Monarch movement held to Oklahoma border as we wait for milkweed
Over the past two weeks, the Journey North monarch maps have slowly started to fill in with more dots. But northward expansion has been limited, with the availability of milkweed and food sources keeping monarchs to their northern constraints at the Oklahoma border.
So far, we’ve received sparse reports of milkweed from the areas surrounding Kansas City and St. Louis, with shoots just barely poking through the ground. These plants should be usable for monarchs in a few weeks, but for now they just offer promises of what’s to come in the month of April.
“First milkweed this year,” wrote Russ and Peggy in Shawnee, Kansas, on March 31. “High today is 54.”
Milkweed plants don't have to be very tall for monarchs to find them, as Raquel showed in Calera, Oklahoma, on March 29. Just a few inches of milkweed are enough for them to begin laying eggs.
“We had a female Monarch visit Saturday March 29th, laying eggs on every inch of Milkweed she could find. She seemed to be depositing eggs on the Common, Butterfly weed and Antelopehorn and Showy. If the milkweed was just up a little over and inch she would deposit on it also,” Raquel wrote. “She was very curious about me and would fly around me as if to say ‘thank you’ for all the milkweed. She went to every Milkweed she could find for about and hour and took a little break and came back for another hour doing it all over again. We thought she had left but she came through again about 10:30 on Sunday and started laying again before she left! It was an incredible experience to get to watch her!”
Our northernmost reports from Oklahoma came from Brenda just outside of Tulsa and Bridget in Ringwood, northwest of Stillwater, both on March 29.
In Arkansas, we’ve received several reports over the past few weeks, including a report of two monarchs from Andrea in Heber Springs on March 26.
The northern halves of states like Alabama and Georgia have also seen movement, with Jill in Gainesville, Georgia, photographing a monarch on April 1. While those of us in the north may feel that it’s warm all the time in these southern states, and surely the milkweed must be up, that’s not necessarily the case.
“Wind was blowing so it was moving too fast for me to get a photo or tell if it was a female. My milkweed isn’t up yet here in Gardendale, Alabama,” wrote Patricia on March 25.
A monarch in Chelsea, Alabama, was fortunate to find some milkweed on March 1, with Larry writing, “She is busy visiting every milkweed.”
Along the Atlantic Coast, Erich in New Bern, North Carolina, reported a monarch adult visiting dandelions on March 28, writing, “Our milkweed is just barely starting to emerge.” It’s just the third report of a monarch adult we’ve received from North Carolina so far this spring.
In Upper Township, New Jersey, Margaret reported the "first sprouts of milkweed breaking ground" on April 2, and Susan in Newport News, Virginia, reported milkweed one inch tall on the same day, writing, "Now I am ready for the monarchs!"
By the next report, we may have our first reports of the year from Kansas and Missouri, but time will tell. In the meantime, you can help us fill in the map by submitting your observations to Journey North!
