Date: 10/01/2010
Number: 500
October 11
Cold front came through early Monday. The monarchs must have left prior to the front; all were gone Monday!
October 10
We continue to have even more numbers of monarchs!!! Beautiful!!!
October 8
There are as many, or more, monarchs today as when I posted on 10/1/10. I first noticed them lighting upon the hackberries, about 2pm today. Watched for about an hour, and off and on since then. It is beautiful beyond description. I am an observer of a magical world full of the lightest of creatures! If we walk under the trees, it is as if a snowfall of monarchs takes place. Silent, elegant, wondrous. My observation time: I was watching for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
October 7
The monarchs are thick again today. (On the 5th and the 6th we saw fewer.)
October 4
Roosting occurred on 10/01/10. Since then they have thinned out considerably. We still have many on the hackberry trees closest to the lake water; but only a fraction of the amount on Oct. 1st.
Oct. 1st was the first night we saw them roosting. As to the numbers, I can only guess. Quite literally hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds. This is the second year we have lived at this location, and they are much greater in number than last year. (There have been so many one of our cats, sits in the midst of them and gazes at them longingly!)
We live 20-30 feet from a lake, and are in a small cove. I would estimate that we have 50 Hackberry trees (all mature), and a very large Pecan Tree just off of our deck. This is where we see them roost. We also have a Pear tree, untold numbers of Mesquites, and St. Augustine grass.
We also plant specifically for butterflies and hummingbirds in our gardens. I don't know all of the names, but we have marigolds, butterfly bush, goldenrod, milkweed, red roses, and numerous pink colored flowers.
October 1
Began noticing the monarchs a couple of weeks ago. Went out to take photos yesterday (10/01), and realized there were hundreds already.
Editor’s Note: We are estimating a minimum of 500 monarchs based on observer’s estimate of “hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds.”
Abilene, TX
Latitude: 32.5 Longitude: -99.7
Observed by:
Contact Observer
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