WITH SO MANY GUESTS, CAPE MAY'S ALL AFLUTTER, A bevy of monarch butterflies floods resort with

Star Ledger ^ | 09.23.06 | GABRIEL H. GLUCK

[Coleus]

They've been descending on Cape May like fun-starved Shriners at some overbooked convention, feasting on the local fare and making a spectacle of themselves before flitting off with nary a goodbye. At least they're a quiet bunch. And not bad to look at, either. Monarch butterflies, their numbers swollen by favorable summer weather, have overtaken New Jersey's southern peninsula this year as they embark on their annual 2,000-mile journey to warmer climes in the mountains of central Mexico.

The profusion of color is part of what naturalists predict will be the largest monarch migration through New Jersey and other eastern states in a decade, if not two, said Chip Taylor, director of Monarch Watch, based at the University of Kansas. Across the state, the people who spend hours in the field counting butterflies say the numbers are impressive, anywhere from three to 20 times higher than usual. But it is in Cape May that Mother Nature reveals what she's been up to these past few months, for it is here the butterflies, along with other migrating species, will often stop before braving their first major water crossing.

"In Cape May, you have a funneling effect. They'll hole up there before they cross the bay," said Jane Bullis, a naturalist at the Merrill Creek Reservoir in Warren County. Unlike a flock of migrating Canada geese, the monarchs are not that easy to spot while they glide along at 1,500 feet. But come this time of year, storm fronts will push the monarchs -- some heading down from the Canadian maritime provinces -- to the east.

[syriacus]

Thanks for posting this article. My mother and I were wondering why we saw so many monarchs at a beach on Long Island's south shore.

[BluH2o]

Going back several years my wife and I would take our sailing vacation in late August early September. Sailing thru eastern Long Island Sound and up the eastern seaboard to Block Island and on to Nantucket we often times would have Monarchs visit us while some distance off shore. They would alight for on the boom (usually) or some other point on our sailboat, rest for awhile and then go on their way. The prevailing winds that time of year were typically out of the southwest, the Monarchs were flying into it, so I guess a brief respite in their southerly journey was welcome. Amazing creatures ...

[Palladin]

Thanks for the article, Coleus.

The monarchs were very busy here at my place about a week ago, hitting every flower. Now they are all gone.

Guess I know where they went...to meet up with all their relatives and friends at Cape May for the long journey south.

Nature is beautiful, and Nature's God is awesome.

As GM Hopkins said:

"The whole world is charged with the grandeur of God."