Date: 09/07/2022

Number: 75

They were too numerous to count. They were feeding on boneset plants in a prairie setting next to the Missouri River. I don't know for sure that this is peak migration but it is the leading edge of a wave of Monarchs.

[Additional information contributed by observer, added by Journey North, 09/08/2022]:

As far as yesterday 9/7 goes, the following conditions are noted. The weather data was from Weatherbug. South winds at 10 mph. It was sunny and the temperature was 81 degrees. What you see on the video is Missouri River floodplain with lots of dead trees due to a severe and prolonged flood from 2019. There are some live trees. Lots of tall grass with large areas of Tall Boneset and some goldenrod. The monarchs were only feeding on the Boneset. We saw no monarchs on the goldenrod. Our time of observation was 6:15 p.m. CDT to 7:00 p.m. The monarchs were busily feeding and would only move if we moved through the grassy area. They were mostly at 5 to 5 1/2 feet off the ground as that is how high the boneset blossoms were. We tried to count together as best we could and just gave up after a count of 75.

Council Bluffs, IA

Latitude: 41.2 Longitude: -95.9

Observed by: George
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