Date: 10/16/2015

Number: 1000

I visited the area (Conoco Playa Pond) at 16:50 on the 16th of October. As this place is 50 miles from my house in the middle of nowhere, I do not know when the roost formed. Trees (willows, Chinese Elms) were coated with hundreds of butterflies. I didn't attempt to count them (since I I was looking for birds and didn't know about this web site at the time), but I did take pictures and can make an estimate based on density. A friend reported 500 at the same location today (10/18/15) and 600 at a nearby rest area.

There are some desert plants in the area. This is in the middle of old sand dunes with oil wells in all directions. Since we have had ample rain this year (for once), there are fields of sunflowers in the area, especially to the south, although I haven’t really noticed them in the immediate vicinity.

Earlier in the day there had been a brisk north wind after a cold front, 15-20 mph. By the afternoon the winds had died down substantially-10mph or less from the east. The butterflies were mostly on the west sides of the trees, so they were sheltered. low of 52F

Maljamar, NM

Latitude: 32.8 Longitude: -103.7

Observed by: Bob
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