at jones beach and point lookout here in NY my impression was that there were still ample goldenrods back along the roadways and (at Pt Lookout) along the shore of Jones Inlet.... All with nary a monarch on them on my last few visits. I think 4 or 5 monarchs was the most I saw on any single visit of an hour to two hours length. This has been typical for observers posting all summer long to the NABA (North American Butterfly Assocaition) websites' "Postings" from anywhere in the eastern half of the US.
On 10/10/13, Peter Priolo <[email protected]> wrote: > Excellent question I've noticed a decline as well. I am no expert but have > tagged monarchs as a citizen scientist for the past 3 years on the south > shore of Long Island as part of the U of Kansas monarch watch project. Two > years ago there were enough monarchs flying east to west along the dunes > that praying mantis would ambush them on the seaside goldenrod. > This year I the amount and rate of monarchs flying east to west on the > coastal dunes decreased dramatically. > I think this is linked with the observation that there appears to be less > goldenrod stands; and, I think there are less goldenrod because of physical > change of the dunes from hurricane Sandy. Some great stands got buried along > beachfront that I have found monarchs at in past years. > I wonder if there are less goldenrod available along the entire coast in the > plants range. I wonder if this will set them back as the yellow blooms are > an energy source timed with their migration. > That is my speculation. I don't know if the monarch population actually did > decrease markedly this year, I just saw less where I used to see more. > > Peter Priolo > Ctr Moriches > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
