One of the things I've noticed after doing this, whatever it is, for going on 14 years is trends. When you have an eye out for changes in the natural world virtually every day, you start to notice when things seem to be going away, and also when phenomena appear to be increasing.
Yesterday on our walk around the loop, I saw three monarchs. That is worth mentioning only in because that is more than normal. Usually I see less than that. Before, during and after finding the caterpillar that is now a chrysalis in the jar on the island, I only saw one other. I examined at least 100 milkweed plants during my search. After finding said caterpillar, I emailed friends who are readers of this blog and butterfly crazy like I am to indicate that I had finally found one. I never heard back from any of them that they had found one as well. Talking with Doug yesterday about the monarch situation, and his anecdotal sense was that there are, indeed, fewer of them around than in years past.
The goldfinch situation is the opposite. Both Allyn and I have seen more this summer than ever before. I Googled goldfinches and climate change, and learned that goldfinches like cooler weather, and actually their preferred habitat may be moving north from places like New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I also learned that goldfinches raise their families later in the summer relative to other birds, even as late as August. That might explain some of the activity relative to goldfinches that we have been seeing lately.
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