Date: 09/22/2010

Number: 1

Monarchs are flying in large numbers down the Blue Ridge: LOADS of monarchs were sighted at the hawkwatches all week. At Rockfish Gap, average numbers being counted were 400-500/day.

However, the most spectacular monarch migration I observed was yesterday (September 22), starting up the mountain toward Harvey's Knob hawkwatch from Peaks of Otter. Monarchs were EVERYWHERE! The largest numbers I have seen in years of hawkwatching and/or parkway trips. It was difficult not to hit them. They were migrating, though slowed by the SE winds.

I stopped at the hawkwatch for a couple hours in early afternoon at Harvey's Knob before resuming my journey. (The sky was raining stinkbugs. The whole place SMELLED of stinkbugs when I got out of the car. ) You could not look up into the sky without seeing many, many monarchs drifting on the wind. They were up high, down low, everywhere. It took some doing to distinguish monarchs from birds, initially, because the birds were flying pretty high up. Just thought you would want to know. If there is a wave of monarchs moving down the Blue Ridge at the moment (I drove from Reid's Gap to just north of Boone before beginning to run out of daylight), the crest of the wave is currently close to Roanoke, according to my observations. And there are SO many in the crest! A very heartening sight. I figure that my doing my program at the Orchard on Sunday will be right at the height, totally serendipitously, as the north wind that we endured at Rockfish Gap that was driving the monarchs south a few days ago had swung around to the SW/S/SE on Tues. and Wed., slowing things down. I would love to see the numbers coming along the ridge at the Orchard on Sunday that I saw yesterday. Keep you fingers crossed. It is such a glorious sight.

Harvey's Knob, VA

Latitude: 37.4 Longitude: -79.7

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