monarchs

David Albaugh bugguy at webtv.net
Sun Sep 27 23:09:59 EDT 1998


I was just wondering if anyone else has made any observations concerning
monarch migrations. I have located a site here in Rhode Island where the
monarchs gather on trees. First off, they all congregate on the north
sides of the trees - is this a normal pattern? From what I have seen,
instead of hundreds of monarchs gathering on one tree (which I observed
at the same location 20 years ago) it now seems that 2-3 dozen gather
per tree scattered over a wide area - is this the norm? I have also
observed monarchs flying about trying to locate their nightly rest spot
- what makes them decide on the particular tree? Do they actually see
other monarchs already there (and if so, what makes the 1st monarch go
there). Why is it that night after night are they not only on the same
trees but they are on the same spot on the same trees? Finally, during
the summer months where do monarchs spend their evenings - do they go to
these same trees or is the tree congregation only a migration thing? I
thank you in advance.

David Albaugh


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