"Today was the first migratory pulse here. The monarchs are coming in to nectar on our Zinnias and especially the Verbena. I saw and/or collected 25 monarchs in 50 minutes in the garden. I scanned the sky with binoculars but never saw them flying in. They just suddenly appear on the flowers!"

Dr. Brower checked the fat status of each butterfly, and examined the females to see whether they had mated.

"There is no question that these are migrants and not locally bred.  All are in mint condition and none of the females is mated—they're typical fall migrants."

More Migration Highlights

Missouri: "Monarchs are flying nonstop over Gladstone. Winds are NNW at 9 mph and I counted 265 monarchs in 2 hours. Flying extremely fast in a southerly direction—about 90% high flyers, some are treetop height." September 20

Oklahoma: "We noticed a cloud of butterflies coming in from the north. As they flew in we realized they were monarchs. The temperature had suddenly dropped significantly and there were some scattered thunderstorms. The butterflies roosted in one of our tall pine trees, seemingly hunkering down until the storms passed. This all occurred at dusk. We observed until dark. When we woke in the morning they were gone." September 19

• Where are the Monarchs?
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