September 20th, 2013

This has been a dramatically poor year for monarch butterflies.  From the lowest number of wintering butterflies in Mexico on record, to poor breeding conditions throughout the spring, monarch sightings have been few and far between.  It was the second week in August before I saw my first monarch of the season!!  And at this time of year I expect to see bright orange bodies floating over and through the fields of goldenrod and fall asters here at the Blair Outdoor Education Centre as they pass through on their epic migratory journey to Mexico.  So far the total number of sightings is – one.

A  thorough explanation of many of the factors affecting the monarch population this year can be found on the Journey North website  http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/conservation_overview.html

I submitted a field report to Journey North of our monarch sighting at Blair this week by a grade six class from Brigadoon P.S.   http://www.learner.org/cgi-bin/jnorth/jn-query-byday?1379597151

The migration map is updated daily in colored dots representing one week periods of the calendar starting in August and concluding with the monarchs arrival on the wintering grounds in the Transvaal mountains of central Mexico in November.  You can click on any of the dots  to see where, when and by who the report was submitted.  You can even become a citizen scientist yourself by sending in your sightings!!  http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/monarch_all_fall2013.html