Report Monarch Sightings Here!

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Monarch Butterfly Gloucester MA ©Kim Smith 2014More Monarch sightings reported on Cape Ann by GMG readers over the past several days, October 14th and 15th!

Monarchs640Maggis Rosa submits this photo from The Scientist Magazine, which was their Image of the Day and was shot by Luna Sin Estrellas at El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, where the butterflies are arriving earlier than usual and in greater numbers than last year.

photo (2)To the reader who sent the above photo, I unfortunately accidentally deleted the email. Please forgive and please let us know your name and where the photo was taken. Thank you!

Ed Note: Nancy Dudley writes, “The photo in the post w/o a caption was at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. We are seeing a couple a day this week. Thanks! I am looking for the milkweed seeds I got from you to plant in my marsh soon!”

Monarchs on the Wing ©Kim Smith 2014The Monarchs are back! Cape Ann GMG FOBs are continuing to report their Monarch sightings.

After taking a break during the rain of last week (butterfly’s wings don’t work very well in foul weather), the Monarchs are again moving through our region. Check the comment section to see all the recent sightings in our community. The above photo was taken yesterday, Monday, October 6th on Eastern Point. The photo below was shot last week, before the rain’s onset.

Monarch in flight ©Kim Smith 2014Monarch in Mid-Flight and New England Asters

Tip ~ This morning I ran into my friend Maggie and her husband who had just rescued a Monarch from the middle of the road. Butterfly wings don’t work very well in cool temperatures. If you find a Monarch in a seemingly quiet and weakened state, it could quite possibly simply be cold. Place the butterfly in a sheltered and sunny spot and it may very well revive!

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In 1975, in Angangueo, at the time when the butterflies winter grounds were first located by Mexican citizen Catalina Aguado and her American husband Ken Brugger, they not only discovered billions roosting on the limbs of the oyamel fir trees but also millions quietly at rest on the forest floor. Thinking that the butterflies were dead, some members of the discovery group brought the butterflies back to their homes. Later in the day, after the butterfly’s flight muscles had warmed, they awoke and began to fly. Today at the butterfly biosphere reserves it is against the rules to pick up or touch a sleeping butterfly.

Monarch Butterfly Nectaring Joe Pye ©Kim Smith 2012Joe-pye Weed (Eupatorium)

In Sunday’s podcast (September 21st), Joey made the super suggestion to create a place where GMG readers can report their Monarch butterfly sightings. I’ll repost this post every night for the next week or so. Please report any sightings to the comment section of this post, that way we can keep all sightings in one collective spot. You can send in a photo capture if you’d like, too.

Today as I was leaving our home, around noon time, I spotted a Monarch in our garden in East Gloucester. Let us know what you see. Thank you!

Monarch Butterfly Eastern Point Gloucester ©kim Smith 2012

 

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Published by Kimsmithdesigns

Documentary filmmaker, photographer, landscape designer, author, and illustrator. "Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly" currently airing on PBS. Current film projects include Piping Plovers, Gloucester's Feast of St. Joseph, and Saint Peter's Fiesta. Visit my websites for more information about film and design projects at kimsmithdesigns.com, monarchbutterflyfilm.com, and pipingploverproject.org. Author/illustrator "Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities! Notes from a Gloucester Garden."

50 thoughts on “Report Monarch Sightings Here!”

  1. I was just about to send you a message, Kim, that I saw a monarch in my garden in E. Gloucester this morning!! Was so excited. Just the one, but still.

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  5. Saw a handful in my East Gloucester yard last week and just yesterday my butterfly bush had at least a dozen feasting yesterday afternoon. I can email you a pic

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  7. I saw 6 or 8 this morning in the dunes at Good Harbor Beach. Facing the dunes from the beach flying right to left stopping briefly on the seaside golden rod.

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  9. i have 5 monarchs enjoying the buddleia “blue chips” in my yard today on camborne way (near pebble beach) in rockport. they are so lovely!

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    1. Hi Michael,

      Thanks so much for reporting your sighting. The image that you sent is a photo of a Painted Lady Butterfly. We see numerous numbers of both Painted and American Ladies at this time of year, alongside the Monarchs, nectaring and on the wing. Although somewhat similar in color, you can tell the difference between the two by the wing patterning and because the Monarchs are almost twice as big as the Ladies.

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  17. Mary Tucker sends along this photo of a Painted Lady. In comparing the two species, you can see the above male Monarch is larger and has a very different wing pattern from that of the Lady.

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  18. Hi Kim,
    It was nice to see you yesterday if only for a second. I saw a monarch this morning, unfortunately the milkweed plants never blossomed this year, so there was nothing for it. I saw one yesterday as well by Sailor Stan’s. Nothing like what I remember seeing in the past. Hope you’re seeing and hearing about more. EJ

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  20. Jacqueline Bennet submits: I saw two or maybe three monarchs today at Corliss Brothers in Ipswich. there were two at once at one time. This one stayed around for a while enjoying the liatris. There was also a painted lady. Do they migrate together?

    Hi Jackie, Painted Ladies do migrate, but not the great distance of the Monarchs. They don’t migrate together per se however, we often seem them nectaring in the fall at the same plants, and they are often a newly emerged brood.

    Thank you for the lovely photos!

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  24. We have had about eight Monarchs Sunday and Monday but only saw two Tuesday on our Butterfly bushes on Loma Dr, glou

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  26. I saw 1 Monarch butterfly on Good Harbor beach a couple of days ago.
    Hard to believe they fly all the way to Mexico. I wanted to get it a ticket on a jet.
    I saw a nice stained glass Monarch in a window on Bearskin Neck.

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  31. I just spotted my first one ever, Kim! Thanks to you! Flew right by my as I was walking in my work Parking lot in Bedford, MA. Nice!

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  35. The photo in the post w/o a caption was at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. We are seeing a couple a day this week. Thanks! I am looking for the milkweed seeds I got from you to plant in my marsh soon! Nancy Dudley

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  36. I saw another at Corliss Brothers today. This one stayed for at least several hours. It seemed to favor the pink coneflowers. I am fortunate to be able to spend my days under the ‘big sky” seeing such beautiful things.

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  37. Lisa Smith writes on November 2nd:

    Hi Kim,

    I was on the Vineyard last weekend and took a picture of this butterfly on Chappaquiddick. He/she blends in perfectly with the background.

    xoxo,
    Lisa

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