Date: 10/28/2015

Number: 1000

We observed small groups (typically less than 10 individuals) of monarch butterflies in community parks and private gardens in Kearney, Nebraska, throughout the month of September 2015. A notable observation came on the evening of September 28, 2015, when we witnessed hundreds, and likely well over 1,000 monarch butterflies three blocks east of the University of Nebraska at Kearney in the yard of a private residence. The pulse of activity occurred between approximately 5 pm and 6 pm, with butterflies in flight and also resting throughout the branches of an old-growth oak tree. People gathered to observe and commented that they had never seen such a large concentration of monarchs. Conditions seemed well suited for migration that day; we also observed a large flock of gulls migrating that evening. By dusk, the butterflies were no longer visible.


Submitted by Mary Harner and Keith Geluso, Residents of Kearney, NE

Kearney, NE

Latitude: 40.8 Longitude: -99

Observed by: Rae Ellen
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