Date: 09/30/2007

Number: 1

After 4 nearly perfect days for the monarchs to move on, the weather became unsuitable for getting out of town yesterday, continuing into today. The temperatures have been high enough but the strong winds (presently 25mph) from the SW (220 degrees) have caused the monarchs to seek shelter and to nectar where possible. Here at MW we have a bit of protection from the wind and lots of flowers. About an hour ago I counted about 15 monarchs on one butterfly bush and over 40 visiting all the flowers in the garden and at the front of the building. Most of the monarch were quite large suggesting a northern origin.

This date is quite late for such a large number of monarchs but this observation may be misleading since the garden is one of the richest sources of floral odors within the surrounding area. Generally, the monarchs are all but gone from Lawrence by the 4th of Oct, the end of the migration window for this latitude.

Tomorrow promises to be another moving day - clear, temps reaching the low 80s, with light winds (5-8mph).

Courtesy of Monarch Watch

Lawrence, KS

Latitude: 39 Longitude: -95.2

Observed by:
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