Date: 10/08/2020

Number: 100

Hundreds of monarchs in and around oak trees in Eden City Park playground area just west of town. Clusters of butterflies perched on branches and many flying around the trees. Would estimate well over 100

We were traveling through Eden on our way to San Angelo and only happened to stop at the city park for a lunch break. It was about 12:30 pm and we stayed about a half hour.

Unfortunately I can’t speak to when the roost formed, because we were only their briefly. Roosting is a good description of what I saw though. I had to look twice before I realized they were butterflies, not leaves. Some were flying small distances around the trees, and many were perched on branches.

I didn’t want to overestimate or exaggerate the number of butterflies so I said 100 as a very conservative estimate. I could easily see there were a couple of dozen in each of the tall oak trees near me. Across the playground there were more trees and I could see butterflies flying in little flocks and settling back into the trees. Honestly, after looking more closely at my pictures and factoring in all the other trees in the park I could see the number being more like 400-500.

I’m not sure about nectar sources. I didn’t notice flowers in the park but there were open fields to the east of the park playground area. The park is on the edge of town in a plains area with grasses, I think some scrub oaks and sage, and some farming and/or ranching.

It was a shady area on a hot day, with a little breeze. The trees, playground equipment, and buildings around the park would have offered some shelter from the wind. The park was much more shady and cool than the surrounding area.

https://youtu.be/CRBbrvZUhdE

See video of
Eden City Park Monarch Roost, Oct 8, 2020 on Journey North YouTube Channel.

Eden, TX

Latitude: 31.2 Longitude: -99.8

Observed by: De
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