Interesting. I feel like I have seen a lot more Monarch this year here in Houston. Maybe they're taking the long route?
You could be right. An estimated 180 million flew through Texas this year, twice as many as last year due to good weather up north. There were some efforts to make Austin a rest stop by planting milk weed in parklands. Anecdotally, saw big migrating swarms when driving on 290 on my way towards Junction.