Highlights: Heavy Weekend Traffic

Monarchs soared into Nebraska over the weekend and landed in Hastings, Lincoln, and Giltner, Nebraska on the very same night. Sunday night roosts appeared suddenly like this:

9/9/07 Giltner, NE
"What an incredible sight to witness. We became an airport with Monarchs flying in from every direction, landing in only one of our many ash trees. Twenty seven years living here on our acreage in Giltner, NE., and this has been our first of such a gathering."

9/9/07 Prairie City, IA
"I think the heavy weekend traffic was driven by a strong cold front and a letup in the rain," wrote Bob Woodward from Prairie City, Iowa, where he saw 403 monarchs in just 3 hours. "Both weekend days had heavy activity."

More Monarchs on the Way
Butterflies continue to pour down from the north. Peak migration conditions were reported at several "hawk watch" sites. On the north shore of Lake Erie people were astonished by the numbers:

9/11/07 Port Stanley, ON
"Ruby-throated Hummingbirds continue to zip through in small numbers. The real highlight today was the 100's if not 1000's of Monarchs that were taking shelter in the trees surrounding the hawk-watch. They were everywhere!! Between the Monarchs and the hundreds of large dragonflies it made spotting the birds very challenging at times."

Heading to Mexico!
It's remarkable to watch the monarchs move down the map. They're truly heading toward Mexico, by instinct alone! Students in Rochester, New York used the roost map to predict the monarchs' arrival. (See their answer to Challenge Question #2 below.) Here's an animation of the roost map for you to view: