Date: 09/11/2020

Number: 100

(zoom in on photos)

WEATHER on 09/11/2020 about 5-6pm CST:
Temp: 68F
Wind: ENE at 13mph
Precip (past 24 hrs): 0.16in
DewPt: 58.03
(Weather Underground Historical Data)

OBSERVATIONS: Photo taken on 11 Sep 2020, and is only a small detail of a tree in which there were monarch roosts. There were 100+ monarchs in the area - too many monarchs to count! They were roosting in nearly every tree in a small grove located in the northwest corner of Maggie Daley park in Chicago, Illinois.

I first began seeing multitudes of monarchs flying high above the tall condo buildings in Streeterville/MagMile/River North area the early evening of Wednesday, 09 Sep 2020. It had been raining, yet the monarchs still flew by.

On Thursday morning, on my way to work, I saw them again in the same neighborhood. They dissipated from the skies during the day, but again Thursday evening, 10 Sep 2020, they came again - I could see them flying outside my 20th FL office window in Streeterville. It was an incredible sight - one that I had not seen in this neighborhood since the first week or so of September 2017.

There were a few stragglers left in the sky on Friday, 11 Sep 2020, but they were mostly gone from the airspace outside my office window. After work, I thought that perhaps I might see a few nectaring at Lurie Garden. On my way, I noticed several monarchs flying above the trees in said corner of Maggie Daley Park, so I walked around to the backside of the trees, and I could not believe my eyes! I'd only seen pictures of such roosts - but never before seen them personally. It was the most spectacular and awe-inspiring sight.

11 Sep 2020 and 12 Sep 2020 were rainy. I returned Saturday, and the roosts were still there. It was raining hard and extremely overcast. I found several other trees throughout the park with large roosts. The roosts were still there 12 Sep 2020 evening.

13 Sep 2020 was the first sunny, warm, clear day in nearly a week. I went back to the park early between 7-8:45am and the park was alive with monarch butterflies flying around, many basking on the trees, on the pavement, and on the grass. The air was filled with monarchs flying fairly low.

I noticed that many monarchs would fly low, and then "park" themselves like an airplane on tarmac -- and they were all facing SW. It was uncanny how they were oriented to the same direction. They all parked the same way.

I returned the same hour on Monday, 14 Sep 2020, and there was not a single monarch to be seen. Their complete departure was as striking as their wonderful presence. I'm guessing they may have all departed that sunny Sunday.

I would like to note that this year, I saw extremely few monarchs in Chicago during the May-August months were I used to find many. The first adult monarch I saw was on 24 May 2020 in Lincoln Park. There was no milkweed planted along Upper Wacker. Last year, there was milkweed in the planters, and numerous chrysalises etc.

Also, the oval outside Lincoln Park Conservatory was replete with nectaring plants last year. This year, probably due to the pandemic and the mayor leaving parks closed for so long, no flowers had been planted there.

Chicago, IL

Latitude: 41.9 Longitude: -87.6

Observed by: Jeanette
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