Date: 07/09/2020

Number: 24

Checked out two different nature "preserves" today. Standing Cedars had 4 monarchs that we spotted; Big Lake Farm had a couple of dozen, just fantastic, including one mating pair that I saw.
Not sure how two such wonderful acreages could be so different, but they were. Just luck maybe, although Big Lake Farm has a much better milkweed population, and it was peaking today.

I was at Big Lake Farm for about 45 minutes. The section I walked was part of a 10 acre section, but it ties in with a 20 acre piece……..and another 20 acres that is being newly developed with native plants for wildlife. The owner is doing some wonderful things there.
I actually “guestimated” my monarch numbers, so certainly I saw many repeats. Several of the monarchs were males and they cover a ton of ground, as you well know. In truth, I was giving some credit to the unwalked sections, but I do not doubt for a second that there were at least two dozen monarchs within the section. Last year I remember seeing ten or twelve mating pairs in the course of an hour or so on that same piece, and they were almost certainly distinct pairs. This time I didn’t catch all of the matings………..timing is everything.

The milkweed was peak so there was a lot of feeding going on, too, and if I walked through a new patch of milkweed I would almost always scare up another one or two.

Town of Alden, WI

Latitude: 45.3 Longitude: -92.5

Observed by: Pat
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