Our last butterfly is away!

[applestar]

Our very last Monarch, Mr. Swampy, eclosed yesterday. We tagged him today and wished him a safe journey.

Please wish him well -- he's a bit late for his migration appointment -- and boy did he know it, I've never felt such strong fluttering in my hands with any of our other butterflies being released, and keep an eye out for him down South -- his tag number is MNS442. :o)

[Mona Miller]

If he hurries, he will catch up with all those Monarchs traveling the coast right now. Here's a wonder post from dplex by Naturalist, Denise Gibbs:

Thursday, Oct 8 was one of the best monarch days I have had (this is my 13th year observing the migration at this location). Notice I said monarch day and not monarch migration day. The WNW wind did indeed bring thousands of monarchs to Assateague Island during the morning hours. But with seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) and large bur-marigold (Bidens laevis) in peak bloom, monarchs settled in for an all-afternoon feeding event. Those that did attempt to migrate were blown out over the ocean during 30+ mph wind gusts (around 6pm when winds decreased, many monarchs as well as green darners, black saddlebags, wandering gliders, and common buckeyes were observed returning to shore, flying low-- just over the waves). Nectaring monarchs were still clinging to the seaside goldenrod at sunset. Just after sunset, I counted 1,000 individuals roosting in about one acre of goldenrod (there were more, but I stopped counting at 1,000). Monarchs were also observed nectaring all afternoon in the Bidens laevis wetlands. The Bidens flowers solidly fill a wetland/field area of about 1.2 miles long by .2 -.4 miles wide (anyone know how many acres that amounts to?). I estimated about 5-10 thousand monarchs in this area, and I probably under-estimated this. It was a scene that will be etched in my memory forever. From the monarchs' perspective as they approached the wetlands from the air, it must have looked like a river of gold. I will post photos on my website on Sunday, (access by doing a search for Monarchs over Chincoteague). I will also post photos of the seaside goldenrod planting event that Mona mentioned. If anyone in the Mid-Atlantic is attending the Oyster Festival or the Refuge Week celebration this weekend at Chincoteague, you may be in for a treat. The forecast is for NW wind on Saturday and N wind on Sunday. If there are still monarchs north of here, they will be passing through on those winds. If there are still monarchs north of here, they will be passing through on those winds. I highly recommend a visit to the Bidens wetlands. To get there you must walk north on the paved Wildlife Loop Drive about 1 mile, go around the gate at the service drive, then walk another 1.5 miles on the gravel road to the beginning of the Bidens wetland on the right. Mosquito netting is strongly suggested. Other migrants you may see along this section include Peregrine falcons, merlins, and kestrels (and lots of shorebirds). The best place to see the seaside goldenrod is along the beach road at the south end. Park where the ORV lane begins (you will see all the flags where we planted seaside goldenrod). Walk south on the beach and check the dunes fragmented by the sand overwash areas. Enjoy. Denise Gibbs Chincoteague Monarch Monitoring Project"

[summerluver]

The same goes for our last little girl. With the hopes of some sunshine today, we released her after breakfas with the temperature at 63. Her tag is #MGN-505, and hopefully, she'll meet up with everyone on the goldenrod tomorrow,. I sure wish we lived closer, so we could drive down and witness the beauty of the thousands of monarchs toegether, that I can't even imagine.

[applestar]

Mona, thanks for copying Denise Gibb's account and the amazing visual. I closed my eyes and imagined the "river of gold" and the 1000+ black and orange Monarchs. I'm going to keep checking her website for the photos.

Summerluver, best wishes to your little girl. Maybe Mr. Swampy and she'll meet up and fly together.

[Mona Miller]

I'll have to check to see when she is going to post those photos. I ran into someone who had just left Chincoteague and they said they didn't see many Monarchs so they must have been able to fill up and get out of there. Denise has been working with the Fisheries and Park Service to allow them to manage for Monarchs. That river of gold was the result of Denise's years of data collecting. Before her efforts they managed the Assateague Refuge for other wildlife--even cutting needed nectar sources during the migration.

[sbannister]

Yes, thanks for posting that, Mona. It sounds so beautiful - both the flowers and the 'flys. I guess I can't complain because I have a few Monarchs all year here, but never have seen anything like the numbers of them in the "river of gold." Kudos to all of you that work on making that possible. And good luck to all the little travelers. I'll keep an eye out in case they swing by my garden!

[summerluver]

SBannister - Let us know if Mr. Swampy and Lola have become a couple! These NJ Monarchs are frisky. I envy your warm weather. Here in northern NJ we've had December-like weather for the past few days. It even snowed and sleeted on Thursday!!! I'm glad I released Lola last Saturday because she got two good days of weather before it got cold and nasty here...if it had been any later I don't think she would have had a chance to get out. It's 44 out now and raining at 9:30 am. Thanks from me too Mona for posting the info. on Denise. In light of all that's going wrong for our butterflies, it inspires me to see that one person can really make a difference for the benefit of a species, which no doubt, helps many others chances of survival too. I'm going to work on getting a butterfly nursery of milkweed and flowers going here in town over the winter - a Community Waystation. If I pull it off, I'll post pictures next year.