Monarch on a Picnic
by Chris
Higley of Willington, Connecticut
(More
True Stories About
Tagged Monarch Butterflies)
September,
2002
Prior to last week’s storm (Isadore), I released
and tagged 38 monarchs at my home in Willington, CT. It was Monday, September
24th and
it was a glorious, clear, warm day.
On
Sunday, September 29, my family and I decided to visit the shoreline along
Long Island Sound in Waterford, CT. We picked a lovely place that has
loads of goldenrod and asters growing wild. We encountered about a dozen
monarchs and were able to tag nine. BUT the amazing part is that my 10-year-old daughter noticed one monarch already had a tag on it. We chased that one for a long time and finally netted it. MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, it was one of my own monarchs! I had tagged it on the 24th, 5 days earlier, and about 50 miles away in my home in Willington, Connecticut.
My own monarch with the Monarch Watch tag #BAL499. This is UNBELIEVABLE to me! What are the odds of that? I was thrilled and totally amazed. This is yet another miracle of the monarch migration. These creatures never cease to amaze me!
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