very least you can learn about the work we do and ask questions about monarch biology and conservation.

Releasing a recently tagged monarch at Triangle Park
We look forward to seeing many monarch enthusiasts at Cape May Point during the next two months, both at our formal programs and informally as we observe and tag monarchs in the parks and gardens around the Point.

Finally, we are often asked to predict when the most monarchs will be in Cape May.  Sadly, we don't know.  Most monarchs usually migrate through Cape May Point between about Sept. 10 and Oct. 25, but within that period there will be days with lots of monarchs and days with very few.  Weather is often a key factor, as our biggest flights usually follow the passage of an autumn cold front, when cool winds from the northwest push many migrant butterflies down onto the Cape May Peninsula.  The same winds usually bring the best bird migrations onto the Cape as well.  But the butterflies surprise us sometimes, with big numbers occasionally showing up on other winds, or low numbers arriving after a classic fall cold front.  The best we can do is promise to post something quickly when we see a rapid increase in monarch numbers, both here on the blog and on our project Facebook page, simply titled Cape May Monarchs.











Friday, August 9, 2019

Meet the staff

Preparations for the 2019 field season have been taking place for a while now.  We have ordered new tags, refreshed our supplies of educational materials, and worked on gardens where our field work will take place.  The most important task each summer, however, involves hiring our seasonal staff.  We hire two Field Naturalist Interns each year, and they will do most of the work during our field season, which runs from Sept. 1 through early November.  We asked each of our new Naturalists to introduce themselves to friends and supporters of the Monarch Monitoring Project.  Meet Victoria Cope and Anya Held:

Victoria Cope working in Alaska, summer 2018
Victoria Cope wrote: "I am a graduate of Sterling College with a degree in Ecology and an emphasis in Natural Resource Conservation. As an undergraduate I worked as a research assistant for Sterling College. Through this position I conducted research in ecology, mycology, entomology and agroecology. I designed a number of research projects, including a long term pollinator monitoring study. In my final semester I completed my senior thesis investigating the impact of invasive species on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Vermont. In the summer of 2018 I worked on a research project conducted by the Forest Service in the Tongass National Forest on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, collecting data on forest regeneration, forest health, and understory vegetation. This experience solidified my love of fieldwork, ecological research, and travel. I hope to attend graduate school in the near future to continue studying ecology, conservation and entomology. I have always been interested in studying monarch butterflies and their fascinating migration, so I am thrilled to be a part of this year's study with the New Jersey Audubon and participate in conservation efforts through the Monarch Monitoring Project."



Anya Held at work at the Hershey Gardens Butterfly Atrium
"Hi! My name is Anya Held, and I recently graduated from Lebanon Valley College with a B.S. in Environmental Science. While in college, I designed and implemented a native plant garden on campus to help provide habitat and food for native wildlife. This included milkweed and other butterfly host plants. I also had the opportunity to intern at the Hershey Gardens Butterfly Atrium. During this time, I helped educate the public on a variety of arthropods (most notably butterflies), raise caterpillars, and tend to the Hershey Gardens’ insect collection. I have fond memories of searching my backyard for Monarch caterpillars and butterflies as a child, and I look forward to creating new memories through the Monarch Monitoring Project! I’m excited to assist in the research, conservation, and education of these remarkable creatures so that others may experience them in the future."

We hope that all supporters of the MMP will help us welcome Anya Held and Victoria Cope to Cape May.  We look forward to the energy and insights that both can bring to our project.


Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Preparing for Migration

Preparations are underway for Field Season #30 with the Monarch Monitoring Project in Cape May.  Our research work begins on September 1, and this year's seasonal Field Naturalist Interns begin their  training on August 25.  In the coming days we will introduce you to this year's team.



Monarchs have been more numerous than usual in our area this summer, with an impressive 167 counted on the Cape May Butterfly Count, which was held on July 24.  These aren't Mexico-bound migrant monarchs, their the parents (or in some cases, the grandparents) of those that will be making the long journey in the fall.  Does this mean we will have a big migration coming up?  There's no way to tell, alas, it all depends on how successfully these generations reproduce, which is influenced by the weather.  Even more important is how well the monarchs are doing to our north.  When autumn cold fronts bring northwest winds into Cape May, we see monarchs migrating from the eastern Great Lakes region all the way east to the Atlantic coast of southern Canada.  When winds blow from the east, as happened for much of September 2018, most of the southbound monarchs seem to end up on the west side of Delaware Bay, missing Cape May altogether.  This may disappoint us, but it's probably good for the monarchs, as the crossing of Delaware Bay is hazardous and we know that some butterflies perish over the water.

Expect much more frequent blog posts now until our season winds down in early November.  In another upcoming post we will list all of the scheduled public programs coming up during the fall migration season.  We welcome all monarch enthusiasts, whether intense or casual in interest, to come to Cape May and join us in appreciation of this migratory phenomenon.  Two requests for the more serious monarch fans:

1. If you tag monarchs in Cape May, please share your tagging data with us, as we want to keep track of all monarchs tagged in and around Cape May, and of course don't enter private property or closed areas (such as the dunes at Cape May Point) without expressed permission to do so.

2. If you raise monarchs, please do not bring them to Cape May for release.  This will be our 28th year of conducting systematic censuses of monarchs in Cape May, one of the longest, most consistent data sets on monarch populations in existence.  Imported monarchs can skew our numbers and reduce the validity of our data.  Also, the water crossing of Delaware Bay is hazardous, as noted above -- you're probably not doing monarchs a favor by bringing them to the Cape.


Sunday, July 14, 2019

Visit Mexico with us

If you have followed the Cape May Monarch Monitoring Project for a while, you probably remember that we arranged a tour of three of the Mexican Monarch Sanctuaries in February 2018.  You can see a gallery of photos from that trip here: http://www.mgnature.com/mgnature/Mexico18.html.


We are pleased to announce that we are going back in February 2020!  New Jersey Audubon is once again sponsoring a visit to Mexico, led by Monarch Monitoring Project Director Mark Garland, and visiting 3 of the Sanctuaries: Sierra Chincua, El Rosario, and Cerro Pelón.  The trip runs from Feb. 21 to 27, and details may be found on the NJ Audubon website here: https://njaudubon.org/eco-travel/#monarchs.
If you love watching monarch butterflies, if you marvel at their amazing migrations, if you have seen hundreds clustering in the trees at Cape May Point, then magnify that sense of wonder a thousand times or more.  That's what it's like to visit Mexico, where countless millions of monarchs gather every winter.  There are many tours that visit one or two of the reserves, but ours is one of the very few that visits three.  Along the way we'll enjoy comfortable accommodations, tasty meals, fine camaraderie, and we'll even see a few birds along the way.

Spaces are limited, and our 2018 filled quickly.  We expect the same will happen on the upcoming trip.  For the full trip itinerary and registration information, send a message to travel@njaudubon.org and ask for information about the February 2020 trip to Mexico.  Join our group and you'll soon be witnessing sites like those shown below.


















Thursday, January 31, 2019

Good News from Mexico

The World Wildlife Fund just released results of the annual survey of monarch overwintering sites in Mexico, and the news is great -- the most area covered with monarchs since the winter of 2006 - 07.  The chart below is courtesy of the Monarch Joint Venture.  Learn more on their website: https://monarchjointventure.org/news-events/news/2018-eastern-monarch-population-numbers-increased.

Data from 1994-2003 were collected by personnel of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR) of the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) in Mexico. Data from 2004-2019 were collected by the WWF-Telcel Alliance, in coordination with the Directorate of the MBBR. 2000-01 population number as reported by Garcia-Serrano et. al (The Monarch Butterfly : Biology and Conservation, 2004)

Monarch numbers naturally fluctuate, so it's too early to tell if this is just a signal that 2018 was a very good year for monarchs, or if conservation efforts are paying dividends.  Monarch enthusiasts need to continue working to protect habitat, plant milkweed, and maintain nectar sources for southbound migrating monarchs.  We're all hoping that this is the beginning of an upward trend.

Monarchs at El Rosario, Mexico, February 2018
Curiously, monarch numbers are dramatically lower at overwintering areas in California.  Dr. David James of Washington State University pondered this on a post from his Facebook page, "MonarchButterfliesinThePacificNorthwest," noting a theory of the late Dr. Lincoln Brower (co-founder of our project here in Cape May) that this population is periodically augmented by monarchs from the eastern population.  See his comments on the January 23 post from this page: https://www.facebook.com/MonarchButterfliesInThePacificNorthwest/

Monarchs at Cerro Pelón, February 2018
In other monarch news, at the Cerro Pelón Sanctuary in Mexico, a monarch was just found that had been tagged at The Nature Conservancy's Muleshoe Ranch in Arizona on October 2, 2018.  Research and tagging in Arizona are conducted by the group Southwest Monarch Study, learn more about their work at their website, https://www.swmonarchs.org.  Their work has shown that some monarchs from Arizona migrate to the California coast, while others go to Mexico. The dynamics of this population are still being unraveled.