The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies

[Mona Miller]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/schedule.html
You can check your local listings to see when it airs.
The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies
Tuesday, January 26 at 8 pm
Follow the 2,000-mile migration of the monarchs to a sanctuary in the
highlands of Mexico.
Watch a preview | Check local listings (see above website)

[drexel.n@gmail]

Thanks, Mona! I will set the dvr - can't wait to see this!

Nancy

[sbannister]

I watched it and really enjoyed it. I did not know anything about the people that live near the overwintering sites and how they celebrate the butterflies' arrival, and that was really cool. So thanks for the heads up, Mona.

[Mona Miller]

http://monarch.pwnet.org/trc/broadcast.php
There was a great video done by some filmmakers in Prince William County, VA on the natives in the Monarch Sanctuary area.

Scroll down and watch the video

"Community Conservation in Mexico
Thursday, February 19, 2009
On February 19, 2009, MonarchLIVE webcast and broadcast from Alternare, a community organization that promotes conservation and sustainable livelihoods for small farmers living in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. For more information about Alternare, go to http://www.alternare.org/. Alternare welcomes visitors, so if you visit the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve near Angangueo be sure to stop in. The 60-minute program was hosted by Rossana Landa with the Fund for the Conservation of Nature based in Mexico City. She was joined by Guadalupe (Lupita) del Rio, co-founder of Alternare. The program explains the concept of sustainability, ejido system of land management in Mexico, and some of the activities promoted by Alternare including: growing food organically; creating biofertilizer; conserving soil and water; making adobe bricks for houses and outbuildings; and training local small farmers.
CLICK HERE to watch the program in English.
CLICK HERE to watch the program in Spanish.
OPRIME AQUÍ para mirar el programa en español."

[Paul Cherubini]

I watched it and really enjoyed it. I did not know anything about the people that live near the overwintering sites and how they celebrate the butterflies' arrival, and that was really cool. So thanks for the heads up, Mona.

The Mexicans didn't celebrate the arrival until after the Canadians/Americans discovered and publicized the overwintering sites. Here in California there are arrival celebrations as well at the Pacific Grove, Natural Bridges, and Pismo Beach overwintering sites.

[Mona Miller]

Did you even watch this film?

http://www.pamf.org/preteen/share/celeb ... ertos.html

The Day of the Dead has been celebrated since the time of the Aztec.

"The ancient Aztecs believed spirits of dead ones would come back as monarch butterflies and hummingbirds. Every year around this holiday, monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico and are greeted as spirits."

[Mona Miller]

If you missed the film, it can be watched online:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/butterflies/program.html
There are 6 chapters. I do not know how long it will be online.

Birth of a Monarch
In late August, near the shores of Lake Huron, a tiny caterpillar gradually transforms into a chrysalis and emerges as a monarch butterfly.

Soaring Over Land and Lakes
Like gliding aircraft, the butterflies rely on thermal air currents to travel vast distances, and they take rest stops on boats while crossing the Great Lakes.

Destination Mexico
Only in the 1970s, with the help of a tagging program, did scientists realize that North American monarchs flew to Mexico for the winter.

An Endangered Refuge
Illegal logging threatens to destroy the monarch's sanctuary in the highlands of Mexico.

Gathering Flocks
By the time they reach southern Texas, the monarchs have formed enormous flocks 50 miles wide. In Mexico, the Mazahua people celebrate their arrival.

An Awesome Spectacle
Tens of millions of monarchs drape the trees of their highland refuge. When spring comes, they wake from their slumber and begin the long journey north.

[Paul Cherubini]

Did you even watch this film?
http://www.pamf.org/preteen/share/celeb ... ertos.html
"The ancient Aztecs believed spirits of dead ones would come back as monarch butterflies and hummingbirds.

The overwintering sites were discovered by the Canadians/Americans in 1975. I am not aware of any document or film published before 1975 that claims the people that live near the overwintering sites celebrate the butterflies' arrival.

[Mona Miller]

For a better understanding of the history read:
http://www.fs.fed.us/monarchbutterfly/d ... Brower.pdf
UNDERSTANDING AND MISUNDERSTANDING THE MIGRAnON OF THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY
(NYMPHALIDAE) IN NORTH AMERICA: 1857-1995
LINCOLN P. BROWER