Monarch butterfly migration will soon peak in Connecticut

Monarch butterflies, which often come from Canada, are on their way south to their wintering habitat in Mexico. The migration is expected to peak in the coming weeks. After abundant sightings last year, observers statewide said early reports indicate that monarchs will be plentiful. "So far, it looks pretty good," said Dori Sosensky, president of the Connecticut Butterfly Association, who maintains a butterfly and bird garden at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven.

• After many years of sparse sightings, the migrating monarch population appears to have rebounded, observers said. "Last year was probably the best year in 30 or 40 years in New England," said Chip Taylor, a University of Kansas professor who runs Monarch Watch, a Web site that tracks monarch butterflies. He predicted another good year for New England, particularly because butterflies and their favorite food, milkweed, thrive in summers such as the one ending now - not too hot. "I expect you're going to see a bigger than normal migration in Connecticut, especially along the shoreline," Taylor said.
• Greenwich and other coastal communities often host the migrating monarchs that prefer to travel along the Eastern seaboard on their way south, observers said. They face unique challenges on the coast, Taylor said. A wind from the west could steer the butterflies toward the ocean so far that they are unable to make their way back inland and on track toward central Mexico, Taylor said. Boaters have reported monarchs landing on their vessels in the ocean, he said.
  
• Not all butterflies are found along the coast. Some seek the gardens at the Audubon Greenwich. "I've been seeing them regularly through the summer, flying around the property and feeding around a variety of our flowering plants," said Ted Gilman, an Audubon Greenwich naturalist who helps run a butterfly count.
• A count of monarchs on the Fourth of July, just as adult butterflies were emerging from their cocoons, yielded about eight sightings in a few hours, about as many as last year, Gilman said. "They were in good numbers in the count and easily observable pretty much throughout the summer," he said.
  
• The migration northward for the summer takes place over several generations of monarchs, but the journey south in the fall usually is completed by a single generation. As the weather cools, the last generation of monarchs born will make the flight to Mexico, some traveling 3,000 miles. (Hoa Nguyen, Greenwich Times)
• The above picture shows a Monarch Butterfly tagged with an RFID. Read more at Monarch Watch.