Date: 10/10/2022

Number: 500

There was a fair amount of monarchs around today feeding on the sunny ivy patches and dune goldenrod. I'm thinking the winds are light enough they may fly over the Bay today. We'll see...

[Additional information and photo contributed by observer, added by Journey North, 10/14/2022]:

. . . we do a road census three times a day and do the tagging. We usually see monarch migration here in Cape May on N, NW, W, winds, which funnel them to our point of land. They will either stay to refuel or continue over the Bay.

If I know that it’s a good day for migration… I will go out in the morning to watch the roosts wake up, if we have one; I’ll go out during the day to see if we have any flying down the dunes, nectaring… and then again towards evening to find roosts, if it’s cool enough and we have enough butterflies.

Sometimes, I’m out for an hour, other times for three roaming Cape May Point, looking for monarchs, educating people… Yesterday there was a tree with about 200 monarchs feeding and fluttering in the ivy. On another treed area, there were about 400 feeding, that I could see and I saw plenty more back in the far tree ivy areas with my binoculars. And there were a few more spots that I checked all with a smattering of monarchs. And I don’t make it all over the Point or into the State Park, so there could certainly be more.

The last few days, I’ve counted them within an hours time frame. When I count, I count as many as I can see and then if I know there are more back behind where I can’t get too, I approximate what could be there. Other times, I count the number going by in a minute and then extrapulate out what it would be for the three hours they flew down the dunes. If it’s a roost, I count a section and then multiply it by how many of those sections I see.

Some of the monarchs the last three days have had directional flight for sure. They didn’t stop to nectar just flew down the dunes and across the Delaware Bay. Others had directional flight but then came into the Point to nectar on english ivy, butterfly bushes, lantana, zinnia, asters and some goldenrod. Although, not as much on the goldenrod, as it's in the dunes and it’s been a bit windy til yesterday, Monday the 10th, when it calmed down to W at 8 mph. Others, on the cool days, came in to roost right away. On the cold mornings, 54 degrees, they moved off the roosts to sunny spots to warm up. Some then moved into gardens to feed, others moved along on their migration. One day it took about two hours for them to really get up and go but then at 9:30 am we had a sea of monarchs for hours.

Some monarchs fly along the dunes or water low. I can literally touch them as they fly by or look down on them. I’d say, anywhere from one foot to four feet in the air. Others fly much higher, with the hawks, if they catch a thermal.

I usually only take videos with my phone, since most of the monarchs are high up in the trees and roosts...

Cape May Point, NJ

Latitude: 38.9 Longitude: -75

Observed by: Paige
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