Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Monarchs across the Atlantic
Some years ago, I saw a monarch butterfly in Cornwall in September. How rare is such a sighting?
The monarch is the largest and most spectacular of the world’s migratory butterflies. A common species in North America, it has been recorded regularly in Britain since the first sighting was made at Neath in
South Wales in September 1876. North America is thought to be the source of all monarchs recorded here, although there is now a population established in southern Spain and Portugal.
Close to a thousand monarchs have been recorded in Britain, with September and October the most likely months in which to encounter one.
The great majority of the sightings have been in the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall. Certain years have seen large arrivals. The most notable was in 1999, when around 300 were recorded. It is thought that these eruptions coincide with a flow of warm air across the Atlantic, and they tend to coincide with the arrival of rare American birds. I envy you your sighting. DT