Date: 09/10/2012

Number: 750

Two days after the east coast was pummeled by torrential rain, the monarchs fall migration begins. Today was sunny in the mid 70's with a brisk NW wind, approximately 750 monarchs took to the sky and roosted at Robert Moses Beach. They looked very healthy and congregated in many of the large pine trees. This is about a week earlier than last year that I spotted such a large number of monarchs. Tonight the temperature is supposed to be in the 50's. As reported earlier, food sources in the immediate area are scarce, however within the three mile radius, there is ample golden rod and other nectaring plants for the monarchs to feed on.

I was at the beach from 3:45 pm to 7:30 (dusk). The monarchs are flying over the beach, ocean and boardwalk and they congregate in several large pine trees not far from the beach/ocean. It is wonderful to watch them fly and spot other monarchs and try to find a spot among the other monarchs to roost for the night. The photos were taken between 6:00 and 7:15 pm. Some of the monarchs start roosting as early as 4pm with the remainder settling in the coming hours until sunset. The night temperatures have been in the 50's.

Robert Moses Beach Babylon, NY

Latitude: 40.6 Longitude: -73.3

Observed by: Barbara
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