Monarch Butterfly Migration Update: October 8, 2004
- Highlights From the Migration Trail
- Migration Plows into Texas with Cold Fronts
- Enthusiasm High Even Though Numbers Low
- Georgia Students Offer "Migration Awareness" Posters
- How High Were the Monarchs Flying? Challenge Question #9
- How High Do Monarchs Fly During Fall Migration?
- How High Can You SEE a Monarch? Dr. Brower’s Experiment
- High Flying Butterflies Best Seen With Binoculars
- Up, Up and Away: How High Do Birds and Butterflies Fly?
- Watching and Waiting at the Over-wintering Sanctuaries
- Reminder: Symbolic Migration Deadline Oct 15
Highlights From the Migration Trail
The migration plowed across Oklahoma and into Texas during the last week, with several successive cold fronts. “Monarchs had been filtering in for a few days before, but came en masse before the front hit here on Tuesday (Oct 5th)," said an observer in Tuscola, Texas. She snapped these photos of the trees outside her house yesterday morning.
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| Monarchs resting in Tuscola, Texas on their way to Mexico. | ||
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| Peak
Migration Sightings |
Sightings of Overnight Roosts |
In the East, the slow migration persists and the missing monarchs disappoint observers. "Where are they?" people repeat as they submit their reports to our database. The annual count at Cape May, New Jersey, continues to document the slowest migration in 14 years. The graph to the right compares the pace of the migration from 1992 through 2004 (as of Week #4 each year). For
more information see the Cape
May Monarch Monitoring Project Website. |
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Enthusiasm High Even Though Numbers Low
"First reliable playground report," came the news from McClean, Virginia. "Monarch heading south, temperature 76.9 F with 5 mph winds. Yahoo!"
Bowie, Maryland students saw migrating monarchs while they were at recess; in Diamond, Ohio kids saw the insect Olympians while they were outside at physical education class; in Downsville, New York they flew over a soccer game; in Athens, Georgia monarchs went by while the kids were at recess, at home, and traveling around town. One monarch was seen as it cruised over the playground at Armuchee Elementary in Rome, Georgia. Another was seen in Missouri at Lake of the Ozarks, visiting one of the bushes at Mills Lower Elementary School. Monarchs were seen all across town in Charlotte, North Carolina. A kindergarten and 1st grade class in Wichita, Kansas saw 34 monarchs in 10 minutes! From San Angelo, Texas came the news from the school guard, "I was doing patrol and I saw a few fly by me."
Georgia Students Offer "Migration Awareness" Posters
"We are going to send posters to Journey North schools encouraging people to report monarchs to Journey North. Email us if you want a poster!!" offered the Discovery Kids in Demorest, Georgia. Here’s where to write for one: cwight@habersham.k12.ga.us
How High Were the Monarchs Flying? Challenge Question #9
"I observed a total of 31 monarchs today between 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. from the fifth floor of a building in downtown Chickasha," reported Glenda Crump on Tuesday. "All were traveling south. Most of them were flying by themselves. I was surprised that they were up so high in the air!" she exclaimed.
Challenge Question #9
"How high were the monarchs flying in downtown Chickasha, Oklahoma? Give your answer in feet and in meters?" (Clue: How high is one floor of a typical office building?)
(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)
How High Do Monarchs Fly During Fall Migration?
Do monarchs fly as high as the clouds? Do they fly higher than the naked eye can see? Dr. Calvert responds and suggests an experiment to answer that final question. The highest monarch ever observed was seen by a glider pilot at 11,000 feet!
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How High Can You SEE a Monarch? Dr. Brower’s Flight Height Experiment
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| Dr. Lincoln Brower has studied monarch butterflies for over 40 years. |
High Flying Butterflies Best Seen With Binoculars
By Elizabeth Howard
Don't forget your binoculars the next time you go out to see the migration! Dr. Brower estimates butterflies vanish from sight by the naked eye when they're 200 feet high. I discovered a massive migration one day in Minnesota. If hadn’t had my binoculars I would have missed it.
Up, Up and Away: How High Do Birds and Butterflies Fly?
Do migrating monarchs fly higher than the Statue of Liberty or the world’s tallest tree? How about hot air balloons, gliders or passenger jets? To put monarch flight-height into perspective, we’ve listed the height of various familiar things below. Make a model on a high wall, from earth to sky. Draw everything to scale. (You can practice converting measurements from English to Metric units, too.)
Watching and Waiting at the Over-wintering Sanctuaries
No monarchs yet, reports Estela Romero. Her town of Angangueo is also waiting for election results announcing the town’s new president. Jobs are always a big concern in this part of Mexico. Estela believes the recent push toward carpentry appears to have flooded the market now. "I think it would be very good to find other options to make a living in Angangueo besides carpentry, since this means also wood cutting in the end," she says in her report this week.
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| Small mills and carpentry businesses, shown in these pictures, are a common sight in Angangueo. | ||
Only 7 more butterfly-making days before the Symbolic Migration deadline. Don't be late! Butterflies received after the postmarked deadline cannot migrate.
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1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-monarch@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of the message write: Challenge Question #9
3. In the body of the message, answer the question above.
The Next Monarch Migration Update Will Be Posted on October 15, 2004.
Copyright
2004 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments,
and suggestions to jn-help@learner.org
