Thanks to Susan Meyers and Kim Baily of "Monarchs Across Georgia" for sending this report directly from Mexico. They are leading a trip for teachers and visited two monarch sanctuaries this week, Cerro Pelon and and Piedra Herrada.
What did they see? Necataring, basking, flying, streaming, clustering, and mating. Conditions were dusty, dry, sunny and clear...
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Contributed
by Susan Meyers and Kim Bailey
Monarchs Across Georgia
On Thursday February 5, the Monarchs Across Georgia group traveled to the community of Macheros near El Capulin in the state of Mexico. Even though it was a holiday (Constitution Day) and school was not in session, the children were gathered to meet us. They lined up by age groups in the schoolyard to visit with us and receive books collected through the Monarchs Across Georgia Mexico Book Project. We also shared several butterfly booklets created by Caryle Spence, a member of our group. As we flipped through the pages containing photos from Caryle’s garden in Michigan, the children began pointing to the pictures and describing the butterfly life cycle – huevo (egg), oruga (caterpillar), crisálida (chrysalis), and adulto (adult butterfly). They proudly showed us which monarchs in the photos were “macho” (male) and which were “hembra” (female). Our trip participants also donated some much-needed school supplies.
After lunch of fresh trout at Rosa’s tienda, we rode for an hour by horseback to the reach the Monarch colony at Cerro Pelon. We noted at least 10 different species of salvias flowering along the forest trail as well as many other species of wildflowers. For the last 15 minutes of the trail ride butterflies were streaming down the mountain all around us and nectaring on the flowers. The trail was dry and very dusty. No nearby water source was visible. We dismounted from the horses and walked a short distance to arrive at the colony by 2:30 PM. Our elevation was 9,459 feet and our coordinates were 19 23.403 North, -100 16.706 West. It was a sunny day with a completely clear sky. In some places, the ground and rocks were so thickly covered in basking butterflies, we needed to walk around them. There were so many butterflies flying around, they were actually lighting and basking on people.
We immediately noticed the oyamel trees in this area were much smaller than those seen at Chincua and Rosario. They ranged in size from approximately 20 – 60 feet tall. Several were covered in thick clusters of butterflies all the way to the ground. Some pine trees and small-leafed deciduous trees were also densely covered in Monarchs. It was impossible to estimate the number of trees covered by butterflies. Additional monarch draped trees were also just visible beyond the area that visitors were permitted to access. We observed different three mating pairs during the hour and half we visited this colony. After we returned to the town, we asked to see the 70 Monarch Watch tags that our guide, Melquiaes, told us had been recovered so far this season. We purchased five of these tags for 50 pesos each - LNM781, LJN715, JLA558, LES359, and LPG998.
Brenda Dziedzic and Caryle Spence say “Hello” to the Southeast Michigan Butterfly Association (SEMBA) and Master Gardeners of Wayne County. David Motherwell also sends a “Hello” to the Webster Grove Nature Society in St. Louis
On Saturday February 7, four members of our group travelled on to Valle de Bravo in the state of Mexico to visit the Piedra Herrada butterfly colony located just past Los Saucos at 19 10.514 North, -99 58.162 West. We arrived at the colony at 4:30 PM and stayed until about 5:30 PM. The temperature was 61 degrees F and the elevation was 10,129 feet. We could see 15 – 20 oyamel trees with clusters of butterflies on the tree limbs. Additional trees were located beyond the area accessible to visitors. Though the monarchs were mostly roosting on the oyamels, some smaller clusters were also observed on a few pines and broadleaf shrubs. No butterflies were seen resting on any of the tree trunks. The trees were located on a west-facing slope. Clusters were most dense on the western branches of the trees. It was still sunny and the butterflies were fairly active. Several were flying and the roosting butterflies were fluttering exposing the orange color on their wings. As we gazed at the butterflies a small cluster (about the size of a basketball) at the tip of an oyamel branch abruptly scattered as the butterflies all dropped and flew off in different directions.
We witnessed no mating while visiting this colony although our guide, Alfonzo Valesces Lopez, reported seeing mating pairs earlier in the week. We descended the mountain as the sun was setting and arrived at the small parking area (located at an elevation of 949 feet). Because this colony is located near a main road, Alfonzo explained how he and the other guides would slow the traffic in the afternoons when the butterflies are crossing the road to find water.
Susan Meyers at Cerro Pelon
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