Date: 09/04/2010

Number: 500

September 23
Our large clusters of Monarchs were here the second week of September, and departed on the 11th. Since then we have sighted individuals regularly. Since Sept 20th we have had hot, humid days with winds from the South. Today we had a cluster of 35-50 monarchs roosting on the north side of our grove on the leaves of a chokecherry tree.

September 10
We have had two more influxes of Monarchs since I tagged my 500th one on Monday the 6th.Today's are roosting on the ash tree (first two pictures). There are many more scattered in our grove, but not in any clusters. The third picture is one of the earlier Monarchs on a compass plant whose blooms were spent. Although we have a quarter acre of wildflowers, few Monarchs feed when they roost here. I see many in the dewy grass between 8-9 am presumably sipping water, but only an occasional one on the flowers. The other two pictures are from the initial roosting on Saturday and Sunday.

September 4
On Saturday night (Sept. 4th), I observed 3 clusters of Monarchs roosting on the west side of the fir trees in a protected area of our grove. In the morning, the Monarchs had moved to the north side of the ash and walnut trees because the wind had switched to the south. During the day Sunday (Sept. 5th), I sighted more and more Monarchs. They were mostly roosting in clusters of around 30 in a group, only a few were feeding on the remaining flowers. I tagged 500 Monarchs in the past 3 days (as of September 6th) and they are still roosting in our grove.

Dysart, IA

Latitude: 42.2 Longitude: -92.4

Observed by: Cathy
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