Date: 09/23/2021

Number: 30

So excited to see many (not sure of the number) Monarchs gathering to roost in an old shag bark hickory tree by our house just before dark. They were landing on branches on the south east side of the tree.

[Additional information contributed by observer, added by Journey North, 09/24/21]:

I noticed them roosting for the first time yesterday. During the day I had spotted more monarchs flying around in the hayfield and in the edge of the woods than I normally do so I was on the lookout for them in the evening to see where they went. Luckily they roosted in a tree near our house.
We live at the edge of woods that has fall flowers blooming in it along with natural wild flowers blooming along the edge of the gravel road that runs in front of our property. We also have an organic vegetable garden with flowers and lots of milkweed (over 100 plants) in it along with organic raised flower beds. We have a 2 acre hayfield that has lots of purple clover in it that the monarchs have been visiting all day. In addition we have 12 acres in a pollinator program with seeds selected with the monarchs being one of our inspirations in planting it.
Our overnight temperature was to be in the lower 50's to upper 40's last night. Tonight's temperature is supposed to be 46. The wind was calm last night and is also tonight. It was breezy and sunny today with highs in the mid 70's. Beautiful!
The shagbark hickory tree is on the south edge of the woods and is shielded from a north wind but there was little wind last night. This morning it was calm until about 11 and most of the monarchs had already taken flight.
As I stated, I'm not sure about the number of butterflies but I would see 8-10 fly around and then land on the branch and others seemed to take flight again. I also could see wings flapping but didn't estimate it to be a tremendous amount. (Several years ago we had a large amount of monarchs roost on the west side of the woods for two nights) So I just took a guess as to how many were here last night. They were too far up to see clearly or to take a picture.
I was outside most of the day and saw 4-5 butterflies almost all day long. They would fly off and then I would see others. Sometimes together and sometimes alone. Most were flying toward the west/southwest.
I hope this information is helpful. My husband and I are retired elementary teachers and always did extensive lessons on monarchs in our classrooms. Many years we would rear 30-40 monarchs in aquariums in the classroom. We began growing our own milkweed to ensure no chemicals had been sprayed on our caterpillars or their food. Our local 4-H educator would purchase tags and our students were excited to be a part of the Monarch Watch program.

Clinton, IN

Latitude: 39.7 Longitude: -87.5

Observed by: Christy
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