Date: 09/30/2017

Number: 5000

Wow! What a weekend in Cape May. This has been the biggest year since 2012. We saw an influx of migrating monarchs on Friday and Saturday, September 29 and 30th, with a departure of most monarchs on Sunday morning Oct. 1st.


On Friday (9/29) they covered the goldenrod in the dunes like orange ornaments, fueling up. Most every Goldenrod plant was covered along with English Ivy blooming in gardens. We had roosts all over the Point - 500 here, 300 there, 100's in little clumps...

Saturday (9/30) was very windy so they stayed in roosts or hunkered down on English Ivy flowers in sheltered areas nectaring. Our driving census for Saturday was 279 per hour. A point count in the dunes was up to over 700 per hour.

On Sunday (10/1) they lifted off on a nice easy wind across the Bay, at a rate of 80- 100 per minute.

We also heard the East Coast of NJ was filled with them. People seeing them from Sandy Hook, up near NYC, all the way down. We’ll see what happens here next!

Cape May, NJ

Latitude: 38.9 Longitude: -74.9

Observed by: Paige
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