Previous Sightings - 2004 to 2008

[Fishslime]

The yard is in full bloom, many visitors - several monarchs - one frisky female deposited many eggs on my two small patches of milkweed this morning while I was mowing the yard - while checking the farm patch on Wednesday a female stopped very close and deposited an egg for ME (I think) maybe saying thanks and try again- my potted plants are doing good so here we go again-the in the ground plants are doing good too- Note: as I practice catch and release for most of my fishing-bass, trout, stripers, bluefish and panfish-all I have to show for my success is the slime=Fishslime - if anybody cared to know

[Farfalla]

LOL,Fish.
Glad all is well again.Good luck with this batch of eggs.

[Fishslime]

looks like my flowers are working- at least one pair of Monarchs for the last few days-seems like the female likes playing in traffic- the road patch have many eggs and cats- I have potted plants in a screen cage, finally- maybe enough cats for awhile(most raised from eggs) - my birdhouses helped the bird population enjoy my expensive attempts at storebought larva-learning every day (I think) wish me and the Monarchs GOOD LUCK!!!! Looks like a good population of Monarchs from here--won't rush it next year

[monarchmama]

Greetings from NW NY and NW PA near the shores of Lake Erie!

The first monarch egg I found and raised this year emerged as a butterfly on July 10th! It's a BOY!



I took photos before releasing him and he was very co-operative. Got some lovely shots and he is now center screen on my desktop!

I am new to this forum, but have been raising and watching monarchs in this area for almost 40 years now, and have tagged them off and on several times over that last 10-12 years.

I just recently got married and am in the process of moving from Erie, Pa. to Jamestown NY. Here in NY state I have just registered my first official Monarch Waystion (#686) and the milkweed plants I rescued from the mower last year are flourishing by leaps and bounds. Not many eggs on the plants here in NY but my established patch back in Erie are loaded with eggs and small larvae. I cut back the tops of just four stalks and "rescued" almost 60 eggs and larvae. Some of the leaves had 4-5 eggs on them, and there was hardly a leaf that didn't have two or more. I am not set up to raise them here in NY yet so I took them to the local Audubon Nature Center for them to raise in their "butterfly room", and will take tags over to do tagging demonstration when the butterflies are ready to release.

I have two established butterfly (buddelia) bushes in Erie that are in full bloom and it is not unusual to see 4-6 monarch butterflies feeding at a time on and off during the day. They are new and bright and hearty looking this year , and it is a joy to see so many this soon. I am sure that accounts for the number of eggs that are being laid on the surrounding milkweed. I have both common milkweed and swamp milkweed and the adults seem to prefer the common over the swamp for laying eggs on, and larvae also seem to thrive better on the common and prefer it given a choice.

Well I look forward to getting to know others in the tri-state area that love monarchs !

[Farfalla]

Welcome and congrats on your marriage!
Your garden sounds great!

[Fishslime]

Wow those big cats leave a lot of poo-so who needs a part time job???its like Love Boat around my place and the farm-at least 7 adults working the farm and 3 or more at my place at most times- while mowing the grass yesterday - looked up and well it wasn't the "Mile High Club" but (I still remember those days) -(the lazy male wasn't even flapping his wings)-lots of eggs and larva (keep 20-30 eggs going at all times) that instar action is scary-got my system down to a science, finally- and just payed the charge card bill for the larva- OUCH - please, please all I need is one new born -beautiful butterfly - at this point I don't care if it is a boy or a girl - (they probably wouldn't take my last name anyway)"We don't need no stinking badges" well not this year anyway--

[monarchmama]

Thanks Farfala! I am moving as much of my garden from PA to NY as possible. The one in Erie is well established and well visited by many types of birds and butterflies, but I only rent the lot and the landlady wants the gardens turned back into lawn so I have my work cut out for me. It is not the best time to be moving plants but I am giving many away to neighbors and moving my favorites to NY, including all the milkweed I have the energy to dig, as the landlady calls them weeds and threatens to mow them down when I am not looking. Ha Ha!
The conditions in NY are far better suited to a Waystation and I have total free reign as I am now the proud co owner of almost 18 acres. We have a good sized lawn bordered by a small meadow, several swampy areas and a small natural pond. The majority of the property is mixed woodland with two creeks meandering through it . The edges of yard and swampy areas are already well established with goldenrod, joe pye weed, ironweed, asters, crown vetch, and many other wild flowers. I have a nice stand of common milkweed that used to be mowed down (until I came along), but I have been guarding it from the mower and nursing it along since last summer and it is thriving. Also have two stands of swamp milkweed started in other parts of yard that is taking off slowly but should come along nicely by next year.
It has been a dream of mine for years to create a "reserve" for monarchs and this place definitely gives me a head start on that.

[Farfalla]

"Mile High Club" Is Toooo funny, Fishslime. LOL!
I just know you will get happy healthy Monarchs this time!

Monarchmama.. I take it back when I said your garden sounds great.....OMG it sounds like HEAVEN!
And ggggrrrrrr To think that the beautiful habitat you established at your old home is doomed to be......ugggghh.. lawn!!!!!!
I hope all the birds ,bugs and butterflies follow you to your new home.

[Orangeaid]

Up until 2 weeks ago i would have said it was a slower year for monarchs but things have really been heating up as far as monarch sightings and the amount of eggs and cats iam now finding. Monarchs have been laying an unbelievable amount of eggs around my area . So far the most eggs on a single leaf this year has been 12 but iam finding many leafs with 4 and 5 at almost every plant and 8 and 9 is not uncommon. Has everyone been seeing the same success in Jersey or close by.

[Farfalla]

On one tiny milkweed plant alone I found 14 eggs.( One leaf had 5 eggs!) From everything I have ever read,I did not think Monarchs did this. I wonder about it.....

[Orangeaid]

I was wondering about that also. I thought that they put only a few eggs on each plant so they dont overcrowd one plant too much. Definately kind of unusual for them to be laying eggs on the tops of leaves also. I thought the survival rate was not as good if the eggs are on the top of leaves as apposed to the underneath side. Well at least we seem to be getting good numbers now . I wont be tagging until the 2nd week in August but iam having a blast with the amount of monarchs i have reared this year so far.

[Pat]

It's been an egg bonanza around here the past several weeks. I have over 400 in the rearing boxes now. That's the most I've seen in many years.

[jbardwell]

The first sighting this year was very early on May 26th, a butterfly.
Now into August, am observing many butterflys and larvae.
Saw egg, larvae ,and butterly on Swamp milkweed, but not sure the larvae would prefer Swamp over Common.
Jenny Bardwell

[monarchmama]

Spent a week at my place in Erie, still working on clearing out my garden and moving what I can to NY. Number of adult butterflies working my flower beds and butterfly bush is steady and heavier than normal on all types of butterflies and the varieties that I am seeing feeding together is a great photo opportunity. It appears to me that all types of butterflies are doing quite well this season.

As far as the number of eggs layed on leaves, I remember when it was true that you would only find one or two eggs on a whole plant. But over the last few years my observation has been that more and more often you can find several eggs on a plant now and often two to five per leaf. I would attribute this to the fact that this year the numbers of adults for this time of year is higher than normal, and the fact that other available milkweed dwindles more and more each year as more clearing and building taking place, and also the cutting and spraying along roads and fields. Luckily monarchs are adaptable it seems and just make up for it by utilizing each plant they find to the full.

In trimming back my plants to get them ready to move I noticed many "monach circles" where the eggs have hatched, often three to four a leaf, and see the little guys for a day or so, but there seems to be a high mortality rate this year as I am only finding a few larvae that have gotten past the first instar phase, and have not found any larger larvae. I did notice that the number of tachnid flies around my milkweed seems higher that normal, and I have a lot of bird activity in my yard, so perhaps that is why I am not seeing signs of larger larvae at this point.

At least 95 percent of the adult monarchs I am seeing are new, good sized and plump, and are busy feeding mating and laying eggs.

It is a wonderful year to be watching monarchs!

[Fishslime]

well finally some success - had four hatch today(over 15 monarchs) - guess some cats got away in the house - maybe in the curtains - they were happy to finally get outside- saw several chink(cinch??) bugs sucking the life out of several cats - killing them is fun!!!!!! - the butterfly population is better than I have seen it in years - thanks to the Monarch Watchers, I'm sure - way to go!!!!

[Farfalla]

Way to go,fish! Glad to hear about your success ! I was wondering about that! ( So funny about the curtains..lol!)

[rangerrick75]

In July, I found a quarter inch caterpillar on my mowing deck of my tractor while cleaning it off. This was the ONLY cat found until August. I placed it on fresh milkweed in a canning jar and watched it double and triple in size almost right before my eyes. Then it crawled out and formed a chrysalis on the back of the head of my HONESTY and INTEGRITY statue. One morning about two weeks later, it became clear, pulsed, and split down the back. It hatched in about 15 seconds. The butterfly pumped itself up for three hours and then flew away.

Yesterday, 13 August 06, I discovered 12 caterpillars on one acre of land next to my home. [color=orange][/color][b][size=18][/size][/b]

[soundbell1]

i live on long island, new york i am having a slew of monarch this year, they love my butterfly bushes. i am also getting swallowtails , and black butterflies, but haven't got close enough to see exactly what they are .
every day i get at least a dozen of each

[soundbell1]

i live on long island, new york i am having a slew of monarch this year, they love my butterfly bushes. i am also have swallowtails , and black butterflies but haven't got close enough to see exactly what they are .
every day i get at least a dozen of each

[Chademr]

Today was an amazing day of sightings! In my backyard today I saw 5 monarch butterflies. I could'nt count how many cryalis I found in the field next to my house. And I also found about 15 caterpillars that I rescued from the scattered milkweed in the corn. The poor little guys would have been ground up when he cuts the corn! The Crysailses that i found were not where the corn was. They were on the side of the feild where he doesn't cut.

[jenc]

i'm new here, from Montgomery County, PA.
it's the year of the monarch in our yard.
whenever the kids go out to get a leaf in the morning, they bring back another cat. or a leaf with an egg. we go out and find 12+ cats in the garden (i hate weeding, so we have milkweed all over by accident).
and lots of tussocks. many monarchs fly in the yard, yellow swallow tails, and we see a monarch lay eggs every few days without paying attention.
but 7 miles away at church, milkweed all over but only aphids.

[Pat]

Hello Jenc, where in Montco? I live there too. And yes, it's been a banner year for the monarchs around here.

[jenc]

limerick. near the power plant!

[soundbell1]

hi was so estatic this evening i found 5 larvae on two of my milk weed they look to be about any where from a quarter of inch in lengh to about inch in lengh . i didn't think i was going to get any, even thou i had so many monarch, and swallowtails going throu my perinnal garden,

[Chademr]

This year is great for monarchs. I have found and seen so many monarchs this year. The air is litteraly filled with them during the day. Milkweed is covered with larvea. I went out to one plant today to get some leaves and found 3 of them. I wasn't even looking for any. They are so many chrysalises in the long grass along the edge of my yard. I would guess about 30!

[Pat]

other end of Montco for me, jenc - near the Willow Grove NAS. You get the power towers, I get the A-10s.

[soundbell1]

i am tring my luck at raising the cats in a plastic critter holder ,i hope this is ok never did this before---so as long as i keep putting milkweed leaves in the container, alos put a pc of twig from a liliac in the container. they should be ok right if someone can tell me some other ways or this is ok .

[Chademr]

ok, so heres the basics.

Monarch Butterflys lay there eggs on milkweed and the caterpillars come out and eat the milk weed until they pupate( make a chysalis) and turn into butterflies themselves. In order to rear them you should have them in a container (your critter carrier should do) and a fresh supply of milkweed daily. They can't eat dried out milkeed. You should also clean the cage daily. The lilac sprig is useless since caterpillars only eat milkweed. Make sure that the caterpillars can get to the top of the critter cage when they are big enogh to pupate and that once they emerge they have room for their wings to dry. If the sides are too slick for them to climb try putting 2 pieices of masking tape on there so they have something rough to climb. After they pupate they will eclose(come out of their chrysalis) in a week and a half to two weeks. GOOD LUCK!

[aggscott]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and learning a lot from everything here. I live in Northeastern PA which is about an half an hour from the Poconos. I have about three to four Monarch's outside on my butterfly bush everyday. Last Sunday when I was outside taking pictures of them I found a Red Admiral on the bush as well.
Well, off to learn more about rasing cat's, I have three of them in new cages for each of them and I can not believe how much they go and go!!


Aggie

[flowergurl4eva]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum, and I am just posting that I have found over fifty eggs that have turned into chrysalids. I have released about twenty so far.
I now have about thirty to go. I find the eggs in my garden on the milkweed I planted a few years ago. I see at least three to five monarchs a day. They seem to like my garden, which was not planted to attract butterflies. I started out collecting swallowtails off my dill plants, and a friend gave me 6 monarch caterpillars this summer, and the rest is history.
I found a field that also has milkweed, hopefully they will continue to let it gow, at least until my milkweed transplants get bigger.

Flowers

[soundbell1]

hi, everyone,
i just wanted to say that in the last two weeks.
in my perennial garden that i have had these butterflys visit-a pipvine,viceroy,(i think eastern tiger swallow came only got a quick glimes of the marking)
also had some lay eggs and im watch the youngerst they are eating up a storm.
also tring my hand at rearing in critter cage 5 of them .and man do they eat last wedensday they all started to go into the chrysil stage. so i am so excited that in two weeks i will have butterflys to set free and hope that they make it home.
i was hoping to see butterflys this labor day weekend but its raining here in new york
well a have nice holiday and safe one

[KarylMcLean]

We are just south of Lake Erie in far western NYS. Have seen more monarchs today than ever this early in the migration. Tagged 25 just off the butterfly bushes in my backyard in a half hour period. We usually do not start tagging until the goldenrod is in full bloom. This is early for us. Our favorite fields near the lake are not blooming much yet, so no monarchs there. There are monarchs all over the place, including the cement pad in front of school. They are just sitting on the sidewalks - attracted to the heat and perhaps the salt?? Any other ideas on that?

Karyl McLean
Fredonia High School
Fredonia, NY 14063

[Gwynne]

I had no idea there were so many people right near me! There is Pat in Willow Grove and Jenc in Limerick and Flowergurl in Harleysville and I am sure a lot of other people in the area! I am in Lansdale. I envy everyone with their gardens! I just started putting out some plants on my balcony this year. I have gotten some bumble bees feeding and beetles earlier in the summer and one ladybug. No butterflies yet though I bird did come on my balcony to peck at the dirt. Oh, and one of those white butterflies did sort of come over this way but then flew off. Maye I will do better with the flowers attracting butterflies next year. For this year I have a lot of pretty plants and of course the butterflies I release.

[soundbell1]

well 4 of my monarch hatched they look great i have two more that should be ready to hatch by the middle of the week. the 4 rested and went on there merry way i hope they make it

[connifer]

The picture below was taken yesterday, 9/12/06. At one point there were 19 monarchs on the Frostbeard plants and a half dozon or so more on the two Butterfly bushes nearby!

Connifer
Frederick, MD

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/ ... CF0017.jpg

[mommalepapillon]

Pat
I am just getting around to reading your thread about Bonide for ants...

Can you give me a little info on this... is it best to spread it early in the season? On the ground I assume...

I had ants, flies and aphids daddy long leg spiders and wasps! what a summer

Of the 20 or so Chrysalis I did see (all outside of my house none raised inside) I think aoubt 13 made it.

Have two young cats still munching .. saw my last male fly off the other day....
thanks

[soundbell1]

well i guess most of the mirgration is done here in new york because i haven't seen any butterflies in about week. soon after i let my butterflys go about week 1/2 go. well i can't wait unitll next yr hoply it will be as good as this yr

[Fishslime]

Finally a good wind direction(or lack of) for migration, warm temperature updrafts, too - many Monarchs, close to 100, sailing by, some stopping in for the yellow, orange, purple and pink flowers - some were way up there with the hawks and falcons - several cats and chrysalis remaining in my milkweed patch - I'll be better prepared next year - can't wait

[mommalepapillon]

i feel that way too

good luck to us next year and good luck to our travelers

I am in Washington DC this week so I am missing the remainder of the chrysalis. i have however seen quite a few Monarchs flying about...

We are staying right across from the white house and the Monarchs don't have a no fly zone.. so pretty

[monarchmama]

I have one fourth instar and 8-10 chrysalid left in my screen tent, then will wrap up for the year. Have raised and tagged about 60 , and tagged almost 20 wild ones.

Have lots of tags left as I have not observed any significant migration activity in my area, and just don't see how I missed them, but weather has been cool and rainy the last few weeks.

Curious to hear how others in mid atlantic latitude 42 have done as far as tagging wild monarchs this year, to know if I have indeed missed peak migration somehow this year.

[aggscott]

The past few days it was pretty nice and I have had two or three Monarch's outside on my butterfly bush every afternoon. I tagged three of them. Hopefully they make it!

Mary

[ndantonio]

Does anyone know if migration has peaked in Manhattan yet? My daughter and I tagged 20 in one hour in Riverside Park, along the Hudson on Wed, the 20th and another 17 today in about an hour. They were coming through steadily, but not in excessive numbers.

[Orangeaid]

Loads of Monarchs about today in south Jersey . Spotted over 30 on my Butterfly bushes out back this afternoon and saw many more about in general. Used the rest of my tags up today on the wild Monarchs. It will all be over soon and next year will be coming quick. Hope everyone enjoyed this great year of the Monarch

[tcannard]

I saw an untagged female Monarch nectaring on the few flowers I still have left on my white buddleia about 3:30 PM (EDT) today. Location was:
39 • 58' 38N and 75 • 18' 48 W (Havertown, PA).

[beachbutterfly]

I am still seeing lots of monarchs here in coastal nj despite the chilly weather. This has been the best monarch migration I have ever seen. The Seaside Goldenrod on the beach here is loaded with butterflies everyday. I hope all these butterflies survive the winter in Mexico. I have one more chrysalis left to hatch and then I'm done for the year.

[beachbutterfly]

I thought I was done for the year! I have a chrysalis which is going to hatch next week and I was ready to pack up my tanks. I have been seeing monarchs all week despite the chilly weather. I was cleaning out the garden today and I found a 4th instar caterpillar on some ragged old milkweed. So I brought it in and got it something to eat. It looks like its getting ready to molt now. This has been the longest and strongest monarch migration I can ever remember and I guess it isn't over yet!

[Fishslime]

My wife saw our last Monarch in Bangor, PA on Nov 1, I just got back from Seaside Park New Jersey- on Monday 11/20/06 I saw a Monarch investigating a 4X4 SUV near the north jetty at Island Beach State Park - temps in the 40's - winds switched to NE for the next 4 days - hope he makes it

[Fishslime]

Finally saw my first PA Monarch 5/27/07 - 5:30 PM - at Lake Minsi - three days earlier than last year,, my milkweed is ready to go - now I have to find a few eggs - here we go again

[Fishslime]

I have had a smallish female on my flowers for 11 days-the poor thing presents herself to anything that flys by-sparrows, wrens, swallows, other butterflies-she needs a boyfriend REAL bad-she just wants to do what she is supposed to-and I need the eggs- LET'S GO GUYS, SHE'S REALLY GREAT LOOKING AND AVAILABLE-maybe too available-I even sprayed her with the hose to calm her down a little- HELP!!

[beachbutterfly]

Hello All and happy spring/summer,
Saw the first monarch of the year today laying eggs on my milkweed. Its early and hopes to be another banner year for egg production. I am applying for waystation status and hoping the local community garden will do the same and help me raise some healthy monarchs this year.
Welcome back fishslime. :cheesy: