Date: 05/03/2021

Number: 10

Today I observed more monarchs than I had in quite some time ~ at least 10 individuals. It was a very warm day (80's), very windy, partly cloudy, with humidity in the 60% range. The monarchs were a mix of a few young bright-winged, a few very faded & tattery-winged, and those in-between. I saw a couple of females, but believe most were males. I observed many of them as they were nectaring. The nectar sources were flowering milkweed, self-heal flowers, tall prairie plantains, and roughleaf dogwood tree flowers (now in bloom).

There were a few air tussles regarding the prairie plantains, but nothing serious. At one point in the afternoon I stood (pretending to be a tall plantain) and watched six monarchs nectaring on a large area with about thirty-five prairie plantain plants scattered about. There were more monarchs in another meadow, which also has blooming prairie plantains. It was wonderful to see so many monarchs here.

This is a photo (early evening) of one of the faded-winged monarchs I saw today. I think he was the most frail-looking of all. But he flew fast and well when he chose ~ that nectar keeps one in good health!

Montgomery, TX

Latitude: 30.4 Longitude: -95.8

Observed by: Kathy
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