Date: 08/23/2017

Number: 149

This is the best August that I have had in 8 years of record keeping! Today the first cold front came through with the wind NW at 13-18 mph. So, I decided to go to the beach at Lake Huron at Harrisville State Park at 11 AM. The temperature was 63F., and mostly sunny. I knew it was going to be a great day for migrating monarchs as I saw many on the beach. I sat on my favorite bench and watch the monarchs heading south down the shoreline until 5PM. Most of the monarchs were seen flying upwards of 30' above the ground. At 4:45 PM, I walked the beach northward and counted more on the beach and flowers on the edge. I recorded 144 at the beach area and 5 more within the park on the way out for a total of 149 monarchs. The best August before this year was in 2010 when I counted 8 on August 26. The best August for the whole month was 40 in 2015. What a difference!

Harrisville, MI

Latitude: 44.6 Longitude: -83.3

Observed by: Frank
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