Date: 09/08/2024

Number: 107

Only was able to send a picture from my camera phone. Participated in a Monarch hike with Point Pelee staff. The group found clusters in three separate trees: one in an Oak tree across the road from Sparrow Field; one in a Mulberry tree just over tip washrooms and one in a Hackberry tree just south of tip washrooms. All roosts located on the east side of the trees near the top; ideally situated for first rays of sunshine in the morning. Each cluster held just over 30 individuals each. Roosts grew slowly and kept growing right up until sunset at approximately 19:51; stunning the visitors as they flashed their wings when a new one added itself to the roost. There were a few singles that I located after my arrival at approximately 16:30 hours. The ones pictured are on a denuded Wild Grapevine hanging over the tip road just north of where the shuttle parks. Watched one individual settle in a Mulberry tree on the East Beach and another individual settle just inside the forest off the East Beach, curiously on a tree trunk. Both located between the tip and the 42nd parallel. The singles that I found settled in early, around 18:00. It was a beautiful summer day with a moderate West wind and mostly sunny conditions all day. I had been seeing Monarchs all day long go through my yard elsewhere in Essex County, so I thought it might be a nice day to head out to Point Pelee. It was nice to be rewarded with some roosts. Prior to the roosts settling in, I saw no monarchs flying off the end of the tip tip. I suspect that the ones that roosted may have been aloft in the high-pressure system.

Environment Canada weather for Point Pelee at 18:00: temperature 21°C with a humidex of 22°C, relative humidity 43%; dewpoint at 8°C; barometric pressure at 101.8 kPa. They do not report wind conditions so the nearest reporting station is Harrow AFC: at 17:00: WNW 16km/h gusting to 28 km/h
(I chose the 17:00 report as it indicated the gusts which were present most of the day.)

Leamington, ON

Latitude: 41.9 Longitude: -82.5

Observed by: Laura
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