Monarch Butterfly Migration Update: February 7,
2003
Today's Report Includes:
- Welcome to Journey North's Spring Monarch Migration Season!
- Before the Migration Begins: Report Over-wintering Monarchs NOW
- How Many Monarchs in Mexico This Year?
- January Expedition to Measure the Colonies
- Meet Monarch Biologist Dr. Bill Calvert
- How Much Does a Bough-full of Butterflies Weigh?
- Challenge Question #1
- Video Visit to the Sanctuaries: Pictures to Poetry
- Try This! Writer's Workshop
- How to Use Journey North Video Clips
Welcome to Journey North's Spring Monarch Migration Season!
We begin each year while the monarchs are still at the over-wintering sites, deep in central Mexico. Their migration will begin in March, just a few short weeks away. We hope you're ready to help track their journey north.
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Please Report Over-wintering Monarchs NOW
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Report Your Sightings |
Not all monarchs migrate to the Mexican sanctuaries. Some can be found during the winter in northern Mexico, along the coasts of the U.S. Gulf States, and along the California coast. If you see monarchs in your region now, please report them as "Monarchs Over-wintering." Before the migration begins, we want to document the location of over-wintering monarchs. We need to know where monarchs remained throughout the winter to properly interpret migration patterns in the spring.
How Many Monarchs in Mexico This Year?
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Every winter the Mexican government measures the size of the known butterfly colonies. The results are of special interest this year after the devastating January 2002 storm, in which over 75% of the monarch population was believed to have been killed.
Measurements are made during the coldest time of year (December/January), when the butterflies are clustered together most tightly. Like a snapshot in time, these annual winter measurements give scientists a chance to estimate the size of the entire over-wintering population.
January Expedition to Measure the Colonies
The expedition was conducted in January this year. The government's team included staff and students from the University of Mexico (UNAM) and researchers from the U.S., headed by Dr. William Calvert. A press release, with this winter's population estimate is expected as early as next week. Did the population rebound during last summer's breeding season? We'll provide the numbers just as soon as available.
Meet Monarch Biologist Dr. Bill Calvert
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 Meet Dr. Bill Calvert Video Clip Tips |
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Dr. Calvert was one of the first biologists to study the monarchs at the over-wintering sites in Mexico. From 1976-1982, he spent nearly two months in the sanctuaries each year. He camped beside the colonies at 10,000 ft altitude, and experienced the same cold, wet conditions that the monarchs endure.
Dr. Calvert will be in Mexico this winter from February 15 to March 22, and will report back to us each week. "I guess I'm a roving reporter for the monarch aspect of Journey North," says Dr. Calvert in this video clip, where you can see him surrounded by butterflies, walking in the monarch's forest.
"In the coming weeks, I'll be sending weekly observations about monarch over-wintering biology. February 17 will be my first day in the sanctuaries, so today I'll summarize what has most likely been happening since you tracked their migration to Mexico last fall.
Seasonal History of a Colony
"When the butterflies first arrive at a sanctuary in November, they are strung out over miles of mountain ridges. Next they begin to gather into clusters. As the temperatures drop in late November and December, the butterflies usually converge into 1 or 2 clusters in a particular sanctuary.
"By mid-December the butterflies are packed into very, very dense clusters. In December/January, when the temperatures are the coldest, the butterflies are packed most tightly on the trees. As many as 15,000 butterflies can be on a single branch--so many that the branch actually bends under their weight," says Calvert.
How Much Does a Bough-full of Butterflies Weigh?
Challenge Question #1:
"If the typical monarch weighs 500 mg in February, how much would a branch loaded with 15,000 butterflies weigh? (Give your answer in kilograms and in pounds. Also name an object that weighs the same amount, for comparison.)"
(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)
Video Visit to the Sanctuaries:
Pictures to Poetry
By Elizabeth Howard
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In December, Mary Hosier and I traveled to Mexico to deliver your 50,666 Symbolic Monarchs. (More about that soon!) We decided to take a break, and went to see the monarchs for inspiration. For most of two days, we simply sat on the sanctuary floor beneath the butterflies. If ever there were a time to be a poet! Poetry seemed the only way to respond to the beauty and magnificence before us. We pulled out our notebooks and recorded the thoughts that darted through our minds, like the butterflies above us. Although it inevitably falls short, we tried to capture the experience in video to share with you.
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Our guide, Salvador Gonzales,
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Mary take notes. |
The end of a great day! |
Try This! Writer's Workshop
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Mary's Notebook |
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Poet
Allison Demming, great granddaughter of Nathanial Hawthorn, contributed
this poem during her visit to the sanctuaries with Dr. Calvert.
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As you view the video, record the sights, sounds, feelings, and thoughts that run through your mind. After viewing, use your notes to write a "List Poem." (In a List Poem, each line contains one to three words.) Here's an example:
Stained-glass window wings
Billowing, blowing branches
Butterfly beehive boughs
Hushed, hurrying, struggling
Every one alive
Students in the class could build a list of words together. This will give them a larger pool to draw from, and might inspire. A List Poem frees the writer because it has so few restrictions. Give it a try! And for additional ideas and poetry samples see:
How to Use Journey North Video Clips
We have a library full of new video clips to incorporate this year. Our video clips can be played only with Windows Media Player. Please read this "tips" page carefully.
How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question:
1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-monarch@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge
Question #1
3. In the body of your message, answer the question above.
The Next Monarch Butterfly Migration Update Will Be
Posted on February 14, 2003.
Copyright 2003 Journey
North. All Rights Reserved.
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