Date: 09/21/2021

Number: 120

Monarchs preparing to roost on yard tree. Monarchs preparing to roost on yard tree. The Monarchs seem to love this tree every year.

[Additional information contributed by observer, added by Journey North, 09/22/21]:
I only noticed the roost yesterday evening. They were possibly there in previous evenings and I didn’t notice them. But I have been hoping they would roost here again this year. I have seen monarchs here and there in our yard and pasture, but not in these numbers. We have a pasture neighboring the yard and roosting tree where we’ve let milkweed grow all summer. There are still milkweed in the pasture. We also have Weigela bushes still in bloom. Last night’s average overnight temperature was about 56 degrees. When I took the pictures on the evening of the 21st, the wind speed was about 5.4 mph, coming from the NW, it was 61 degrees and drizzling rain. (Bad light for photos.) We’ve had slightly over an inch of rain in the past 24 hours. The tree the monarchs seem to flock to each year is a very large white mulberry tree that has some bare branches they seem to really love. The tree is not much shielded from the wind (thus the branch damage.) We’re on the prairie at our farm. I tried to give an accurate estimate of the monarchs by counting a few clusters and then estimating the entire group scattered about the tree and in the air. They were moving or the light was so bad, I had a difficult time with a real count.

Farmer City, IL

Latitude: 40.3 Longitude: -88.6

Observed by: susan
Contact Observer

The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.