Monarch Mega Releases

18 years ago

My 100+ chrysalides are eclosing. I released 23 beautiful Monarchs yesterday. I didn't get a picture of the mass as I tagged each one prior to releasing it. One thing noted is that everyone of them flew out and away from my patio and turned south. None of them stayed to nectar in my yard! I have tagged 47 BFs since starting last week. This year I will be tagging 100 butterflies and I am concentrating on those I have reared. Last year I concentrated on tagging wild Monarchs so it will be interesting to see if any of my tags get found.

So far, all the BFs that have eclosed have been healthy with good stripe patterns and no evidence of OE. I did euthanize some caterpillars that showed signs. It's been a good year for Monarchs after problems with black death and parasites last year.

Sandy

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Comments (4)

tracey_nj6
18 years ago
No pictures!??!?!?!?!? Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh, sniff, sniff...

Congrats on your mass exodus. It must've been a beautiful sight!
bernergrrl
18 years ago
Sandy, I was JUST thinking of you wondering about your Monarchs as I walked around being astounded by the at least 20 (probably closer to 30) Monarchs in my yard. It is amazing to see them floating everywhere. I really felt like I was walking around in a cloud of butteflies. Maybe your Monarchs will return, and you'll be in a fog of butterflies!
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butterflymomok
Original Author
18 years ago
Bernergirl,

Sounds like the migration has come to your neck of the woods. I'm hoping my Monarchs head for Mexico and I get a whole bunch of migrating Monarchs coming through!

I can only remember a couple of migrations where the butterflies descended out of the heavens in numbers that were mind boggling and lit on every nectar plant in the garden. We haven't had a spectacular migration in at least 4 or 5 years. It's about time for us to have one again. Last year I had to use binoculars to actually see the migrating Monarchs, they were so high in the sky. They didn't stop at all.

Are you tagging this year?

Sandy
terrene
18 years ago
Wow, that must have been a lot of work taking care of all those cats, but how spectacular to have so many eclosing at the same time!

The most I had eclose in one day was three. I released the last Monarch yesterday, a lone female. It was a slightly cool and cloudy day with a few peeps of sun. I waited 5 hours for her to fully dry and the weather to moderate. She sat on my finger for about 15 minutes, soaking up a little sun which had come out. She was the only one to stay with me for so long, all the others flew away pretty quickly. It was as if she was saying good-bye!