I was on an Amtrack into NYC yesterday afternoon and saw some of this.
There were thousands from Tarrytown to the city. There was a type of white
Eupatorium, Solidagos and a few escaped Buddelias being used for nectar. The
plants were covered and many in the air. I didn't see that anyone else on
the train noticed and wondered how many people on the streets looked up long
enough to see this marvel. I remembered a friend out birding a few years ago
during a White Admiral population explosion who ran into a couple of people that
hadn't noticed the multitudes until she made mention of them. This was a time
when you couldn't drive down a dirt road without causing dozens of casualties
and these are not small camouflaged leps.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 12:04
PM
Subject: [MassLep] Journey North notices
MassLep -
Hello All,
I just wanted to share a couple of
messages from Elizabeth Howard of
Journey North a monarch tracking
org. She really appreciates all of
the great reports from MassLep
subscribers!
Andrew Birch
MassLep Moderator
----------
Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Howard Journey North <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sep 28, 2006 11:01 AM
Subject: Re: Incredible! [MassLep] 13,000+ Monarchs
Gooseberry 9/25]
Hello Andrew,
Monarch biologist Dr. Lincoln Brower
just told me about your MassLep
listserve. I just took a look. What a
fantastic coverage of the
monarch migration your're picking up!
I'm
the director of Journey North ("Journey South" in the fall). We
have
thousands of schools online tracking the monarch migration to
Mexico. May
we add your MassLep observations from to our migration
map?
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/fall2006.html?layers=monarch_peak
One
of our readers read about Brian Cassie's incredible observations
and added
it to the map. (I hope this is OK!)
We're picking up reports now of a
large wave of migrants that crossed
NYC yesterday afternoon. Maybe coming
down from Gooseberry?! What
incredible technology.
Best to
you,
Elizabeth Howard
Journey North
Engaging Students in a Global
Study of Wildlife Migration and Seasonal Change
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
----------
Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Howard Journey North <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sep 28, 2006 11:01 AM
Subject: Re: Incredible! [MassLep] 13,000+ Monarchs
Gooseberry 9/25]
These keep coming in from yesterday and now early
today. The map is
now showing monarchs along the Atlantic Coast in large
numbers from
Maine to northern VA:
9/28/06 New York, New
York
While riding the Metro-North Hudson Line (on the east side of
the
Hudson River) to work in NYC: "They were all doggedly flying south
at
different locations along the train line. None appeared beyond
the
point where the tracks turn inland towards the city. I think they
must
be following the course of the river. Incredibly
exciting!"
9/27/06 New York, New York
"I observed approximately 100
monarchs traveling south. It was
incredible. I was so excited since I had
just read to second graders
about monarch migration. I walked out of school
at 3:00pm and there
they were! I was pointing them out to anyone who would
listen what was
happening and where they were going."
9/27/06 New
York, New York
"While sitting in an outdoor cafe in downtown NYC on 2nd Ave
@ St
Marks, I observed over 170 Monarchs from 2:50 pm until aprox 4:00
pm.
The heavier traffic flow was in the first 1/2 hour (112
Monarchs).
Amazingly, they seemed to stay all along the Avenue and many
appeared
as high as the 5 story buildings."
9/27/06 New York, New
York
I had the pleasure of sighting at least 36 butterflies flying
down
Riverside Drive at 4:30pm. At first I thought they were
fluttering
leaves...until I looked closer with my
binoculars...
9/27/06 New York, New York
In northern Manhattan, in
front of the Children's Hospital of New
York, I looked up and counted at
least 30 monarchs.
9/26/06 Ventnor, New Jersey
There were quite a
few butterflies migrating this afternoon. As I sat
on the Ventnor
Boardwalk, I counted butterflies coming along the beach
and the rooftops of
the beach homes. Butterflies were coming in small
groups of 2-5. I tallied
butterflies for one hour beginning at 4:50pm
and totalled 272
butterflies!
9/25/06 Misquamicut, Rhode Island
It was wonderful. We
decided to have lunch on the beach in
Misquamicut, R.I. Hundreds, possibly
thousands of beautiful monarch
butterfies were following the coastline
south. An occasional monarch
would land on the high tide seaweed line
and rest for a few minutes.
None of us could believe that these fragile
insects could fly so far!
9/25/06 Cape May, New Jersey
The influx of
monarch's into Cape May continued today. Counted over 50
in one minute
looking just straight ahead...couldn't begin to count
numbers if I turned
my head. They were everywhere.
9/25/06 Chincoteague National Wildlife
Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia
Migrants were on the move for most of
today during NW winds at 10mph.
Monarchs averaged about 140 per hour
between 9am - 3pm. Other
migratory insects seen in huge numbers were common
buckeyes, green
darners, black saddlebags and wandering glider dragonflies.
Tree
swallows numbered in the thousands and there was a steady flight
of
peregrines, merlins, bald eagles and osprey. Quite a
day!
--Elizabeth Howard
Journey North
Engaging Students
in a Global Study of Wildlife Migration and Seasonal Change
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
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