Date: 09/02/2001

Number: 1

Over three days of visits to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, Iowa, east of Des Moines, I estimate I have seen more than 1,000 monarchs concentrated in several areas where the tickseed sunflowers are growing in mass. Amazing sights. The refuge also includes stands of thistles, goldenrod, Maximilian's sunflowers, compass plant, and Jerusalem artichoke--to name a few other plants, but the tickseeds are by far the favorites these days. The aim of the refuge is to restore the tallgrass prairie on more than 8,000 acres in central Iowa, and the hundreds of monarchs are loving the location. Given the overall size of the refuge, there seems little doubt that hundreds more monarchs are going uncounted each day!

Prairie City, IA

Latitude: 41.6 Longitude: -93.3

Observed by: Robert
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