Under similar weather conditions and about the same time of day as Sept 6, 2003 when we found some clusters, we did not find any this year although we did count about 20 monarchs flittering among the pine trees and roosting singly. It was likely too early in the migration but it was good to see that some were present in the area.

One of the resons for going earlier was to confirm the presence of nearby nectar plants. The steeplebush that was past blooming last year was still in bloom this year and very abundant - likely due to a wet year. We already knew other criteria for roost sites - good protection from weather in pine trees nestled among dunes and the proximity of the higest point inthe area - a dune. Also the Lake Michigan shoreline concentrates migrating monarchs.

We hope to survey another area of similar habitat at about lat 42 in the next week or two when we have another wind out of the south and see if we can find another roosting area.