Date: 09/24/2021

Number: 169

Finally! The first wave of monarchs for September were seen heading south down the beach at Harrisville State Park along the Lake Huron shoreline. I counted, with the help of Larry, Ellie (DNR), and a couple of campers, 169 monarchs flying 1' to 40' above the ground. I thought this was a good number because of the rain and drizzle the last two days. The temperatures were steady in the mid-50's F., and the wind was up to 27 mph from the ENE. This morning was cloudy and 56 degrees before the sky went mostly sunny at 12:45 PM. This is when the first monarch was counted. The Wind was WSW-8 mph with the Temperature topping out at 66F. Here are the hour by hour counts in 15 minute segments:
12-1 PM- 0 0 0 2 = 2
1-2 PM- 8 11 10 6 = 35
2-3 PM- 9 10 6 11 = 36
3-4 PM- 8 7 12 9 = 36
4-5 PM- 10 11 10 13 = 44
5-6 PM- 11 4 1 0 = 16
Total: 169
I was also able to net and tag one female monarch (ACWM-414), and 4 male monarchs (ACWM-415 to ACWM-418). I also looked up my records that I have kept since 2010, and found out that the latest first wave of monarchs in September was on the 27th in 2017 with 813 monarchs!

Harrisville, MI

Latitude: 44.6 Longitude: -83.3

Observed by: Frank
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