Date: 05/04/2004

Number: 1

I had just finished a short hike in Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway near milepost 238, and was approaching the parking lot at the Brinegar Cabin, when I flushed a monarch. It was a male (judging from the width of the veins in the wings, not from seeing the scent patches, but I have tagged literally thousands of monarchs and I am certain this was a male), and was not faded the way the few overwintering monarchs I have seen in the past have been. However, it was not the bright color of a freshly hatched monarch, either. I followed it around and took two digital photos of it from the underside (it was too skittish for me to get behind it), which make it look brighter than it was, because the sunlight is coming through the wings. It finally flew down over a field near the Brinegar cabin and disappeared. But it was in no hurry. It was down near the ground when I flushed it. It was only early spring up there at that particular elevation; beautiful day after a cold snap the previous night.

Sparta, NC

Latitude: 36.5 Longitude: -81.2

Observed by: Elizabeth
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