Date: 02/01/1998

Number: 1

I was in the southeast U.S. for the last two weeks of January doing a lot of birding. On a series of visits to barrier islands in southern Georgia,and the east and west central coasts of Florida, we noted in three locations modest numbers of Monarchs clinging to the southern red cedars and loblolly/slash pine trees in the cool early mornings. By late morning they were quite active, feeding and interacting (mating?).Usually we found them in pockets of several dozen. Both males and females.We did not see any in our time spent hiking in the interior of Florida (where nights can get pretty chilly). These islands were less prone to freezing as the water moderated temperatures. My question: Aside from the major wintering colonies in Mexico, do smaller numbers successfully overwinter in these coastal habitats of the southeast
U.S.?
Kevin Kavanagh
Endangered Species Program
World Wildlife Fund, Canada
SOURCE: Donald_Davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca

Honeymoon Island, FL

Latitude: 28 Longitude: -82.5

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