MONARCH BUTTERFLY COUNT SPRING, 2020
Spring counts are conducted April 30th to May 31st. This year was the best spring count for monarchs since record keeping began in 2010. The sightings are listed below for each of these seasons.
Year Number counted
2010 0
2011 2
2012 6
2013 0
2014 1
2015 1
2016 0
2017 1
2018 3
2019 1
2020 8
Spring counts are conducted April 30th to May 31st. This year was the best spring count for monarchs since record keeping began in 2010. The sightings are listed below for each of these seasons.
Year Number counted
2010 0
2011 2
2012 6
2013 0
2014 1
2015 1
2016 0
2017 1
2018 3
2019 1
2020 8
MONARCH BUTTERFLY COUNT SUMMER, 2020
Summer counts are conducted June 1st to August 14th. I record monarchs on about 200 acres of habitat in and around Harrisville at least every other day. Last year was the best summer for monarchs in numbers since record keeping began in 2010. The sightings are listed below for each of these seasons.
Year Number counted Notes
2010 4 Cool summer. 96 million monarchs in Mexico.
2011 1 Warm summer. 201 million monarchs in Mexico.
2012 1 Drought beginning. 145 million monarchs in Mexico.
2013 4 Drought year. 60 million monarchs in Mexico.
2014 35 Conditions improving. 34 million monarchs in Mexico.
2015 28 Most drought in eastern US ended. 57 million monarchs in Mexico.
2016 6 Cool Spring and very wet summer. 201 million monarch in Mexico.
2017 60 Very good weather conditions across eastern US. 146 million monarchs in Mexico.
2018 158 Excellent weather throughout the south for egg laying.
124 million monarchs in Mexico.
2019 253 Another excellent weather throughout the southern states.
302 million monarchs in Mexico.
2020 164 Good weather in Mexico. Monarchs leaving one month early. 151 million monarchs in Mexico. Additional note: Some monarchs entered Mexico on September 26th, which is five weeks earlier than normal.
FALL MIGRATION 2020
Generally, monarch migration begins with directional flights on August 15th in the Harrisville area, although one was observed high overhead on August 11, 2015. Most migrate in a southwesterly direction on northwest winds.
No new records were set for August since record keeping began in 2010. The one hour count still stands at 149 set August 22, 2018. This year it was 55 on August 30. The one day count still stands at 1,016 set August 22, 2018. This year it was 409 on August 30. The two day count still stands at 417 set August 30-31, 2019. This year it was 411 on August 29-30. The seven day count still stands at 470 set August 24-30, 2019. This year it was 467 on August 23-29. And finally, the one month count still stands at 1,524 set in 2018. This year it was 490. It looks like we may be down in the population of monarchs this year with September and October to be counted.
FALL SEPTEMBER MIGRATION 2020
No new records were set since record keeping began in 2010 in and around the town of Harrisville. The one hour count still stands at 336 on September 26, 2019. This year it was 129 on September 07. The one day count still stands at 1,301 on September 26, 2019. This year it was 359 on September 7th. The two day count still stands at 1,129 set on September 27-28, 2017. This year it was 361 on September 06-07. The seven day count still stands at 2,843 on September 22-28, 2019. This year it was 413 on September 01-07. Finally, the September count still stands at 3,892 set in 2019. This year it was 590. So far this year, the monarch population is down 76% from last year with the October monarchs still to be counted.
FALL OCTOBER MIGRATION 2020
No new records were set since 2010 for October migration in and around the town of Harrisville. The one hour count still stands at 55 set in 2011. This year it was 8 on October 01. The one day count still stands at 286 set in 2011. This year it was 17 on October 01. The the two day count still stands at 497 set on October 6-7, 2019. This year is was 9 on October 6-7. A seven day count still stands at 596 set on October 01-07, 2019. This year it was 26 on October 01-07. The latest high number of monarchs in October still stands at 12 on October 20, 2019. This year it was 5 on October 06. Finally, the record of 645 monarchs that were counted for the month of October, 2019, still stands. This year it was 41.
FALL NOVEMBER MIGRATION 2020
The one hour count stands at 2 from 1:05-1:20 PM on November 04, 2015. The one day count stands at 2 on the same date. The two day count stands at 3 on November 03-04, 2015. The seven day count stands at 3 on November 01-07, 2015. The month of November count stands at 3 set in 2015. And finally, other participants observed one monarch each on November 08, and November 28, 2017 (this could be the latest monarch ever recorded in Michigan). I also observed a monarch on November 02, and November 03, 2011. This gives a total of 7 monarchs counted in November since record keeping began in 2010.
SEASON SUMMARY
First monarch observed in Harrisville was on May 26th. Last wild monarch observed in Harrisville was on October 13th. Last reared monarch tagged and released was on October 28th. Total for the year was 1,263 monarchs counted. Last year, from April 30th to October 28th, 2019, monarchs counted came out to 5,283. This record still stands since record keeping began in 2010. The last four years have had over 1,000 monarchs observed. Otherwise, the average had been 556 a year. My 11 year total has reached 15,196 monarchs counted for the Harrisville area!