Migration Update: October 9, 2008 |
Please
Report Your Sightings! >> |
|||||||||||
Monarchs Pressing Southward During Brief North Winds The migration advanced southward over the past week in two clear waves. The first big wave hit northern Texas last Thursday, and the largest roost of the season appeared in Sylvester:
South winds held the migration's leading edge in place for 5 days. When the wind shifted to the north again on Tuesday the migration's leading edge jumped southward 150-200 miles to latititude 29N. They're approaching the Mexican border!
For
Your Journal: Explore this week's sightings!
|
|
|||||||||||
Focus: How High Can Monarchs Fly? How High Can We See Them? | ||||||||||||
Monarch migration can be invisible to us. When we watch migration from the ground, there is a large gap overhead where monarchs can travel and we can't see them. How high can monarchs fly and how can we see them? These questions are important because we are tracking migration based on visual observations. Our migration maps only show what people saw.
|
When we watch migration from the ground, there is a large gap overhead where monarchs can travel and we can't see them. >> |
|||||||||||
The Migration: Maps, Data and Questions | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Classroom in Action: It's a Race! Monarchs Fly, Students Walk to Mexico | ||||||||||||
Minnesota students at Garlough Elementary are racing the monarchs to Mexico! Sixty students are wearing pedometers and counting the steps they take every day. It's 1,836 miles to the monarchs' winter home from their school. Who will get there first, the monarchs or the students? It's a close race, says Jo Zimmel, physical education teacher who's cheering them on. The kids made it to San Antonio, Texas just as the butterflies were arriving in Dallas, Texas. How would the math work at your school? Take a look: |
Fourth grader racing monarchs to Mexico, with his pedometer |
|||||||||||
Please Report Your Sightings! | ||||||||||||
Watch for monarchs that are flying in "directional flight," resting at overnight roosts, or refueling at flowers in fields, gardens, or roadsides. |
||||||||||||
Related Journey North Lessons and Links | ||||||||||||
Monarch Butterfly Migration Updates Will be Posted on THURSDAYS: Aug. 28, Sep. 4, 11, 18, 25, Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Nov. 6...or until the monarchs reach Mexico! The Next Monarch Migration Update Will Be Posted on October 9, 2008.
|