Date: 09/10/2021

Number: 34

quite surprised to see lots of monarchs today, appears to be an overnight roost but all are in small numbers 3 to 5 or so in a cluster. All look very boldly colored, smaller in size. silver maple trees, spruce, birch, ash all seem to work. Small water pond, sweet autumn clematis, very large 4 plants. Asclepias, butterfly weed, orange, not blooming though, season over. Veggie garden, phlox, common milkweed. corn and soybean fields.

[Additional information contributed by observer, added by Journey North, 09/19/21]:

10 65 degrees and 7mph
11th 65 and 13 mph
12th 58 and 20mph
13th 62 and 8
14th 59 and 14mph
15th, 53 and 16mph
16th 51 and 20
17th 61 and 25
I did count 2 on Thursday morning , 15th to the 16th but did not add them on sighting due to there only being 2. x 12

The roosts form later in the evening, they start coming in around 5:30 p.m. and until after sunset, dusk. I have not been seeing many during the day for a few days now, starting around the 15th, Will notice them flying in the yard of and on all day, then later they start landing to stay. I had no idea they would stay for more than a day, always figured they flew off. The first few days they were small and very bright, I thought maybe I just had a group that recently became butterflies, the nest day they seemed larger so I figured they were a new bunch. I am still hoping to get a large group in.
They are very shielded from the wind here. I have a small water pond, about 10' by 12' that is well established and they seem to stay in the trees around the pond. I have a variety of trees here, I have seen them in the ash trees, the cinnamon bark birch, redbud, red cedar, white oak, black spruce, ornamental plum, kuosa dogwood, (mostly bare, killed back by freeze this year) and the over planted maple that everyone calls a silver maple, but it is not the one with the white fuzz on the leaves, Norway maple also. Peach trees, apple trees, crab apple trees, ornamental cherry, mulberry, are other trees on the 1 acre plot, I am surrounded by crop fields, corn, soybean. the area they shelter in is the northwest corner of my property mainly.
I am 5 miles south of where the map pin points me. There is another neighbor the gets them regularly that is 9 miles west of me on the same road and one that is 4 miles east and 3 miles south also that reports roosting, but they don't count unfortunately. I count by trying to count the little groupings after landing. I start at the south west side of my yard and move along to the north west corner and then out around our tree line on those sides as that is where I have always seen them. And yes, I do get chewed up by the mosquitoes, but it is worth it.
I have various nectar sources, but is seems they start arriving after the sweet autumn clematis start blooming, I have 4 large plants, I also have butterfly weed, asclepias, but question why as it is never blooming when the monarchs get here. I have lantana as an annual, Garden phlox, white sage, common milkweed, day lilies, a veggie garden, sunflowers

I attached a photo of the particular area they like to stay, to the left is the water pond and the right side of the photo is on the north. the corn in the back is on the west side.

Cedar Bluffs, NE

Latitude: 41.4 Longitude: -96.6

Observed by: Jan
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