Date: 06/26/2019

Number: 1

I have impatiently been awaiting making an observation of a Monarch butterfly in our area this spring.  I see that there was a report of one in State College about a month ago (5/24/2019) and another in nearby Pennsylvania Furnace on June 1st.  But, despite what appears to be an abundance of blooming common milkweeds along the roads I travel locally, I had personally yet to spot any Monarchs (or eggs or caterpillars) until today.

While attending a function at the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center in State College, I briefly spotted a Monarch butterfly at about 5:30 PM EDT flitting by a stand of blooming common milkweed in the hummingbird and butterfly garden.  I was not able to determine its gender as it was visible for only a few seconds, never landing (and I did not have a camera with me).  As far as I could later determine, there was no evidence of eggs or caterpillars on any of the plants I examined in the garden.

Nonetheless, it was great to finally make a first observation this year.  (I suppose I should not have been so impatient, as it turns out when I looked back at my records from last year, the first Monarch butterfly I spotted was on June 24th.  I guess my impatience stems more from the fact that I am having hip replacement surgery next week and so I will not be able to be out hiking the local fields for most of this summer.)

At the time of this observation there were a few scattered clouds in the sky and conditions were approximately:

        •  Temperature 72°F
        •  Dew Point 64°F
        •  Humidity 58%
        •  Air Pressure 28.6 inches
        •  Wind Calm

Latitude:   40.8126°
Longitude:   -77.8374°

            - Tim

State College, PA

Latitude: 40.8 Longitude: -77.8

Observed by: R. Timothy
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