BEWARE
OF NETTLES!
Look for
a camouflaged waterproof match container. It's near where I have
seen Monarchs congregating every year between September 7 to 14
during their peak migration through the Waterloo area. I capture
dozens of these butterflies and for tracking purposes have my
students tag them with University of Kansas "Monarch Watch" tags.
We hope for a recovery somewhere between Waterloo and southern
Mexico. [As of 9/23/09 I'm placing a link to the place where I input data
on my sightings of the monarch migrations
etc.]
Take a look at the pictures at
this
link.They depict the monarchs leaving their roosts in southern
Mexico to flutter along their northward journey. They were taken in
late winter of 2005.
Here is some really
interesting information about where the monarchs go once they enter
into Mexico. Just in as of 2/14/08. A neat slide show about the monarch roosts and
a lot
more.
I took
the picture of the roosting monarchs in the dark at a location in
some white pines south of Waterloo along Kimball Ave. They roost in
those protective pines every year. The picture below and to the
left shows how the tag is placed on a wing. The clickable picture
of the earth depicts their approximate flight path from Waterloo to
southern Mexico. [See the animation added on 10/29/09] A straight
line from Waterloo to one of the mountaintops they roost on is
1,647 miles! See that mountainous area from space as centered over
this coord:
19
32.164 N by 100 18.200 W
A map of
the 12 mountain peaks is shown
here. Also take a look at the pictures
in the gallery at my cache called
Bug Heaven.
Iowa Tom
