Eat or be eaten by Stephanie

Stephanie | all galleries >> USA >> New Jersey >> jerseyshore >> Birding in Cape May ~ 2010 > Eat or be eaten


15-OCT-2010

Eat or be eaten

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We attended a butterfly tagging demonstration down by the lighthouse in Cape May. Fascinating work is taking place in tracking these flying gems!

Thousands of monarch butterflies are tagged each year in Cape May.
The tags are small bits of coded adhesive paper placed on the leading edge of the monarch's wing.
The tags don’t change the way the monarchs behave or fly. Dozens of monarchs tagged in Cape May have been found in Mexico.
Additionally, tagged monarchs are sometimes caught again at areas to our south, providing valuable data about the speed and routes of the migration.
One monarch tagged at Cape May was found the next day at Fisherman Island, in the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia – about 140 miles from Cape May!

LEARN MORE ABOUT MONARCH TAGGING IN CAPE MAY BY CLICKING HERE

Ouch! He bit me! (Well, not me ~ he bit the butterfly handler)

Naughty dragonfly! Tried to eat a monarch and then the handler!

Recording stats

Monarch tagging (each tag costs 18 US cents)

Canon EOS 40D
1/40s f/7.1 at 135.0mm iso125 full exif

other sizes: small medium large auto

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Paolo Peggi (aka Bracciodiferro)		24-Oct-2010 10:18
Beautiful and interesting series Steph! V Paolo

Zoltán Balogh		22-Oct-2010 07:13
A beautiful series of captures indeed! V

Rick Bricker		22-Oct-2010 02:48
I had no idea dragonflies were a butterflys predator....or that they bit for that matter.Excellent info. and beautiful detail in these images .V

Graeme		21-Oct-2010 21:51
facinating series of images Stephanie.BV

Marwan Habib		21-Oct-2010 14:42
140 miles! I would have never thought that!

David Hobbs		21-Oct-2010 09:32
Great series of pictures. I learned some new things as well.

Blandine Mangin		21-Oct-2010 08:08
une très belle série ! v

Guest		21-Oct-2010 07:30
beautiful, interesting, great serie Steph.

François Fauchard		21-Oct-2010 06:55
Session of natural sciences... Good captures.

Guest		21-Oct-2010 06:44
Fascinating, and some wonderful photos too.. V

Guest		21-Oct-2010 05:37
I like the story with your magnificent shoots! ~V

Cindi Smith		21-Oct-2010 03:20
Whoa girl! These are fabulous. I didn't know dragonflies at butterflies? Wow! I've never been bitten by one either. Cool information too. This series rocks! v

Guest		21-Oct-2010 02:37
Very informative and interesting presentation, Stephanie. Classic work. BV

Guest		21-Oct-2010 00:30
Great series Steph!!! All so sharp and clear. Thank you so much for the info .

Ed McConnell		21-Oct-2010 00:29
WOW...great shot and info Stephanie..

sue anne		21-Oct-2010 00:21
Interesting info and nice macro of the two !

Yvonne		20-Oct-2010 23:57
What a superb series of shots & wonderful accompanying information! v

Jim Coffman		20-Oct-2010 23:48
Extremely interesting and great pictures!

Jola Dziubinska		20-Oct-2010 23:28
C'est la vie... Great information and thanks to those devoted people who tag thousands of butterflies.

Hank Vander Velde		20-Oct-2010 22:33
Fantastic/beautiful set of images Stephanie. Great info too. I knew some were being tagged for some time but never knew how. Thanks for sharing.

John Hamers		20-Oct-2010 22:19
Beautiful images and very interesting..Tagging butterflies, didn't know they did it !!

Guest		20-Oct-2010 22:18
Nicely captured.... Jv

slhoornstra		20-Oct-2010 22:11
Congrats on this informative and well shot series, excellent!! VVV

Lee Rudd		20-Oct-2010 21:56
a fascinating procedure, for a moment I imagined the butterflies with birding rings on! But I think that the dragonfly has also worked out what is going on..........

larose forest photos		20-Oct-2010 21:56
Superb set of images, Stephanie. It is amazing to think of tagging butterflies, isn't it, but it has been going on for some years and provides vital information about these iconic Monarchs. Amazing shot of the dragonfly with the monarch too! ~V~

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