Date: 10/03/2010

Number: 2000

We noted the first few monarchs accumulating in the last week of September. The first wave arrived on October 3rd, and they were starting to amass in the trees. They seemed to reach their maximum population from October 8-10. We had thousands. It's absolute magic to walk around our acreage and see clouds of them. We turn on the yard sprinklers several times a day and they love it! Our rural home is directly in the migration path of Monarchs. They cover our trees by the hundreds of thousands each fall and spring during their journeys to and from Mexico.

The top 3 pictures below were taken Sunday evening (Oct. 10th) at around 7 PM when the temperature was in the low 80s.  A cool front was predicted to arrive very early Monday morning with low temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s. A moderate northeast wind started up around midnight Sunday night. On Monday morning, when I went outside at 8 AM, there was not a monarch in sight. Apparently they left in advance of the front. I will let you know if we see any more.

Editor’s Note: We are estimating a minimum of 2000 monarchs based on observer’s estimate of “thousands.”

Big Spring, TX

Latitude: 32.3 Longitude: -101.4

Observed by: Jaynie
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