Cold Fronts Bring Monarchs to Texas September 27, 2000 9/26/00 Gainsville, TX (33.38 N, -97.11 W) We were leaving the gym on our lunch hour and heading back to work when we spotted a beautiful monarch butterfly. My sister and I started looking and they were everywhere - just floating down the road. We began counting and counted 16 in about 20 to 30 seconds. They continued to come, but we quit counting. They were all heading South. We began talking about the fact that they must be on their way to Mexico for the winter. It was really cool! Candy Baird (clb001@cooke.net) 09/22/00 Midland, TX (31.99 N, -102.08 W) "On 9/22 we checked a 20 acre corner of a pecan orchard and counted approximately 1,000 Monarchs in about an hour. We saw about 12,000 Monarch butterflies total. The butterflies were hanging on the tree limbs on the side away from the wind. A count of my own 1/4 acre revealed a total of 263 Monarchs in 15 minutes. On 9/23, approximately 20,000 Monarch butterflies passed overhead between 5:30 and 6:00PM. A front was moving through, and there were thunderstorms to the NE." Lynda Johnson (daisyherbs@powr.net) 09/22/00 Odessa, TX (31.84 N, -102.34 W) "Each day this week from 12:30 - 1:15p.m, my kindergarten students and I have looked for monarchs. At 5:00 p.m (Friday, 9/22/00) my students and I were called to 2 backyards in Odessa. We observed a constant arrival of butterflies for the entire 2 hours that we observed. We saw many more males than females. All together we estimated we saw 300 butterflies roosting. The monarchs were everywhere. They even spent the night in our pecan tree." Reagan Magnet Schoool (gabep@swbell.net) 09/22/00 San Angelo, TX (31.57 N, -100.52 W) "There were between 50-100 monarchs in our yard on 9/22. On 9/23-24 there was a storm that came through and the temps have dropped dramatically. I saw a few single monarchs but not a great abundance (over 100) as yet." Janet Guthrie (juddsfn@aol.com) 09/22/00 Bronte, TX (31.87 N, -100.34 W) "Hundreds of large, healthy Monarchs on their way south were tanking up in yards where the grass had been watered the night before. We discovered bushes and trees covered with butterflys after school around 4:00 p.m. They stayed the night and then left the next day as the cold front and rain made its way into our drought stricken area. Abilene, 57 miles north of Bronte, reported sightings the same day. They were beautiful!!!" Bronte High School (jerita.taylor@netxv.net) 9/25/00 Klein, TX (30.03 N, -95.53 W) "The monarchs are here! Sunday the 24th we woke up to find 7 tattered monarchs on one milkweed plant. I quess the cold front pushing through Texas has moved the monarchs through our area. As of Monday the 26th we are having gusty winds and morning temperatures of 58 degrees. I hope to see more today" Patty Perkins (lpaw@msn.com) ....and to Oklahoma! 9/26/00 Perry, OK (36.17 N, -97.17 W) We have been observing monarch butterflies flying over our school playground every day. We are so glad that we have a little cooler weather now to enjoy butterfly watching! We are at Perry Elementary School in Perry, OK and we have just sent off our butterflies that we made. Carol Barry (cbarry@perry.k12.ok.us ) Copyright 2000 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form