Date: 01/01/2013

Number: 12

Rio Salado in Phoenix was once again an overwintering site until the major freeze in mid-January, 2013.

We had 8 to 12 monarchs at Rio Salado until we hit a record cold wave from Jan 12 to 16 with a hard freeze 5 consecutive nights - first time ever. In the past the monarchs at this site were able to survive an occasional hard freeze because of the unique tree canopy over creeks that moderate the temperature. But with the wildfire 18 months ago followed by ill-advised city pruning, their protection vanished. However, we've already had two tree planting events replacing over 50 trees and added more than 70 new native milkweeds and additional native nectar to the area. We are very determined with this restoration and now have the city's total support. They even dedicated the "monarch sanctuary" as they now call it to the Southwest Monarch Study under their adopt-a-park umbrella. Now they can't make any changes to the habitat without discussing it with us first and we have monthly meetings as well. So from the ashes we may have a safe shelter for the monarchs when they can't make it to MX or CA for one reason or another.

Rio Salado Restoration Habitat, AZ

Latitude: 33.4 Longitude: -112.1

Observed by: Gail
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