Date: 09/20/2012

Number: 1

I am 86 and a retired teacher of Junior High students. I have lived on Martha's Vineyard for 65 years and have only witnessed this large a gathering of Monarchs once before - in 1973. Two nights ago I witnessed the tail end of their overnight rest in Aquinnah, at the western end of the Vineyard (formerly Gay Head), but in 1973 I borrowed an 8mm camera from my school and filmed hundreds, maybe thousands, of Monarchs coming in to roost for the night - and again, leaving early the next morning. Our local Audubon camp has a copy of that film. When my younger daughter was twelve, we collected the caterpillars (sometimes even an egg) and in her bedroom watched them transform from egg to caterpillar to beautiful chrsylis to butterfly - a high point in my life.

I took these pictures on September 13-14, 1973 - the next week I drove my daughter Sarah to college in Painesville, Ohio - the sides of the highway were littered with orange butterflies, no doubt hit by the fast moving cars as they flew low over the road.

Aquinnah, MA

Latitude: 41.3 Longitude: -70.8

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