Date: 10/01/2011

Number: 200

On Saturday October 1st, I paddled along the Colorado River 25 miles southeast of Austin from near Webberville to near Utley. In the 7 river miles we traveled, we consistently saw Monarchs in the ones and
twos. If I had to put a number on the total, it would be 100-200.
All were nectaring on the riverside flowers, none were engaging in directional flight. I did not see any monarchs traveling to or from the river.

Over the past two weeks I have seen monarchs in and around Austin engaged in directional flight, but only one or two on any given day.

Away from the Cororado river, there are essentially no blooming flowewr. Frostweed which is normally a migration staple around here are desiccated stalks with withered leaves and no flowers. The white mistflower (another migration staple), in my yard, behaved abnormally this year. The plants without irrigation bloomed in July, while the plants under irrigation are blooming now, their normal time. Outside my yard, there are no white mistflowers blooming.

Much contrast between the verdant river edge and the desiccated upper bank. Moving away from the river, it is just as brown or browner than in the photo. The Colorado River in this section has a daily variation of about 18 inches as the River Authority releases water from the highland lakes for rice farmers along the coast. Without the lake releases, the river flow here would be essentially zero except the effluent from Austin.

Courtesy of Monarch Watch

Webberville, TX

Latitude: 30.2 Longitude: -97.5

Observed by:
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