Sunday, September 19, 2010

Cape May: Monarchpalooza, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Cape May is in the midst of an epic Monarch butterfly migration.  This morning at Cape May Point SP, they were on every flower, and in huge numbers overhead. 

Monarch_IMGP0191

(Click any photograph to embiggen.)

Among the half-million Monarchs in the area today, the Spousal Unit and I came across one with a tag from the Kansas University Monarch Watch program, tag number NMW 190.  We reported the tag recovery by email.

Tagged_Monarch_IMGP0204

Buckeye butterflies were also numerous:

Buckeye_IMGP0190

We also saw lots of American Lady butterflies:

Unknown_Butterfly_IMGP0200

We didn’t participate in any organized bird walks today.  There were a few nice raptors overhead (immature eagle sp., Osprey with fish, Peregrine Falcon, Coops & Sharpies).  The stars of the day, though, were the 4 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in a pond near the hawk watch:

Whistling_Ducks_IMGP0141

2 comments:

  1. The Buckeye is a butterfly, not a moth. The third butterfly looks like an American Lady.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, John, I've updated the entry accordingly.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.