Keep your eye out

Thanks to Cassie M. for her photos of a roost near Lone Tree, Iowa

We are nearing peak migration, which is mid-September, for monarch butterflies traveling south through Iowa toward Mexico.  Monarch butterflies only migrate during the day. They come down at night and gather in clusters. A cluster of butterflies is called a roost or a bivouac.

Read more at Journey North - Why Do Monarchs Form Overnight Roosts During Fall Migration?

There have been several roosts of monarch butterflies posted in our group. 

 - At the Monona Butterfly Gardens in Monona, Iowa, Clayton County.

-  In West Des Moines, IA

 - Southeast of Lone Tree, IA

100s of monarchs were seen in a field that was being mowed in Ames, IA

 9/14 - hundreds of monarchs observed in a roost in Pella, IA

 Keep your eye out for monarch butterfly roosts in the early evening. You might get lucky!