Monarch Butterflies Enmasse
Migrating monarch butterflies, have you seen them? Here in California, we get overwintering monarchs, but the vast majority of them travel south into Mexico where they live in the high mountains for the winter months. Just a couple of weeks ago I encountered thousands of monarchs, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, feeding on the sage and rabbit brush that is blooming in mass abundance in the high desert of the Owens Valley.
I've encountered many a solitary monarch, and sometimes a few at a time, but the numbers were so great in early October, it had to be the monarchs were stopping over for a nectar restorative, and the question I could not figure out was how do those tiny little butterflies get over the high mountains? Do they go up and over the very, very high peaks that are 13,000 to 14,000 feet in elevation and where temperatures have to be very cold and perhaps below freezing, which would make me question how any little insect could manage such a flight. Or perhaps they go south a bit and fly over Walker pass, a 5,000 foot low point, or some area in that vicinity where the mountain crest is perhaps 7,000 feet in elevation. If they go further south, why have I never seen massive numbers of monarchs in the area where I live? Questions, questions, and no answers!
I tried taking photos, but alas, that was the day my camera died, and I could not figure out how to use my husband's camera and take any images of butterflies that disappeared as soon as I stepped out of the car and neared one of the bushes that were covered with so many flowers and so many butterflies the sight was simply amazing. Somehow, those flying bits of color knew I was there and they left the area so quickly, I had no clue where they went. I just stood there with camera in hand, baffled as the hundreds of butterflies that were visible 30 seconds before, were simply gone. So, back into the vehicle we got and slowly we drove down the road, only to see more butterflies, dozens on each and every flowering bush. But, as soon as we neared, off they went, skipping out of the area in a flash. Perhaps such flightiness is what lets these tiny insects survive their draconian migration. I so wanted a photograph showing dozens and dozens of butterflies all in one tiny area, but alas, the photo oportunity simply flew away, time and time again.
At least the memory is with me, and it is a first. Never before have I seen so many monarch butterflies all in such a short time period, and feeding on acres and acres of yellow flowers in the desert. It was one of those once in a life time moments I'm thinking. Now, those folks who live near where monarch butterflies hibernate for the winter get to see astonishing numbers of butterflies by visiting those wintering grounds, but alas, for now anyway, I am far from such a place.
The coastline of Monterey Bay here in California has a number of sites where monarchs cling to the trees for the winter, waiting for spring. Those butterflies I encountered a couple of weeks ago are heading for that area, which is due west of where I saw them, but with one massive mountain range in the way (the Sierras). I wonder if they are on the coast by now, or still flying. Questions, questions, and no answers. I've tried looking up info on the internet, and get general answers, but apparently the specifics just are unavailable.
So, have any of you, out there in the USA encountered migrating monarchs, in large numbers? I read that huge groups fly together in cloudlike masses, heading south for Mexico. Have any of you seen such sights, taken pictures, have stories to tell?
9 comments:
I love seeing the monarchs. However I am not near their migratory routes, really. I have seen images of them down in Mexico. A Michigan photographer has been down there trying to help maintain the habitats of the Monarch Butterfly. Educating the locals on the subject and helping to find alternative income for them rather than logging the trees that Monarchs call home in the winter. Here is the page to his field notes about these journeys -
http://www.natureofthewild.com/FieldNotes/
MonarchMetaphorsInMexico.html
I had to separate the lines so it would all show up.
They are without doubt amongst the most beautiful butterflies.......
Zhakee, have you visited the Ventana Wildlife Society's page? Here is the link: http://www.ventanaws.org/conservation/monarchs.htm
Also, have you had the chance to visit either Pacific Grove's butterfly sanctuary, or Natural Bridges butterfly grove? I hope Red and I will be able to do that in the next week or two.
Christy, thanks for the links, although I'm having trouble finding info in those links on monarchs. do you know which files are his written reports?
Mary, thanks for the local links. I didn't know the Ventana Wilderness Society had a monarch research division. Very interesting. I wish it didn't cost so much to visit Monterey or I'd pop over there to check out monarchs at their wintering site. I'm still learning about things to do/explore in the Monterey area. Maybe, next time I head that way we could meet up in person and I could tag along with you on a photo-exploring trip?
I was thinking the exact same thing a month ago! My husband and I were staying in Lee Vining at the Tioga Lodge and there were monarchs fluttering all over the cottonwoods out front. It was amazing. I had never seen so many in the Eastern Sierra before. I loved this post - so much information. I'm so glad I found your blog.
Cali, that is simply awesome to know lots of monarchs are migrating. I visited the Ventana Wilderness Society's monarch site and have been asking questions there... apparently monarch numbers are way down and one man who replied wondered if perhaps what I saw were NOT monarchs, but some other kind of butterfly. Maybe those we saw are heading for Mexico instead of the coast? Don't know. Out of curiosity, I typed in monarch mimics in a search engine and it appears the Viceroy Butterfly is a close copy with just a slight difference. Maybe I'll go back there next fall and see what's there, and have a butterfly field guide in hand...
This is truly an excellent observation. I have been interested in Monarchs of wstern North America for many years; in fact I used to tag them in the mid- and late 1980s. One of the monarchs we tagged in Santa Barbara was recovered the next Spring in southern Arizona. I had thought that the vat majority of wintering Monarchs in California came from the western foothills f the Sierra Nevada, but your observation clearly shows they come to the coast from much further distances inland.
CharlieBear, it's nice to hear about your interest in mononarchs. When I did some online "research" on the topic, it seems the concensus is that the monarchs west of the Rockies head for California and the rest go south to Mexico. I wonder if that is a proven fact or perhaps a guess, and just how proven it is. I've read that the numbers of monarchs in CA is declining, but maybe they are just wintering elsewhere? I wonder just who determines all the details, if anyone really. Maybe, with climate warming up, monarchs are finding new places to winter.
Hello Zhakee
Yes, you are correct, the general thought is that Monarchs in the west come to coastal California, while those east of the Rockies go to Mexico. But no one knows for sure. In September a few years ago, I saw individuals in northern New Mexico headed south down the Rio Grande Valley. Plus, Monarchs are known to winter in a few isolated desert canyons in the Saline Valley of Death Valley National Monument, as well as in Bakersfield during mild winters. Then you throw in spring migrants from the wintering colonies that have been recovered in southern Arizona and also at the Grand Canyon to make it even more unclear (or less clear). We got alot of returns of our southern California tagged butterflies in the Sacramento Valley. But, like I said, no one knows for sure what is going on. Are Monarchs in California declining? I would say yes. Many years ago, I thought it was the loss of the fall and winter colonies on the coast. That is to say, there are usually a number of suitable fall bivouac and wintering sites in an area, all of which are important to the Monarchs even if they aren't all occupied every year; some years a site may have nectar or water resources or protection from adverse weather conditions that the other sites don't have that year, so if you lose too many sites, the butterflies can't survive. This has been called the "metacolony" phenomenon based on Hanski's metapopulation theory. My blog has a discussion of this, by the way. But in the last few years, it seemed like the growth of ranchettes and other development in the areas where the Monarchs utilise in the late summer and early fall could be having an even greater effect on the animals. No one has looked in this in any meaningful way. My gut feel is that Global Climate Change will affect the Monarchs in the West, and not for the Good, I think. Charlie Bear
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