Date: 08/23/2013

Number: 23

My wife and I spent 10+ hours tagging monarchs last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (August 23, 24, 25). In order to tag we have to find fields of clover or alfalfa that are in bloom. First thing we noticed were most fields around here were corn or soybeans. Gone are the fallow or unused fields that we could go to in the past. In town one favorite field now has a dentist office on it and another has a new clinic. Many empty lots at the edge of town that were allowed to grow are now mowed because houses have sprung up around them.

We put 100 miles on the car driving around looking for anything that would hold monarchs. We finally found two fields of alfalfa that we had never been in before so first we had to figure out who owned them and then get permission to tag.

In past years fields like these would of supplied us with enough monarchs to fill our 100 tags that we normally get . This year we only got 50. Each time we went into a field we would get 3 monarchs if we were lucky. It took us three days to get 23 monarchs. We are now up to 30 because I have been tagging ones I find in a clover field across the street from my school. I stop at lunch time and after school. The clover is mostly gone, but it still has enough to attract migrating monarchs.

We have been tagging since 2001 and this has been the hardest year yet. Very few monarchs and less and less areas to go to find them. I should say that the 30 monarchs we have tagged is triple the number of monarchs I have seen this summer. All have been brilliant in color and very fresh looking. Now this weekend we go look for caterpillars to bring into my classroom. I am hoping we can find some, but I am not holding my breath.

Courtesy of Monarch Watch

Shawano, WI

Latitude: 44.8 Longitude: -88.6

Observed by:
Contact Observer

The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.