Highlights From the Migration Trail September 1-7, 1999 (Back to Today's Report) Minnesota: September 6 "Monarchs are on the move! It's Labor Day and we have been watching monarch after monarch fly over our yard in Brooklyn Park, a northern suburb of Mpls. We have counted 38 in the last 20 minutes!" Dave Kust of Brooklyn Park, MN (dakus@breck.pvt.k12.mn.us) Wisconsin: September 6 "At the Penney's Mall in Manitowoc @ 2:00pm, my daughters and I observed 23 Monarch Butterflies in a 10 minute period, flying in a south-westerly direction. This area is well known to me as an area where the Monarchs tend to travel through in great numbers." Ann Shebesta of Mishicot, WI (shebesta_crew@yahoo.com) Minnesota: September 5 "We watched about 100 monarchs gather on the east side of an elm tree on a farm in Lanesboro, Minnesota on Sunday night, 9/5/99. They spent the night there. This morning we arose at dawn and watched them flutter their wings for about an hour, drying them from the morning dew. They left before we finished breakfast at 9:00 am". Joe Hiley and Jessica Wiley, Lanesboro, MN (jwiley@piper.hamline.edu) Minnesota: September 5 After Saturday night's cold front, Jim Gilbert reports that monarchs are really traveling in Minnesota. He expects the migration to peak there this week. On Sunday, he counted 5 monarchs per minute traveling through his yard in Waconia. The migration began very early this year, with monarchs aggregating in roosts as early as August 6th.) Jim Gilbert of Waconia, MN (jnorth@learner.org) Illinois: September 6 "I was thrilled tonight to see monarch butterflies flitting over our rooftops and settling in the trees. It was hard to keep count. Originally, I thought they were our resident bats until I noticed the orange color and got the binoculars. They circled over and over and settled in the larch and oak trees on our property at about 7:30 p.m. I am thrilled to have witnessed this! After planting multitudes of milkweed and being disappointed this summer with no chrysalis and only a few caterpillars that were probably eaten by our local toad." Dotti Elliott of West Chicago, IL (eelfish1@aol.com) Iowa: September 6 Monday began and ended with clear skies and migrating butterflies in Tripoli, Iowa, according to Stacey Newbrough. She saw 25 heading south across the roadways while she traveled 18 miles, and 30 butterflies flying over and around buildings in the neighborhood. Hundreds were nectaring on goldenrod and sunflowers in a 40 acre meadow/woodland area. Stacey Newbrough of Tripoli, Iowa (newbs@netins.net) Michigan: September 6 A volunteer team at the Hiawatha National Forest is counting monarchs daily on the edge of Lake Michigan, as the butterflies aggregate before crossing miles of open water. C. J. Meitner reports, "With a week of southerly winds, monarch numbers have been increasing steadily in the clearings, where goldenrod is blooming. Sunday evening the wind changed to NW and Monday the monarchs moved to the point. When the wind speed decreased, the butterflies were gone." C.J. Meitner of Stonington, MI (cjmeitner@bigfoot.com) Migration Notes from Ontario and the Eastern U.S. States Ontario: September 6 "The monarch migration has just begun along the north shore of Lake Ontario from Toronto east to Presqu'ile (44 N,-77W). Typically, as one drives along our major expressway that follows the shoreline of Lake Ontario, we see monarchs soaring and gliding high above the traffic, and heading in a south-westerly direction." Don Davis of Toronto, ON (donald.davis@utoronto.ca) New York: September 2 "We were boating on Lake George and saw Monarchs flying by us all day. Sometimes 4 and 6 at a time. Everyone of them was flying in a southwest direction. There was a slight wind out of the west and the monarchs were flying into it, rather than being carried by it." Kate Littrel of Lake George, NY (mel63@capital.net) New York: September 4 "During a canoe trip northward on Sterling Creek toward Lake Ontario we saw evience of groups of three to four monarchs at a time throughout the 1.5 hour trek." Laurie Thomas of Oswego, NY (lthomas@oswego.org ) Virginia: September 7 "With strong northeast winds from tropical storm Dennis for the last week, it's hard to tell if monarchs are migrating or being swept along. We are seeing all stages of monarchs around, and eggs are still being laid. Several volunteers and staff at the museum are raising, releasing and tagging monarchs. We were concerned (about releasing butterflies) with Dennis close by, but once we saw butterflies flying around our gardens last week we decided to tag ours and let them go. I hope they didn't get swept too far off course. Of course, being carried inland would be a help to them!" Judy Molnar of Education Associate, Virginia Living Museum Newport News, VA (jamolnar@juno.com) Back to Today's Report Copyright 1999 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form