August 26, 2005
Flight of the meadowhawks
Sometime, late in the summer, when the wind blows east and temperatures rise into the 80's, something weird and wonderful happens. For reasons as yet unexplained, thousands of Variegated Meadowhawks (Sympetrum corruptum) concentrate near the ocean and head south. No one is sure where they come from. No one is sure where they go when the wind shifts and the temperature goes down.
No northbound migration has ever been documented nor has anyone been able to show a cryptic migration during other kinds of weather.
Today, meadowhawks were going by at about 60/min and true to form the migration shut down when the wind came around to northwest. I have seen movements where 100's were going by per minute sometimes mixed with southbound butterflies, California Tortoiseshells, Red Admirables and Painted Ladies all of which have been shown to have northbound movements.