Stagnant weather patterns have not allowed many Monarchs to come to Cape May this past week. Hopefully the cold front this weekend will change this.
Unusually warm conditions have promoted one last rush of breeding. Caterpillars can be seen at the Cape May Bird Observatory Northwood Center.
The Monarch weighing program has been going well. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week, project members collect 20 male and 20 female Monarchs, weigh them, and apply a colored tag (a different color each day: Monday, Wednesday, Friday). Project members then try to track down these individuals again and re-weigh them. The Point is to determine whether or not these butterflies are gaining much weight while in Cape May. So far, the results seem to suggest that they very much are.
Census Totals: Monarchs per hour
10-6: 16.27
10-7: 40.68
10-8: 52.80
10-9: 78.00
10-10: 32.00
10-11: 4.29
10-12: 46.07
Monarchs per hour Week 6: 38.55
Monarchs per hour cumulative: 60.34
Below is some video of a Monarch caterpillar at a garden in Cape May Point. Normally, Caterpillars don't leave their milkweed hostplant. However, a "mature" caterpillar will leave to find a location to become a chrysalis, often well hidden and hard to find. The nickname for this is a "walkabout".
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