Highlights:
Heavy Weekend Traffic
Monarchs soared into Nebraska
over the weekend and landed in Hastings, Lincoln, and
Giltner, Nebraska on the very same night. Sunday night
roosts appeared suddenly like this:
9/9/07
Giltner, NE
"What an incredible sight to witness. We became
an airport with Monarchs flying in from every direction,
landing in only one of our many ash trees. Twenty seven
years living here on our acreage in Giltner, NE., and
this has been our first of such a gathering."
9/9/07
Prairie City, IA
"I think the heavy weekend traffic was driven by
a strong cold front and a letup in the rain," wrote
Bob Woodward from Prairie City, Iowa, where he saw 403
monarchs in just 3 hours. "Both weekend days had
heavy activity."
More
Monarchs on the Way
Butterflies continue to pour down from the north. Peak
migration conditions were reported at several "hawk
watch" sites. On the north shore of Lake Erie people
were astonished by the numbers:
9/11/07
Port Stanley, ON
"Ruby-throated Hummingbirds continue to zip through
in small numbers. The real highlight today was the 100's
if not 1000's of Monarchs that were taking shelter in
the trees surrounding the hawk-watch. They were everywhere!!
Between the Monarchs and the hundreds of large dragonflies
it made spotting the birds very challenging at times."
Heading
to Mexico!
It's remarkable to watch the monarchs move down the
map. They're truly heading toward Mexico, by instinct
alone! Students in Rochester, New York used the roost
map to predict the monarchs' arrival. (See their answer
to Challenge Question #2 below.) Here's
an animation of the roost map for you to view: