Date: 05/13/2007

Number: 1

Late last week (probably 5/9 or 5/10), I saw a very fresh Monarch male on flowers at Balcones Canyonlands NWR. I took it to signal the first (I had
seen) of the first Texas-raised Monarchs of the season. Then on Sunday, 5/13, the floodgates opened. I was on a private ranch in SW Travis County and the fresh Monarchs were up and moving about at a density akin to the Fall migration. Over the course of about 5 hours in the oak savannahs and pastures on that ranch, my wife and I observed 50+ Monarchs, all but one of them appearing very fresh. The predominant milkweed on that ranch is green antelopehorns (A. asperula).

A question for you butterfliers at our latitude: Am I correct on the timing that these are probably the 1st-generation offspring of the adults returning from the winter grounds in Mexico? If so, we are sending a whole lot of Monarchs further north!

Courtesy of Monarch Watch

Balcones Canyonlands NWR, TX

Latitude: 30.6 Longitude: -98.3

Observed by:
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