Big flight on October 22

Our blog has moved to a new location: https://njaudubon.org/category/monarch-monitoring/ For those of you who still connect to this page however, here is a blog post for October 24, 2021: A Second Influx by Kyra Madunich

Cape May Point turned into a swirling snow globe of monarchs on October 22nd. For nearly three hours, a steady stream of thousands of monarch butterflies headed west along the dunes on Cape May Point. Monarch numbers had built up over the course of a few days prior to the big flight, congregating at various roost sites on the point.

When monarchs arrive to the tip of the Cape May Peninsula and realize they must cross water to continue their journey south, they often opt to stay put, bask in some sunlight, and fuel up on nectar from flowers until a day with the right weather conditions makes the journey a bit easier. Thanks to the protected native habitat along Cape May Point’s dunes and the wonderful residents who keep butterfly gardens with fall flowering plants, these monarchs have a good supply of nectar during their stay. However, we did not expect the massive influx of new monarchs that came in from the north and which swept through on the 22nd, joining those already on Cape May Point to form one of the largest flights of recent years. It was a spectacular sight to behold.

We look forward to seeing what monarch numbers will be like in the coming weeks, though we’ve seen much lower numbers these past few days and it is likely that most have already passed through. Though we are sad to see them go, we know that the monarchs still have over 2,000 miles left on their journey to their overwintering sites in Mexico. We wish them luck, and we are excited at the prospect of our friends to the south reporting monarchs tagged on our project! If you see a monarch, remember to check their hind wings for a small, circular adhesive sticker. Each tag has a unique 4-letter, 3-number code. If you happen to see a monarch with a tag, the easiest way to read the code on the tag is to try to snap a photo and zoom in on the butterfly’s wing. Then report the code online at mwtag.org. Our fastest monarch ever recorded flew 558 miles from Cape May Point to Georgia in just 3 days, and we are proud to say that we’ve now also had nearly 100 tagged recoveries in Mexico.

If you don’t already, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @capemaymonarchs, and we will keep you posted on all things monarch as much as we can.

A Cold Front is Coming!

Our blog has moved to a new location: https://njaudubon.org/category/monarch-monitoring/ For those of you who still connect to this page however, here is a blog post for Sept. 23, 2021: A vital element to the Cape May Monarch Monitoring Project is our road census, which gives us a method to compare the numbers of monarchs around the Cape from week to week and from year to year. A member of our team drives a designated 5 mile route 3 times daily at a slow speed, counting every monarch seen along the way. Our first three weeks of census are complete, and the numbers verify our hunch that the monarch numbers have been a bit below average up to this point of the season. This isn’t really a surprise, since we’ve had a lot of warm weather and winds from the south or from the east. Monarchs usually migrate when the winds are blowing from the north, and a westerly component to the wind often brings more monarchs toward the coast, and then down into Cape May Point. In recent years we’ve had a lot of unfavorable winds during the first half of September, and it’s been a while since we have seen many monarchs on those days. This might be about to change. A big cold front is predicted to arrive on Thursday, bringing a lot of rain, but clearly out on Friday, the first of four consecutive days when northwest winds are predicted. These are the conditions that frequently bring big numbers of monarchs into Cape May. Can we guarantee lots of monarchs during the next few days? Of course not, nature isn’t ever fully predictable, but we’re hopeful, and I can guarantee that our team will be out in the field, ready to count, study, tag, and teach about monarchs, however many there may be.

  Our blog has moved to a new location: https://njaudubon.org/category/monarch-monitoring/

For those of you who still connect to this page however, here is a blog post for Sept. 20, 2021:  

We are nearly three weeks into the field season for the Monarch Monitoring Project, and on Sunday (Sept. 19) we started to see the season’s first major influx of monarchs into Cape May Point.  We also conducted our first three tagging demos on Friday through Sunday, with good attendance each day.

 

Seasonal Field Naturalist Kyra Madunich at a tagging demo

Tagging demos will continue each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through October 10, each held at 2:00 pm under the east picnic shelter at Cape May Point State Park.  No reservations are required, and no fee is charged, though contributions to support our program are accepted.  During the following weekend, Oct. 15 – 17, we will have demos at noon at the Cape May Convention Hall as part of the New Jersey Audubon Cape May Fall Festival, details on our website: njaudubon.org. We’ll then have one more weekend with tagging demos, Oct. 22 – 24, when due to the shortening day length our demos switch to 1:00 pm.

 

Field Naturalist Madison Null teaches at the demo

You can meet one of our researchers on Mondays through Thursdays as well, from now until October 21, by meeting at Cape May Point’s Triangle Park at 11:00 am.  These are not formal projects, just opportunities to meet a member of our team and learn a bit about our work.  Our researcher may be working on garden maintenance, perhaps tagging monarchs, or otherwise working on one of the many tasks involved with our project.  One thing for sure – they’ll be happy to answer your questions about monarch biology and about the work we conduct.

 

Field Coordinator Louise Zemaitis shows visitors how to tag a monarch

Will Sunday’s influx of monarchs into Cape May Point continue through the week?  We wish we knew, but unfortunately there’s no way to predict.  One thing for sure: there will be at least a few monarchs here every day until late October, and maybe even early November.  On some days there will be lots and lots, we just don’t know which days that will happen.  So come often, enjoy everything that Cape May has to offer, and keep your fingers crossed, hoping to catch a day when monarchs seem to be absolutely everywhere.

A young visitor delights in a tagged and released monarch

We have moved!

 Our blog has moved to a new location: https://njaudubon.org/category/monarch-monitoring/