Turtle Journal

Monarch Butterflies Feast on Golden Rod for Long Journey

September on the SouthCoast opens a window into the endless, cyclical, multigenerational migration of monarch butterflies from the Great White North to Mexico and back again.  We’re told that it takes two generations each way or four generations for the complete migration cycle.  How fortunate we are to witness one end of this epic flight as monarchs feast on milkweed and golden rod in the coastal fields along Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay.  Today, as we walked the trail at Mass Audubon’s Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Dartmouth, we came across several monarchs sipping golden nectar to garner strength for the long journey ahead.

Monarch Butterfly at Allen’s Pond Wildlife Sanctuary

This same time last season at Demarest Lloyd State Park also in Dartmouth, we happened upon a large flock of monarchs preparing to kick off their migration southward.

Monarchs Preparing for Migration at Demarest Lloyd State Park (2007)

Tags: Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod, Dartmouth, Demarest Lloyd State Park, golden rod, Great White North, journey, Mass Audubon's Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, Mexico, migration, migration cycle, migration of monarch butterflies, milkweed, monarchs, monarchs of the SouthCoast, SouthCoast

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 9:17 pm and is filed under Insects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.