Monarch Migration Observations from Texas October 3, 2000 Contributed by Dr. Bill Calvert There now seems to be something of a lull in the migration. Early last week a strong cold front brought lots monarchs down and exciting reports. North winds and high pressure remained in place during the week, only weakening over the weekend. Monarchs moved slowly through and never seemed to bunch up as they do when south winds prevail. Reports from the north indicate that more are to come. There is not much nectar for them in Texas. Can you find the weather systems Dr. Calvert describes on these maps? Link to Weather Map Archives On Sunday we drove a transect on from Austin to Tarpley, longitude 97.7 to 99.3 degs- about 145 road miles. We stopped periodically to check for the presence of monarchs at water courses spaced about 20 miles apart in this order: Blanco River, two places on the Guadalupe River, Cibolo Creek, Medina River and Hondo Creek. No monarchs were seen until just short of Bandera, longitude 97.5. In this part of the migration, still early, it appears that they are concentrated in the western part of the Edwards Plateau. Densities seem related to the presence of nectar (of course). The Medina River bottom had a dense, healthy stand of frostweed (Verbesina virginica).Most of the watersheds had decrepit frostweed that was dried up and dwarfed. Along the upper portions of these watersheds and under oak motts in the uplands, the frostweed appeared to be dead. Only a few healthy plants were found on the banks adjacent to the water. If the frostweed is truly dead, roots and all, it will portend badly for the next several seasons as it may take some time for the frostweed to reestablish itself! At the Medina River we managed to collect 97 monarchs. Copyright 2000 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form