Monarchs in the Mountains

Eight of us spent a beautiful day prowling around Grafton County, NH in search of migrating monarchs.  We saw many insects and late-summer flowers.  We only saw a few monarchs that were flying high and fast out of reach of our trusty butterfly nets.  That did not, however, dampen everyone's spirits as we explored beautiful sites that were not on established trails.  Views of bogs and mountain views made for lots of photo opportunities.  AND two of us ended up celebrating the day at Moose Scoops in Warren, NH.  

It's always a gamble when one heads out in search of migrating monarchs.  I attach the report from September of 2022 when monarchs were filling the fields of goldenrod and Joe-pye weed.  My feeling is that monarchs are flying through a little later than they did in 2022.  It does vary from year to year.

https://www.gayoutdoors.org/page.cfm?sectionid=103&typeofsite=trip-report&id=5576

Trade in your hiking poles for butterfly nets for the day and get a close-up look at some of the beauty migrating through NH.  Enjoy an aerobic workout netting monarch butterflies, tagging them with stickers from the University of Kansas’ Monarch Watch program https://monarchwatch.org, and releasing them.  Not to worry, I’ll have extra nets.  This is a great opportunity to learn more about this amazing insect species and contribute to a better understanding of their migratory behavior.

 Please bring water and snack/lunch to get you through the day.  I advise sunscreen and tick repellent too