Monarchs headed East?

[Mango]

This thread reminds me of one of my favorite parts in a "Peanuts" movie:

Lucy: Well, look here. A big yellow butterfly. It's unusual to see one of those at THIS time of year, unless of course, it flew up from Brazil. I'll bet that's it. They DO that sometimes, you know. They fly up from Brazil.

Linus: That's no butterfly! That's a potato chip.

Lucy: Well, I'll be. I wonder how a potato chip got all the way up here from Brazil!

:funn:

.

Try not to have a good time . . . This is supposed to be educational.
Peanuts
Lucy Van Pelt

So Mango...

I sat on my porch yesterday morning for a couple of hours. There's a tree in the yard that attracts Monarchs, so I probably saw two or three dozen of them. They were all flying east.

I knew it. I am only a little crazy.

 

[Miss Kitty]

and the dolphins were headed west.

 

[TreeFrog]

Have a look at this:

http://www.monarchwatch.org/tagmig/fallmap.htm

It looks like there is also a winter roost somewhere in south FL. Maybe the population passing through here is headed that way instead of the usual Mexico.

 

[gardening1970]

My daughter (who is 12) and I were in Port St Joe last weekend. We spent several hours at the State Park on Cape San Blas. There were Monarchs everywhere we turned. Lots of dragon flies also (and a few biting flies - ouch!). My daughter was wearing brightly colored shirt and shorts, which must have attracted the Monarchs because they were landing all over her and following her on our walk down the beach. I've never seen anything like it, and we enjoyed the day very much.

We left St. Joe on Monday AM and drove over to Seaside for lunch before returning to Atlanta ... a worthwhile detour and a nice way to enjoy some special Mother/Daughter time.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I haven't had a chance to read much about the migration of Monarchs, but the subject is on my list to learn about. My best guess as to why they are heading east is that they follow the land on their way to Mexico. By flying over land, they will be flying much farther distances, but they are able to rest and refuel at any point along the way. Also, they would be more likely to avoid a storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, thereby increasing their chances for survival. Again, this is just my guess.

 

[NoHall]

I haven't had a chance to read much about the migration of Monarchs, but the subject is on my list to learn about. My best guess as to why they are heading east is that they follow the land on their way to Mexico. By flying over land, they will be flying much farther distances, but they are able to rest and refuel at any point along the way. Also, they would be more likely to avoid a storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, thereby increasing their chances for survival. Again, this is just my guess.

Mango, you called that one.

SJ, you got some catching up to do. We miss your encyclopedic knowledge when you're not posting a hundred times a day.

 

[Smiling JOe]

From a quick google>>> www.learner.org:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Texas is the only state all monarchs must cross, and the first big masses of Mexico-bound monarchs have now reached the state. Tens, dozens, hundreds ? even thousands ? of monarchs are filling the skies, trees and fields across the northern half of the state. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Reports are flying in as I write ? and from Oklahoma and Arkansas, too, as monarchs there funnel toward Texas on their way to Mexico. The flood gate opened after the cold front passed on Monday, October 8th. Strong south winds are predicted for much of Texas this weekend so the monarchs should drop down and wait out the wind. The stage is set for the perfect monarch-watching weekend! [/FONT]

 

[DD]

I love them and I collided with too many this weekend....

 

[TreeFrog]

Check the link in my post #13. I had previously thought that, other than the CA roost, that all the North American monarchs wintered in Mexico. The map I linked seems to show a roost in south FL.

 

[Cil]

The map I linked seems to show a roost in south FL.

Interesting, TreeFrog.
All the monarchs I'm seeing here (northeast FL) are heading in a southeast direction, and the ones I used to see in Port St Joe did look as though they were heading east; I'd even see them flying over the Gulf on the Apalachicola bridge. I always just assumed they were sort of meandering but that they knew where they were going.