Date: 09/04/2007

Number: 1

Monarchs clustering in trees just before dark along the Harrisburg, PA Greenbelt - a green necklace that circles the city - used for walking and bike riding, etc. They witnessed many Monarchs in one particular area the last two evenings, so I went out to check it out with them tonight. (9/04)

Sure enough, about 7:15 to 7:35 p.m., the air resembled a Monarch airport - coming in from every direction - floating thru the air, checking out various trees - lighting, then taking off again. It was like standing in butterfly confetti. Mostly they seemed to be interested in the Hackberry trees. The Hackberry trees are looking rather beat up this late in the year, with many leaves already dropped, and the remaining ones curled and turning brown, with many galls. But when the butterflies landed on the branches, they looked just like another leaf, and we would never have seen them there, if we hadn't been watching them land. While I know this spectacle takes place in many locations during migration, this was the first time I had heard of it happening in our area, and it was quite a wonderful sight. There were maybe 100 butterflies or so - an estimate.

Harrisburg, PA

Latitude: 40.3 Longitude: -76.9

Observed by:
Contact Observer

The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.