Date: 10/05/2014

Number: 200

Low Humidity. Strong south wind. Temp 80F.

Monarchs are resting in trees, so I called it a roost, even though it’s in the middle of the day. All usual roost sites and many individual trees had Monarchs perching at 1400. Since other Monarchs were out on flowers feeding intently, I guess these had fed enough and were sheltering from the high wind and low humidity. They flushed readily when approached, but returned to roost twigs almost immediately.

The picture is of the largest cluster I noticed. It contains between 65 and 70 individuals. As a photograph it’s not great, because of the low contrast between Monarchs and leaves in the shade. As an example of what they really look like, it’s pretty good. With the bright light from overhead, it was easy to walk right up to them and not notice until they stirred.

Total in all “roosts” about 200. Note that this is additive to the peak migration report for today, which covers only the Monarchs out on flowers feeding.

Chalk Mountain, TX

Latitude: 32.1 Longitude: -97.9

Observed by:
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