Date: 08/28/2019

Number: 182

7:15pm I walked back to the park to see if the 50 or so monarchs who were sitting on the sumac and pine trees earlier today were still there. I counted 182 and there were many more coming in for the evening. My neighbor noted that they were all facing west and that maybe this was so they could open their wings to the sun rising in the East in the morning. Most of them were sitting really low. I was surprised to see them 5 to 6 feet from the ground. They were in small groups on sumac, oak trees, pine tree and some kind of shrub, all along the bluff above the Mississippi river.

Editor's note: contacted observer for more details on this sighting

Observer's response:
I first noticed the roost on the afternoon of August 28th.

There are numerous nectar sources nearby including a prairie planting in the park, along the bluff just a couple hundred feet from the roost. There are lots of golden rod blooming and different types of yellow cone flowers and other yellow daisy like flowers, however, there are few monarchs on these plants. My neighborhood across from the park covering about a 4 by 5 block area is loaded with gardens in the yard and on boulevards and there are many milkweed plants and fall nectar plants that monarchs favor. My neighbor had 75 to a 100 monarchs on her blazing star and Mexican sun flower just a couple of days ago.

The over night temperature was 54 degrees last night and 57 degrees the night before.

The wind the last three days has been W 15-18 MPH with gusts to 28 miles per hour. The monarchs roost was sheltered from the wind. They were located on shrubs on the inside edge of the bluff, on the grassy side of the park. Backing the shrubs was a whole forest of trees going down the bluff to the Mississippi river.. You approached the roost across grass up an incline and into a slightly bowed area and you could feel the wind die away.

Saint Paul, MN

Latitude: 44.9 Longitude: -93.1

Observed by: Linda
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