Letter From Estela Romero: Peak of Overwintering Season
Published: 12/22/2021
Dear friends,
Year 2021 closes on a hopeful note with monarch population numbers estimated to be high and with promising monarch behavior as colonies consolidate at the El Rosario and Sierra Chincua Sanctuaries.
El Rosario Sanctuary
“Here in El Rosario, we have now three different colonies: Two minor ones, and this, the larger one, located at Las Arenitas spot right here. Taking into account that each hectare consists of around 400 trees, we have made a rough estimate concluding that we might have a total of 4.5 forest hectares of occupation by the three different colonies in this very moment at closing the year. This is because we can now confirm that a couple of weeks ago, part of the colony in Sierra Chincua moved on up here to El Rosario.”
— Stated Mr. Baldomero and Mr. Silvestre, experienced senior guides. I spoke with Mr. Baldomero and Mr. Silvestre as they were documenting the colonies with cameras and notebooks.
We will wait for the official monitoring of the population to substantiate what these and other counts indicate. We remain cautiously optimistic.
The colony at El Rosario Sanctuary is located at coordinates 19.6001301, -100.2638235.
Sierra Chincua Sanctuary
Meanwhile, there appears to be only one colony at Sierra Chincua Sanctuary. This colony was settled in the Oyamel fir forests at the El Tepozán location.
“After having had an extraordinarily large colony for nearly a whole month since their arrival, two weeks ago we could see how a portion of the population flew off southwards to El Rosario mountains. We keep faith that temperatures shall keep rather cool, so that this important part of the colony keeps stable for as long as possible.”
— Stated Brisa, Rocío and Lupita.
The beauty of this colony at the El Tepozan location is simply exceptional.
Monarchs in Sierra Chincua Sanctuary are located at coordinates: 19.6741559, -100.2908571.
Mortality
In El Rosario and Sierra Chincua Sanctuaries, the monarchs are part of natural cycles, including predator-prey relationships. Monarchs are victims of natural predation as the photo of Lupita holding monarchs shows.
With the Methuselah Monarch generation as our witness, we now approach the end of 2021 and transition into the new year. The monarchs provide a beacon of resilience and adaptation.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2022!
Estela Romero
Angangueo, Michoacán, México.
Note to our readers: This article has been edited from the original English version for clarity and readability.
