Latest
News: A Wave Across Northern Mexico and a Trickle at the Finish Line
Northern
Mexico
Monarchs appeared across the skies of northern Mexico on Saturday all
at once. "Las monarcas están aquí! (The monarchs are
here!)," wrote Rocio
Treviño
from her hometown of Saltillo, Coahuila. Simultaneously, people across
town began to see monarchs. It was October 18th, the same date they reached
Saltillo last year in large numbers. That evening, Rocio discovered a
spectacular roost (see photo). Throughout the day, her network of observers
were sending sightings from the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Zacatecas
and Tamaulipas. "The spectacle was a gift for my eyes," wrote
a woman in Tamaulipas who counted 537 monarchs per minute. Monarchs were
even reported from Mexico City. (Monarchs form a small overwintering colony
east of Mexico City each year, 70 miles from the major overwintering area.)
Grab your
Spanish/English dictionary because the monarchs are now crossing northern
Mexico! Thanks to Rocio
Treviño,
you can explore more sightings from Mexico and practice Spanish:
At
the Finish Line
Estela Romero and German Medina have been watching and waiting in Angangueo.
They know the monarchs usually appear first on a hillside above town called
"El Cerrito."
"We
went at noon today to El Cerrito. In about 30 minutes, we counted six
monarchs flying quickly by!" Estela wrote on Wednesday. "Any
day the trees on this hillside will be covered with monarchs. I am sending
this photo for all to see that the trees are still empty."
More Monarchs are Coming!
Monarchs are contining to migrate from points across the north, say observers
from Wisconsin to Maine. Along the Atlantic Coast, last week's migration
at Cape May, New Jersey, was one of the season's strongest. An average
of 53+ monarchs per hour were counted by the Cape
May Monarch Monitoring Project, according to project leader Dick Walton.
Too
Late to Migrate?
People are worried that monarchs will get caught by cold temperatures
and will not be able to migrate. There is hope! A discovery last week
by Dick Walton's team shows how quickly monarchs can travel when the wind
and weather are right:
A monarch
they tagged in New Jersey on October 9th was found in Georgia just 3
days later. That's a distance of 558 miles!
Let's hope
for more warm days in the north so the remaining monarchs can escape.
If you still have butterflies to release, wait for a stretch of sunny
days with temperatures in the 50s F.
Funnelling
Across Texas and Into Mexico
The monarchs are forming a funnel as they cross the state of
Texas and enter Mexico. The pathway they have taken so far is known as
the "Central Flyway" in Texas. But there appear to be two migration
pathways in Texas. The monarchs arrival on the second flyway, called
the "Coastal Flyway" lags behind. Right now we're waiting for
large numbers of monarchs to travel along the Texas coast:
"Last
year we had our big flow start on October 24th and the year before on
October 28th. Our rule has been it will start after the first front
that passes through on or after October 21st," reports Harlen Aschen
from the Texas coast.
Stiff north
winds are predicted for tomorrow (Friday) so keep your eye on the migration
map. "For those of you along the Texas coast, the orange wave may
yet appear!" added Harlen. |