Monarchs Gathering for Their Departure to Mexico in Late September
September 2019 Update
Monarchs Flocking for Flight to Mexico
Here in Frankfort, Illinois there were multiple sites where Monarchs congregated for the long autumn flight to Mexico. Apparently the butterflies flew in from various locations around September 21 and joined the staging for their sudden departure on September 23. We visited one such site and witnessed the flocking on about twenty five silver maple trees (very few flowers in the yard) at this rural homestead nestled between corn fields. The butterflies hung closely on the outer leaves of the trees and were almost invisible until they opened their wings. More that a few would fly from one tree to another to join another group. As we walked under the trees quite a few would flurry and fly around almost in a cloud.
Take a Closer Look
By the time we thought of making a movie, they had settled down quite a bit so our brief film clip doesn’t capture the big clouds of them flying from tree to tree.