Monarch Butterfly Migration - As Seen by Doppler Radar

[@OurGardenChannel]

I have a friend who is a forecaster for NWS and he says that they often see migrations of birds and insects on the doppler...

[@carolynking5470]

4af - I understand that it is difficult to credit, but Monarchs definitely do fly that high. They've often been observed at 3,000-4,000 feet. (see #20, www.monarchwatch.org/read/faq3.htm#20 and elsewhere) You only see the lower ones from the ground. I've spoken to an ultralight pilot who followed and studied monarchs in the air. He said they were very expert at finding the thermals to lift them to high altitudes. That said, I'm not convinced that those images on the weather radar are monarchs. I've been asking on-line about any reliable corroboration, but haven't seen any.

[@OurGardenChannel]

You haven't looked very hard, there is all sorts of legitimate literature out there about not just monarch's, but all sorts of migrating insects that can be tracked this way. www.pems.adfa.edu.au/~adrake/trews/ww_re_qa.htm link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00484-013-0676-5 www.helsinki.fi/~mleskine/engl/migra.html books.google.com/books/about/Radar_Entomology.html?id=SLXeDzuJox4C