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Report Your Sightings! |
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This Week's News:
- The Migration: Maps and Questions
- The Migration: Latest News
- News from the Monarch's Winter Home: English/Spanish
- Photo of the Week: Where do Arizona monarchs go for the winter?
- Slideshow: Where do Arizona monarchs go for the winter?
- Links: Monarch Resources to Explore
 Photo: Marceline Vandewater |
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Monarchs on the Move in Arkansas and Texas
"Look
UP! Skies have cleared and directional-flight monarchs are passing through
Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, this morning!" wrote Mary Kennedy on Wednesday.
The same day, an observer in Little Rock, Arkansas, reported the same change: "It has been so rainy here for a week but this afternoon the sun is breaking through. In the space of around 30 seconds, I spotted 48 monarchs."
Observers in Abilene, Texas, reported strong migration all week. Three different people reported the migration rates below. Convert them to "monarchs per hour" and notice how consistent these migration observations are:
- 200 monarchs in 15 minutes
- 20 monarchs in 1 minute
- 98 monarchs in 5 minutes
Curiously
Quiet in Northern Mexico
Why have there been so few reports from northern Mexico? "They're
only coming through in small numbers," says Rocio Treviño
whose network of volunteers tracks monarchs across Mexico's north. She
wonders, will the monarchs flood across the border in the coming week?
Are they taking a more westerly route this year, through the state of
Chihuahua? Columbus Day, October 12th, is the day she says the monarchs
traditionally arrive. Why are they late and what will happen next?
High
Migration Rates Continue Along Atlantic Coast
Large numbers of monarchs moved down the Atlantic Coast this
week. "Week
6 continued the upward trend in the number of monarchs seen on our Road
Census. Claire Iseton recorded 113 monarchs on the morning census on October
10," reports The Monarch
Monitoring Project in Cape May, New Jersey.
Observers along the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to Virginia reported monarchs in similar numbers. Suddenly, thousands of butterflies per hour were reported from Florida's Gulf Coast. Even before seeing the pictures we had clues the butterflies would not be monarchs. What clues do we look for? (Read on...)
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| Thousands
of butterflies per hour reported from Florida's Gulf Coast—but
are they monarchs? What clues do we look for? |
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Two monarchs were sighted in Angangueo, Estela Romero reports this week. Why does monarch scientist Dr. Lincoln Brower suspect these butterflies were local monarchs, not migrants from the north?
Maria
Estela Romero
reports from Angangueo.
Chris Kline was curious about migration patterns in Arizona. He explains, "It is well accepted that monarch butterflies east of the Rocky Mountains travel to the mountains near Mexico City during the winter. Monarchs west of the Rockies migrate to the coast of California. Since Arizona is south of the Rocky Mountains, where do monarchs go? Or, do they go anywhere at all?"
Cline founded the Southwest Monarch Study, and his Arizona team has uncovered fascinating new information. Recoveries of their tagged butterflies raise important questions about why monarchs migrate where they do.
- Migration Pathways: All Flights Cross Texas
- Slideshow: Where do Arizona monarchs go for the winter?
- Slideshow: Too Cold to Fly? The Effects of Temperature on Fall Migration
- Teaching Suggestions for Too Cold to Fly?
- Experiment: Warming Up to Fly: How Does Basking Warm a Butterfly?
- Slideshow: Butterfly Wings: What Can You Learn by Looking Closely?
- Slideshow: The Annual Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly
- Slideshow: The Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly (English/Spanish)
- Journey North for Kids: Monarch Butterfly Resources for Children
- Collecting Data: How to Monitor Fall Migration
- Observing Fall Habitat: How is Monarch Butterfly Habitat Changing?
- Encouraging Inquiry-based Research: Categorizing Questions
- More: Monarch lessons and teaching ideas
Monarch Butterfly Migration Updates Will be Posted on THURSDAYS: Aug. 27, Sep. 3, 10, 17, 24, Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, Nov. 5...or until the monarchs reach Mexico!
The Next Monarch Migration Update Will Be Posted on October 22, 2009.
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