Date: 10/16/2011

Number: 300

October 18
We checked and that big group of monarchs did NOT roost on the Anacua (only about 5 on Sunday night -10/16) and not one was seen roosting on Monday (10/17).

October 17
My neighbor saw only about 5 monarchs roosting on the tree that morning at 7:30 am. I went over there at 8:15 am and I did see those 5 as well as some monarchs roosting on the Red Oak next to the Anacua (I counted about 20). I checked the Pecans nearby and did not see any on them.

I returned around 6pm and saw close to 200 feeding. They fed on the blooms until very late --it was getting dark. Many stayed on the blooms until 7 PM and one or two were still nectaring on the tree at 7:15 pm. By 7:18 pm all were off and not one roosted on the Anacau! I really searched the interior of the tree and not one was on it. I saw a few sail off - a few went to the Red Oak and a few to a Crepe Myrtle, and all the rest - who knows? There are some Pecan nearby.

October 16
On Sunday in the day, we estimated around 300 on the tree between 3-4 pm - all were nectaring. Greg shot some video. I went back at around 6 pm and there were still lots on the tree nectaring on the blooms. I had to leave at 6:45 and quite a few (around 50) were still on the tree feeding! The owner looked and said they did not see any monarchs on the tree at 7:20 PM

October 15
My neighbor called me this afternoon to go look at the monarchs on an Anacua tree (Ehretia anacua) near her house. The tree was in full bloom. This was at 2:30 PM and there were over 100 monarchs nectaring on this very large tree. They appeared as if in clusters hanging from the tree-but each butterfly was nectaring. I counted up to 110 using my binoculars. There may have been more high up in the canopy towards the interior of the tree, so this number may be a bit conservative.

San Antonio, TX

Latitude: 29.5 Longitude: -98.5

Observed by: Patty
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