Date: 08/22/2015

Number: 18

windy and humid overcast day. Observed a group of 10 roosting in the trees and others fluttering about in the same area. This seems about a week earlier than in past years.

It was about 10 A.M when I saw them. In the past, I usually see the roosts in the evening and they are gone in the early morning. On 8/22 there was a LOT of dew on the trees and grass and humidity in the air in the morning. It was also a 15-25 mph wind from the south. Later in the day, the wind switched to the north, it got really cool and the humidity was gone and when I checked for monarchs in the evening there were none.

I think the temps was about 46 degrees on Friday night. I have noticed that humidity, cool weather and south winds are when I see more roosts. They were in a small row of trees that used to be a dense, wooded shelter belt, that has been thinned over the years. When the wind is from the south, they roost on the north side of the trees.

Today (8/23) it was a high of 65, in the 40s over night, and a strong 35mph north wind— no monarchs around.

Editor's note: This site reported roosting in a previous year.

Watertown, SD

Latitude: 44.9 Longitude: -97.2

Observed by: connie
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