Monarch Migration

WNC Monarch Migration

WNC Monarch Sightings

Monarch Waystations
This link has tons of information about butterfly gardening and how waystations are a great program for home gardeners to help save monarch populations.

Sept. 28 Monarchs are still being spotted in our WNC area. A good
place to find them as they make their way south to Mexico is in

wildflower meadows - particularly fields of clover and the wonderful
native goldenrods, joe pye weed, ironweed and white wood asters. In
their trip through our mountains, monarchs need access to plentiful
nectar-rich flowers to "bulk up" to further fuel their journey south.

If you are interested in learning more about the life cycle of the
monarchs, their fall migration and how to create a Monarch Waystation to
attract them to your summer gardens, consider attending a two hour
lecture on Sat. Oct. 20, from 5-7pm at the Cashiers Community Library.
We will also have a tagging demonstration. This lecture is in
conjunction with the 30th anniversary celebration of the non-profit
trail club, the NC Bartram Trail Society. It is open to the public and
free of charge. More information will be posted soon at
www.ncbartramtrail.org .

From all indications and reports, it looks to be a great year for the
monarch migration. Reports are still coming in from as far north as
Maine and New York City of large numbers of monarchs, so barring a
disastrous weather event during the hurricane season, it is likely WNC
could be seeing monarchs through mid October and even later. To follow
those reports day by day, visit www.monarchwatch.org to sign up for
their list-serve and also sign up for weekly updates from school sighting
reports from across the country at www.learner.org/jnorth

Plan a picnic to get outdoors more this fall to look for monarchs. Some
creature-comforts you may wish to take along: sunglasses, natural bug
repellent (for those bugged by bugs), binoculars, drinking water/snack
and a folding chair. Enjoy our beautiful natural resources. It's great
to be alive in the Blue Ridge Mountains! Keep looking up! - Ina.
wildwood3@citcom.net

Brevard naturalist, Ina Warren, has agreed to submit the reports of monarch migration sightings to be posted on this web page until mid November when the fall migrations end for the year. You will find these reports under the link WNC Monarch Sightings.

If you have reports from observations you have made regarding migrations of monarch butterflies, songbirds, raptors or even dragonflies, please email your data to Ina at wildwood3@citcom.net for posting. Information that is useful to biologists is:
Weather data (temperature, approximate wind speed and direction, sunny, cloudy,).
Approximate numbers of monarchs; time of day observations are made; in other words - where, when and how many.

Citizen Science encourages public participation from all ranks of the local population - students making observations in conjunction with class assignments, serious amateur naturalists, bird and butterfly enthusiasts, gardeners and those who stroll woodlands and meadows enjoying the beauty of the natural world.

Gone for good is the sentiment that the degreed biologists in the university ivory towers have all the answers, or for that matter, all the questions. There will never be enough professional biologists to survey all the wild places for all the clues, behaviors and rhythms of nature. Citizen Scientists add hundreds of pairs of eyes to look about, ears to listen and other senses to pick up on the subtle clues of nature. Therefore, the contribution of observed data from Citizen Scientists regarding pollinators, time of day, in what numbers, etc. is invaluable and contributes toward the understanding of innumerable mysteries of the natural world.

This is but the beginning of what will hopefully be years of contributed data from our beautiful region of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Perhaps it will encourage many others to go for relaxing walks in the woods, to leave the always-on television and computers to listen for birdsong, to smell the rich humus of the autumn woods, to wade in clean water streams and to, as E. E. Cummings described it, to enjoy the "sweet, spontaneous earth."

Many thanks to the NC Arboretum staff for agreeing to serve as the repository of migration data as reported by area citizen scientists. Bear with us as we refine the way we receive and record data. As they say, this page is under construction.

Ina Waldrop Warren