Strong south winds in the Great Plains over the weekend apparently kept monarchs grounded. How strong was the wind near Erie, Kansas?

Saturday, September 29 Sunday, September 30 Sunflowers like these attracted monarchs to a field in Kansas this week.

Sunday, September 30, 2007
Near Erie, Kansas (37.57 N, -95.23 W)

Dear Chip:
I had a great experience yesterday which I would like to pass on to you. A local farmer called me approximately at noon and indicated that he had seen a huge amount of monarchs adjacent to a field in the Neosho river bottom.

I went to the location with the presumption that I might see a few hundred or even a few thousand monarchs. The population was much greater. Obviously, I cannot give you an accurate amount or even a valid estimate. I do know that it was very large.

The monarchs were located in a woods adjacent to a field of sunflowers that I would say was at least 400 acres. The sunflowers were in full bloom. The wood circles the entire field. In addition, there is a levee which is approximately 15 feet tall. Sunday, we had a strong southerly breeze that was probably 20 to 30 miles per hour with stronger gusts. I don't know if the monarchs had congregated because of the nectar source, the strong southerly winds, and the protection provided by the woods and levees, or for some other reason. Regardless, it was one of those once in a lifetime experiences. Many were clinging to the leaves of the trees and many more were flying in the wood and the open fields to the North of the levee and tree line.

A mile of clustering monarchs
As indicated, it would be impossible to estimate the total. As you probably know I have been to Sierra Chincua and Rosario. While these butterflies were not that dense, there certainly was a large concentration. I know at least in the tens of thousands. I followed the tree line around the sunflower field for approximately ½ mile in both directions and the concentration seemed to be uniformed the whole 1 mile distance. Many of the trees had a dense concentration of butterflies. The butterflies were not hanging from each other in a curtain effect but they were dense. The trees located right on the levees did not exceed 15 to 20 feet in height.

Monarchs
While my amateur observation may be incorrect the butterflies appeared to me to be in fairly good shape overall. They appeared to have fairly plump bodies, fairly large wing spans, and overall there wings appeared to be in fairly good shape. Quite frankly, I was a little worried at least about the monarch local population. I did not have nearly as many caterpillars this year in my Waystation stations as last year. I was hopeful that this was due to the fact that we have had lots of rain and lots of wildflowers so they were not concentrating on flower gardens as much. Regardless of that issue, I certainly saw a huge amount of monarchs yesterday. I don't know how long they have been there or how long they will be staying. It rained last night, a front is going through, and the wind may change. I am going to check the location tonight to see if they are still there.

Richard L. Hines