Date: 04/05/2016

Number: 46

Written May 1, 2016 Like Kip and Carol, I am seeing an abundance of milkweed in my area. I haven't seen any flooding that hasn't percolated back into the ground but there have been some vicious thunderstorms, hail, wind, and tree damage in Kendall County, Gillespie, Bandera, Kerr, Comal, and Kimble County. I lost an old and beloved Spanish Oak on my place which shades both the homes on my property. Rain totals here are not all that shocking compared to last year...it's the ferocity of the weather.

I am noticing a disturbing drop in egg laying here on my place in Hill Country, central Texas, compared to last year. The first pass through of migrants left me with only 46 eggs on about 129 plants by April 5th. Last year I had collected 96 by April 11th. I spotted only three females but I am not home a great deal. I did see as many as 10 adults in Comal County in one day in early April. 1st gen has left me only 23 eggs so far on what is now 190 plants compared to 69 eggs last year by May 1st. Kerr Wildlife Mgt. Area in Kimble County tells me they have found 9 eggs and larva on about 70 plants since April 1st, a friend in Gillespie County reported about 24 eggs on 85 plants since April 1st. They are both first year monitors.

It's cold, 59 degrees and windy here today. The weather is just so unpredictable right now that even with abundant food sources I do not have warm fuzzy feelings about what we are sending your way up north. Hope you will prove me wrong.

I have some time this week to check roadside plants for eggs and larva in some of these counties and will let you know what I find further.

Boerne, TX

Latitude: 30 Longitude: -98.7

Observed by: Cathy
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