Date: 08/09/2019

Number: 7

My family travelled to South Bass island for the day to monitor monarchs and see if the premigration had arrived. It was awesome! Monarchs were all over the island, we literally had to swerve to miss them as we drove our golf cart down island main roads.

We started at the State Park, doing MLMP. Maya and I found several eggs, larvae and 1 adult, after having not seen anything at this location all summer until now. We enjoyed seeing ants farming aphids, and a 5th instar monarch and a tussock moth caterpillar feeding together on the same common milkweed leaf. The monarch 5th instar had chewed the leaf petiole to cut off the latex, and both caterpillars were enjoying the leaf. Two campers joined us to see what we were doing, and we had an impromptu monarch lesson for them. We also ended up doing an impromptu lesson on the Lake Erie water snake for a family who encountered a snake sunning itself on the rocks--they were quite fearful of it at first but our lesson helped them understand its nature and allayed their fears.

State Park milkweed patch data:
72-75F, winds light from the West 10am-10:45am checked the 5 plants we could reach
3 eggs, 2 2nds on 1 plant
1 tussock, 1 5th, 1 egg on 1 plant
1 5th, 1 egg, 1 2nd on 1 plant
1 2nd, 1 tussock, 2 eggs on 1 plant
2 eggs on 1 plant
1 adult

We then drove to East Point preserve. On the way, from 10:50 to 11:10am, we saw 6 monarch adults in a 1.2 mile stretch from the State Park to Perry's monument. 80F, winds picking up to West at 10mph; 1 monarch headed SW in directional flight flew up the windshield of our golf cart as we drove down Langram Rd.

11:15am 2 more adults on drive to East Point

1pm 1 adult nectaring in garden by Goat Tavern as we had lunch

3pm We went to the lighthouse grounds, and saw 4 adults on the perimeter of the sunflower field and 2 in the Waystation garden in 10 minutes. 2 more near roosting location on lighthouse grounds trying to take cover from increasing west wind--Jackie Taylor was netting monarchs in the Waystation garden for her Kelley's island monarch program; winds were light in the sunflower field on the leeward side of the tree line, but 10-14mph near the island's tip by the lighthouse.



We returned to the lighthouse grounds 6:30-7pm to look for roosts.  We found seven monarchs roosting on the leeward side of the tree line, 2 were a mated pair resting in a hackberry tree by themselves; 5 tried to form a cluster together but males repeatedly broke it up by fighting with each other over females; there were 3 adults nectaring in the sunflower field, the patrolling male there repeatedly attempted to intercept a nectaring female near the lone milkweed clone in the field; 3 adults in the Waystation garden at the lighthouse, a male was repeatedly pursuing a heavily worn female by bopping her repeatedly from above and trying to pounce on her as she nectared, while the other lone monarch made a beeline over the cliff edge out of sight headed south. It may have headed out over the lake but I couldn't see over the brush from where I was. 80F with 7mph W winds with gusts up to 14 mph, sunny

Ice ramp milkweed patch: checked briefly from 7:05-7:15pm
5 eggs on 1 stem, I did not have time to check any more milkweed but snapped a few photos of the patch.

The premigration has clearly arrived to the island!

Photos here https://www.flickr.com/photos/candy__kasey/albums/72157710218058996

Put In Bay, OH

Latitude: 41.6 Longitude: -82.8

Observed by: candy
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