Date: 09/15/2005

Number: 1

I received a telephone message today from Tamara Chipperfield of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. It would seem that the many monarchs I reported seeing yesterday along the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway in Toronto were only the "tip of the iceberg".

Tamara reported that a "huge monarch push" began in the morning and by 1 pm, "thousands" of monarchs were to be found on Tommy Thompson Park (also known as the Leslie Street Spit) - a 10 km L-shaped park/peninsula that just out into Lake Ontario.

This is a man-made structure made out of demolished building bricks and rubble covered with dredged soil from the waterways or excavations. This web page has an aerial view of the park and another picture below shows how goldenrod carpets the Spit:
http://www.trca.on.ca/parks_and_culture/places_to_visit/tommy_thompson/Default.asp

I would suspect there were some excellent roosts there last night. The movement may have been in advance of a cold front that arrived in the night, bringing cooler temperatures and showers today.

Contributed to Monarch Watch

Toronto, ON

Latitude: 43.7 Longitude: -79.4

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