Date: 09/25/2021

Number: 182

From about 5:20pm EST until about 6:45, I counted a total of 182 Monarch Butterflies going over my back yard! I couldn't believe it! At one time-only about 20 in a group. They were going south-southwest. On a mission.

[Additional information contributed by observer, added by Journey North, 09/28/21]:

I didn’t go outside my house until about 5:20pm EST to do yard work Saturday, Sept 25th. It was so beautiful out here in Dayton, OH. About 77 degrees and clear and not much wind. I looked up and saw 4 monarch butterflies above my house. I had never seen that many in one place before. Then, as I was watching them fly away-towards the south, southwest, 2 more followed. Then a few minutes later about 3 more came along. I kept going outside to look until about 6:45pm and counted a total of 182! They were all flying the same path. At one time-I saw about 20 in one group-that made it hard to count and I probably under estimated because I didn’t want to over count. Most were flying separately. When 2 would fly close to each other, they would circle each other, fly around together a few times, then continue flying towards the same direction as the others. I live close to the Great Miami River in Dayton, Ohio. My house is about 1/3 of a mile away. The River is to the north of me and makes a curve then it’s also to the west of me. I have a woods behind my house. This is a residential area with houses all around except for the woods behind my house and the 9 houses on my street. I have a butterfly feeder hanging in my yard-but, none stopped there. The next morning-from about 10 am-1pm, I only counted about 17 monarch butterflies. One stopped on a bush in the woods about 50 feet from my house and stayed there for a few minutes. That was the only one out of those 2 days I saw land. They were all flying over my house in the same flight path.

Dayton, OH

Latitude: 39.7 Longitude: -84.3

Observed by: Dodie
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