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Monarch Adult (FIRST sighted)

Date: 04/10/2005

Number: 1

Hello from western North Carolina


My first monarch sighting this spring was Sunday, April 10, 2005, in
Balsam Grove, NC on a warm sunny afternoon. This is between the Blue
Ridge Parkway and the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
(www.pari.edu) She was nectaring on pink flowered thrift and gliding
around the forsythia flowers. She was large, in almost perfect
condition, although a bit faded in coloration. No wing damage noticed.
And our milkweed is at least another week or two from breaking dormancy...



For the past week, we had very strong winds associated with spring
thunderstorms. As an aside, three hours north of here, high atop
beautiful Grandfather Mountain, 192 mile per hour winds were recorded
there on Sunday, April 3. (The record for high speed wind there was
April 18, 1997 at 195.5 mph!) Wonder if the monarch was caught up in
the storms from areas in Florida or the Gulf States due to her good wing
condition?



Other monarch musings:

According to my journal, the only 'earlier' monarch for us was on April
6, 1997; a fresh bright female glide through our milkweed patch in
Brevard, NC but due to a warm spring, the milkweed sprouts were 2 inches
high. She went about laying eggs as if she believed in tomorrow...



One other very curious thing about April 10th monarch is that she was in
the same general area where monarchs are seen migrating through each
fall. Tunnel Gap, which is Parkway Milepost 415.6, and also ten miles
both north and south, are great places to view and tag monarchs mid
September through October usually. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon,
September 21, 2003, just after our big Monarch Festival in Transylvania
County, I tagged monarchs with the visiting public that stopped at the
Parkway overlook. Two lucky ones made it to El Rosario and the tags
were recovered on March 1, 2004: CFX-356 and CFX-359. I could not
have been happier!


Blue skies and safe travels to all...

Balsam Grove, NC

Latitude: 35.2 Longitude: -82.9

Observed by: Ina
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