Date: 10/10/2017

Number: 9

As I’ve mentioned in several previous reports, I work at the University Park Airport (lat 40.8511, long -77.8506) in State College, PA.   Working as we do at a relatively small, regional airport, we’re all cross-trained, which means, for example, that some times I’m working inside at the ticket counter, and other times I’m out on the ramp.   It’s only at times when I’m out on the ramp that I have a chance of spotting any Monarch butterflies passing by.   Today (10/10/2017) was such a day.   I don’t know if seeing nine Monarchs over a three-hour period counts as a “peak migration” event, but it’s definitely the most I’ve seen here in such a time span. All their flight paths roughly parallel our runway, which is designated 6:24 (which aligns with 53°:233° from true north).:

• The first came by about 11:00 AM, passing behind flight 4250 (i.e., at least 100 feet out from the terminal), which was loading passengers at the time.   It stayed mostly below 10 feet above the ground, heading west.
• The second came by about 11:05 AM, passing in front of flight 4250 (about 30 feet out from the terminal).   It stayed mostly above 20 feet above the ground, heading SSW.
• The third came by about 11:10 AM, passing by less than 20 feet from the terminal.   It stayed mostly below 6 feet above the ground, heading SW.
• The fourth came by about 11:20 AM, roughly 25 feet from the terminal.   It stayed mostly between 5 and 10 feet above the ground, heading SSW.
• The fifth came by about 11:30 AM, passing by less than 20 feet from the terminal.   It stayed mostly above 10 feet above the ground, heading SW.
• The sixth came by about 11:32 AM, passing by less than 20 feet from the terminal.   It stayed mostly above 10 feet above the ground, heading SSW.
• The seventh came by about 12:07 PM, passing by less than 20 feet from the terminal.   It stayed about 6 feet above the ground, heading SW.
• The eighth came by about 1:10 PM, passing around flight 4226.   It stayed mostly below 4 feet above the ground, heading SW.
• The ninth started by about 1:12 PM, flying less than 20 feet from the terminal, as flight 4226 turned out toward the taxi strip.   This butterfly, which had stayed mostly below 6 feet above the ground, heading SW, got caught in the jet blast, which launched it up and over the terminal to the west.

Over the course of these observations, the temperature rose from 70°F to 74°F, the dew point dropped from 60.8°F to 59.0°F, the humidity dropped from about 73% to about 59%, and the air pressure hovered near 30.16 inches.   There were scattered clouds throughout, with the wind initially coming from the west at 7 mph, eventually shifting to WSW at about 3.5 mph.

Our next flight was cancelled, so I was inside at the ticket counter doing rebookings for the next several hours.

I was again out on the ramp for our last departing flight of the day when another Monarch came into view at about 6:05 PM.   Unfortunately, it came too close to flight 4246 and apparently got sucked into the jet engine as the plane was preparing to leave the gate area.

State College, PA

Latitude: 40.9 Longitude: -77.9

Observed by: R. Timothy
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