Beth's Patch ~ Monarch Butterflies

 

Beth's Patch ~ Migrating Monarch Butterflies

 It's so wonderful to see a good year with migrating monarchs coming through the yard and some along the goldenrod on the bay.  Many of the monarch butterflies are on the Chapel Hill Pink lantana this year.

Cape May Point ~ 25,000 to 30,000 Migrating Monarchs

This morning I was up bright and early to head back over to the Point to see the Monarch butterflies as they flew away from their overnight roosts.  It's such an awe inspiring sight to behold.  I have been lucky enough to see this sight several times before but it never fails to fill my heart with gladness.  This AM, Michael O'Brien counted the Monarchs in a series of one minute counts over 1.5 hours as they left the roost and made their way across the Delaware Bay on their way to Mexico.  It's the largest migration since 2010 when the estimated about 1 million monarch butterflies roosted and then made their way South.  That was my first ever roost.

 

Beth's Patch ~ Mating Monarchs

 

Beth's Patch ~ Monarch Numbers are Increasing

Monarch just laid an egg on Purple Milkweed.

 

Beth's Patch ~ Monarch Migration

The last week has been great for Monarch migration.  Everyone thought it was pretty much over because the seaside goldenrod is finished and we had several days of really rainy weather.  Yesterday and today have been wonderful with monarch's coming and going in the yard.  Kathy and Roger have been tagging monarchs and have tagged about 100 of them now.  Here are some of the pictures I have taken. 

Just eclosed monarch drying the wings

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Beth's Patch ~ Butterflies on Autumn Joy Sedum

Monarch Butterflies

Aaron's Skipper

American Lady Butterfly

Common Buckeye Butterflies

Common Buckeye Butterflies

Gray Hairstreak Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly

Sachem Skippers

Silver-spotted Skipper and Sachem Skipper 

Beth's Patch ~ Recent Butterflies

Red Admiral Butterfly

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly laying eggs

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Painted Lady Butterfly

Mating Monarch Butterflies

My Yard ~ Monarch Butterflies

Monarchs Mating

And more mating..which leads to 

Monarch Caterpillars

And the next step is caterpillar to chrysalis

And this time of year the chrysalis are everywhere!

And then the tagged Monarch's come through on their way to Mexico.

And here are 7 Monarch out of a group of 80+ that stopped by this day.

And they really love the smooth Aster and so do we!

My Yard ~ Monarch Butterfly Eclosing

9/1/18 ~ You can see the butterfly and it's almost ready to eclose

9/2/18 ~ and we have a birth of a new Monarch Butterfly