Date: 10/21/2007

Number: 1

This weekend in the SW corner of Ontario it was unseasonably hot. Yes, I did indicate hot and this rather warm weather is to continue this week at least for a few days. Saturday reached 75° and this afternoon was already 77°. The winds on Saturday were WSW with gusts reaching 20 mph. Monarchs were having a difficult time keeping on track. White caps could be seen and heard on Lake Erie. Among the passerine station, hawk blind and the tower approximately 40 monarchs were counted. I suspect some of those were duplicates. Although the monarchs were all high I believe most spent the night at the park.

This morning at 10 am monarchs began appearing and showing directionality yet some stopped to nectar. We still have a selection of nectaring plants available due to this summer-like spell. I tagged two monarchs. Woo hoo! I even witnessed two monarchs chasing each other down one of the net lanes heading west. This is quite rare in late October. We counted fifty this afternoon. It was not just the monarchs that amazed us but at least 9 other species of butterflies were observed and several dragonflies.

Many common milkweed plants are still in good condition. These are late blooms due to the late August and early September rains and warm weather. Along road-sides on our drive home, I observed several milkweed patches with green milkweed. This too, I find unusual. Many of the roads we travel are farming communities. Farmers have harvested and mowed many of their fields. One farm field was covered in 12 inch milkweed plants!

The season is always far too short to enjoy these beautiful creatures up north yet it gives us something to look forward to each year in late spring.

Courtesy of Monarch Watch

Holiday Beach, ON

Latitude: 42 Longitude: -83.1

Observed by:
Contact Observer

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