Date: 09/05/2011

Number: 1

And what a difference a day (or night) makes! I arose in Cobourg early to get back into Toronto before the heavy westbound holiday traffic slowly crawled back into the city in preparation for the first day of school. It had rained overnight and winds out of the north brought chilly temperatures (16 C or 60 F with high humidity). Yesterday afternoon while tagging at Presqu'ile Park during the Monarchs and Migrants Weekend, the temperature was 23 C or 73.4 F BUT with humidity about 89%, it felt more like 32 C or 89 F. I remember periodically wiping sweat off of the back of my neck.

I noted that there is a very abundant supply of goldenrod from Brighton to Toronto, in abandoned farm fields and orchards, and along highways, but the monarchs are not yet nectaring on it, still preferring the blue and purple flowers such as clover and buddleia. I wonder if the choice of nectar source is related in any way to the monarch migration in terms of availability or sugar/energy content, or other factors? The monarchs that I captured in the clover field last night had VERY plump abdomens.

Brighton, ON

Latitude: 44 Longitude: -77.7

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