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.