Date: 07/27/2016

Number: 1

I am happy to see some good news in recent reports. These reports are in stark contrast to what I saw in my travels through the Traverse City, MI area this past week.

We drove up to Interlochen, MI on the 23rd. We did not see a single adult monarch on our drive through the center of the state and into Interlochen.

We visited the Sleeping Bear Dunes area two days in a row. I found a 4th instar basking on A.s. along the bike path next to the Dune Climb. No adults. This has always been my hotspot, where I have seen excellent monarch activity in years past. Some might recall my story about Big Boy, the old, worn patrolling male who chased off several other males in a milkweed patch adjacent to the Dune Climb parking lot last year. There were no patrolling males this year. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMmIa4fYpNYV7jsT6stiq8kTeaJQwvU-iKGRkAodmaFfo54S8Pc3Z-1saI1N6d9oQ?key=R01UdG4zakZiSEFkdGwyRmJJUGoxdG9mT3RhcVJB

I checked my other hotspots. I searched the lookout points 9&10 on the Pierce Stocking scenic drive, where I found a plump 5th instar last year. Nothing this year. https://www.facebook.com/candace.sarikonda.3/posts/1737370443200314?pnref=story and https://www.facebook.com/candace.sarikonda.3/posts/1737368389867186?pnref=story

My family patiently waited as I spent 1 1/2 hours checking the milkweed stands along the Lake MI shoreline, on either side of Old Mission Point lighthouse. I found a gorgeous crab spider. I found an egg sucked dry, most likely by a spider. I found a few early instar chew holes, but they were not fresh. The latex was long dried out, the plant getting leathery. Not one larvae, not one adult anywhere. Last year, there was a patrolling male and I quickly found two late instar larvae basking. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMu2HdHLJMQAYgwdufIr2IfYDqyFsz09ORnE9hRa12D5XGup79vpicgOjOg4oJkbg?key=d3k1VENGcnB0VUoxUi1KSUN5bUpNMllRMzk4dHln

Surprisingly, despite the lack of rain, there were plenty of stands of nice and healthy milkweed. Not much for nectar other than the milkweed, spotted knapweed is all over. Joe Pye is beginning to bloom, but plants are few and far between.

We drove home to Ohio on July 30, no adults seen. It was overcast and we experienced a light rain a few times as we neared central MI. Goldenrod is beginning to bloom.

I did not see an adult monarch this entire week-long trip. Not one. I am praying there are adults waiting to eclose any minute, or that the premigration is just a bit late and will move through any day now. Because what I saw this year is in such sharp contrast to what I and friends have seen in years past.

Very concerned.

Glen Arbor, MI

Latitude: 44.9 Longitude: -86

Observed by: candy
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