Monarch Monitoring Project 9/21/07

This past week saw the first big push of migrating Monarchs for 2007. Large numbers rode the cold front on Saturday. Still, even after they left en mass on Monday, many seem to be staying around, even when previous years data suggest that conditions should not be putting them in Cape May County. This may mean that there are an incredible number of Monarchs around, in general. This is looking like it may be an especially good year. Stay tuned.

Census Totals: Monarchs per hour

9-15: 123.10

9-16: 229.52

9-17: 156.00

9-18: 107.59

9-19: 66.32

9-20: 77.45

9-21: 162.86

Monarchs per hour for Week 3: 133.56

Mean Monarchs per hour cumulative: 66.25

The first Long-tailed Skipper was found this week on Cape May Point. Keep an eye out for these and other semi-tropical emigrants. Insects of all kinds are proving especially abundant and it is a wonderful time to have a butterfly garden.