Date: 09/20/2019

Number: 500

Reporting Sept 23: Have been seeing many adult monarchs since Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. Today Sept. 23 my yard and trees are full of floating, fluttering, and resting monarchs. What a thrill!

I first noticed roosting monarchs in our yard at about 4:00 pm on Friday Sept. 20.

There is a 1-acre prairie restoration near the roosting area on our farm that has goldenrod and 2 kinds of asters blooming. Within 1/2 mile I have 6 acres of CRP in mostly tall grass & forbs, plus another 6 acres of 1-year-old pollinator planting. I also have Mexican sunflowers and zinnias planted in my yard. Otherwise row crops are grown nearby.

Overnight lows Sept. 20 & 21 were about 70, but it got down to 52 last night - Sept. 22. There was fog this morning.

The wind direction today when I took the photo was southerly at 10 mph or less. We received .70" of rain over the 21st and 22nd.

The Monarchs were shielded from the wind any time they wanted to be. We have evergreen and deciduous trees in windbreaks and scattered all over our home property.

I struggled to estimate the number of monarchs on our property. The largest clusters I saw had around 50-70 butterflies, and there were smaller clusters & single butterflies scattered throughout the acreage. I estimate there may have been 500 this afternoon (9/23) but there could have been more. There were fluttering butterflies visible in all directions when the wind was calm. Spectacular sight!

Perry, IA

Latitude: 41.9 Longitude: -94.2

Observed by: Colleen
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