Date: 11/02/2017
Number: 1
While working out on the ramp today (November 2, 2017) at the University Park Airport in State College, I was surprised to see a Monarch butterfly fluttering past the terminal (at lat 40.8511° and long -77.8508°). I say I was surprised because the last butterfly we’d spotted and reported was two weeks ago (i.e., October 19th) and there has been a lot of cold weather since then. In fact, we have had serious frosts on several mornings, so there isn’t much around anymore to serve as nectar sources.
(I made a visit to the Snetsinger Butterfly Garden at Tom Tudek Memorial Park in State College to see which nectar plants might still be available. About the only plants that have significant amounts of flowers that have made it through the frost at this point are some asters. Sorry, but I am not sure what variety they are.)
The butterfly was flying low, no more than 3 feet above the ground, and no more than 5 feet from the building, heading southwest roughly parallel to the terminal. It was about mid-day when we made this observation, at which time the sky was mostly cloudy with:
State College, PA
Latitude: 40.9 Longitude: -77.9
Observed by: R. Timothy
Contact Observer
The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.