Here are the latest monarch reports. Our very first sighting from Canada arrived this week! Remember to report the FIRST monarch you see this spring to:
Date Location April 12 Ashville, North Carolina May 7 Locust Valley, New York May 10 Pheonix, Arizona May 13 Henrietta, New York May 13 Clyde, New York May 14 Port Rowan, Ontario May 18 Campbell, California May 21 Maysville, Missouri May 21 Plainedge, New York
MONARCHS AND MILKWEED Next spring we'll study the relationship between monarch migration and the growth of milkweed. Please let us know if you'd like to be part of this "study circle" which will include a network of Journey North classrooms spanning the monarchs' entire range.
Students in Lincoln, Nebraska reported these observations about milkweed in their school butterfly garden:
"Hello Journey North, "We are 4th and 5th graders at Fredstrom Elementary School in Lincoln, NE. We have spotted monarchs in our neighborhood since Easter weekend. Also, we have some small milkweed plants coming up in our school butterfly garden. The monarchs were here before the milkweed was up. " Fredstrom Elementary 4th and 5th Graders Mrs. Thornton, Science Teacher rthorn@lps.esu18.k12.ne.us
Dr. Karen Oberhauser reported that on May 19th milkweed was just peeking out of the soil in her Minnesota garden. Many schools in her state are eagerly awaiting the arrival of monarchs. They're usually sighted in Minnesota by the last day in May. Let's hope the milkweed is ready for them!
STUDENTS VISIT FAMOUS BUTTERFLY CENTER
"Hello, Journey North!
Our trip to Callaway Gardens was wonderful! We had a picnic lunch before going to the Day Butterfly Center. In the butterfly house we learned many things. We learned that the atlas moth doesn't have a mouth. It lives off stored food that it ate while it was a caterpillar. Since it doesn't eat as an adult, it only lives for a three days.
"We also noticed that the monarch is larger than a viceroy, but the viceroy is darker then the monarch. While at the butterfly house, we saw a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis, but its wings were caught in part of the chrysalis. One of us even had butterflies land on her hair. We think that the butterflies were attracted to her because of her red hair.
"All in all, we had a wonderful field trip to Callaway Gardens! If you are ever in the Pine Mountain, Georgia area, you would enjoy visiting Callaway Gardens, too.
Carol D Rogow rogowcd@mail.auburn.edu Drake Middle School, Auburn, Alabama
TEACHER RECOMMENDS MAGAZINE ARTICLE "Last weekend I bought some past issues of Ranger Rick magazines for my students to use in the classroom. I was paging through a few of them, and I found an excellent article about Monarch butterflies. It is in the October 1991 issue. The article is called "My Mexican Monarchs" by Edmundo Thomae, Jr. There are beautiful pictures to go along with the story. It would definitely be worth the time for fellow monarch watchers to seek out a copy of this article to share with their classes." Jim Hatleli, Second Grade Teacher Eagle Lake Elementary School, Eagle Lake, MN 56024 jhatle1@eagle.isd77.k12.mn.us
Comments Sent This Week from Observers:
April 12 I am writing to let you know about my monarch sighting. My family and I were in Ashville, North Carolina on April 12, 1995. We were visiting one of many tourist sites that included beautiful gardens. It was here that we spotted the monarch. It was on a flower. I was excited to see it since we have been learning about them. I hope your monarch update is going well. Have a good summer. Sincerely, Zachary Andrews, Grade 2/West End Elem. welibrary@sprite.gremlan.org
May 7 On May 7, in Locust Valley, Long Island, New York a monarch was sighted flying at 3 pm in the afternoon. It was sunny, about 70 degrees. It was seen by Chris Siuda from Mrs Willett's 5th grade class. It was too far away to see the condition of the wings. Locust Valley is on the North Shore of Long Island 40 miles east of New York City.
May 10 On a sunny afternoon in Central Phoenix, in my garden, while I was clipping roses, I saw a Monarch Butterfly, on May 10, 1995 - I know what they look like from my childhood on Long Island, where there were many Monarch Butterflies. Ms. Babcock, Elmont School District, asked me to send you this information. AROWEMAN@aol.com
May 13 Hello from Henrietta N.Y. My name is Christina Mihalitsas. On May 13th 1995, I saw a monarch.I saw it at my friend's house on Farrell Rd extension in West Henrietta, NY. It was 2:30 in the afternoon. The butterfly was flying near some flowers. Chirstina Mihalitsas, Sherman Elementary School Henrietta, NY FDYT89C@prodigy.com
May 13 Hi I'm Amanda Feiock .I spotted a monarch. It was may 13 the time I spotted it . It was seventy two degrees.I spotted in Clyde ,NY.The wings were in good shape.William C. Munn School, Spencerport, NY SPENMULIB@aol.com
May 14 One tatty Monarch seen on May 14th, Long Point, Ontario (nearest town Port Rowan, n shore Lake Erie). Don't have Lat/Long. Robert Dawson, Dept of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario dawsonrj@mcmail.CIS.McMaster.CA
COMMENTS ABOUT THE FIRST SIGHTING IN CANADA: From: Donald_Davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca Take a look at your atlas and you'll see that Long Point is a very long strip of land that juts out into Lake Erieand extends many miles (kilometers). (In much the same was as Point Pelee juts into Lake Erie, or Presqu'ile juts into Lake Ontario.) I understand that Long Point gets a very large monarch migration going through in the fall. Migrants funnel through areas like these in great numbers, prior to crossing large bodies of water such as the Great Lakes.
May 18 I saw a monarch yesterday, 5/18/95, in Campbell, California. I don't know what our latitude and longitude are. If you can't find it for Campbell, San Jose, California should be close enough. There's a grove of trees in Santa Cruz, California where monarchs congregate. Dave Shaw Bass dave@hal.com
May 21
Hi: I received the Journey North packet on Friday and saw my first spring monarch on Sunday afternoon at my home in Maysville, Missouri (32 miles northeast of St. Joseph). You can't beat that! Beverly Matsberger, University Extension Center, St. Joseph's, Missouri maltsbeb@ext.missouri.edu
May 21 We had two students report monarchs over the weekend. Both were seen on May 21,1995 at location 41N 73.25W. The location is Plainedge, Ny. Hope to here from you soon. Sincerely Bob Link K12PLLAR@vaxc.hofstra.edu
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