Tags found in Mexico

[Monarch MaMa]

Good News Friends:
on March 11 (today), my friend Diane reported acquiring tags NAU 449 and NEE 388 in Mexico at the hibernation areas. She'll be sending them in to the tagging program when she returns to the States. The person she got them from found them in December.

are these yours? If so - please note your location.
-Debbie (SE MI)

[Monarch MaMa]

as of 3/14/11: these were found:
NBT 426 NCX 611 LLT 400 LNG 650 and ?LH999 (first letter smeared)

Are these your tags?

[Jim]

NBT426, a reared female, was tagged in Brevard, NC on 9-11-2010

NEE388, a wild female, was tagged in Bellevue, NE on 9-17-2010

LLT400, a wild male, was tagged in Dixon, IL on 8-29-2008

LNG650, a wild male, was tagged in Blue Mountain, TX on 10-13-2008

The tagging records for the other tags are not currently in our database; however:

NAU449 was issued to a tagger in Port Burwell, Ontario

NCX611 was issued to a tagger in Leavenworth, KS

and if ?LH999 is actually NLH999, it was issued to a tagger in Appleton, WI

Working on the database a little today, can you tell

[Monarch MaMa]

And today March 16, my friend Diane reports buying the following tags from locals in Michoacan, Mexico:
NNY 406, older tags AGY 602 and AHK 658, MCN 719, MMR 981, MMB881, MLX 368, MPB 228, MEP 809, NJB 619, MEW 207, AND MCA 036.

Jim, thanks for your info - I'm guessing the Brevard, NC tag could be Ina W ?

-Debbie, SE MI

[Jim]

Could have been Ina, but wasn't...

Please make sure that Diane reports all of her tags numbers to us via the normal channels - sending an email to the address on the tag is probably easiest - and includes all pertinent recovery info (when, where, who, etc.).

Thanks!

[Jim]

Tag Code - Tag Date - M/F - Tag Location
AGY602 - 10/8/01 - M - Quemado, TX
MCN719 - 9/5/09 - wild M - Menno, SD
MEP809 - 9/10/09 - reared F - Grosse Pointe Park, MI
MEW207 - 9/4/09 - reared M - Tripoli, IA
MLX368 - 9/9/09 - reared F - Burton, OH
MMB881 - 9/4/09 - wild M - Menno, SD
MMR981 - 9/13/09 - wild M - Movada, IA
MPB228 - 11/7/09 - wild F - San Saba, TX
NJB619 - 9/11/10 - wild M - Adel, IA
NNY406 - 9/27/10 - wild F - Decorah, IA

[Monarch MaMa]

Of course Jim, she sent in the tags to Monarch Watch this weekend.

Future Taggers: in order to use the tags for research, there are 3 critical steps:
1) tag the butterfly
2) record tag ID, sex, location, wild/reared, and date - all columns on the supplied data sheet
3) MAIL DATA SHEET back to Monarch Watch.

Without all these steps, recovered tags are invalid data and monies spent to pay those who found the tags is spent needlessly. About 1/3 of all recovered tags paid for have no matching returned Data Sheet. Let's work together and reduce this percentage to nearly zero.

[reggorf]

Tag Code - Tag Date - M/F - Tag Location
AGY602 - 10/8/01 - M - Quemado, TX
MCN719 - 9/5/09 - wild M - Menno, SD
MEP809 - 9/10/09 - reared F - Grosse Pointe Park, MI
MEW207 - 9/4/09 - reared M - Tripoli, IA
MLX368 - 9/9/09 - reared F - Burton, OH
MMB881 - 9/4/09 - wild M - Menno, SD
MMR981 - 9/13/09 - wild M - Movada, IA
MPB228 - 11/7/09 - wild F - San Saba, TX
NJB619 - 9/11/10 - wild M - Adel, IA
NNY406 - 9/27/10 - wild F - Decorah, IA

Burton, Oh. That is me!!! Can you give me any more info where it was found? Will I get a certificate for this? That is so exciting!!! YAY!

[reggorf]

I just realized that our park district releasing lots of butterflies in Burton at our county fair every year, so it may not have been mine. But it is cool to know that one of our local butterflies made it that far. AMAZING!

[dandjtaylor]

A curious observation leading to my question. I noticed that prior to 2009, the recovered tags in Mexico were as many as +800. With the 2009 and 2010 records there were less than 200. Does that mean that there are still tags to be recovered/purchased? I can understand that the 2009 tags were affected by the floods, but what about the 2010's?

[Paul Cherubini]

Yes there are still lots and lots of tags in Mexico waiting to be purchased. For the past two winters Chip Taylor has not visited Mexico to buy tags like he usually does so only a few interested tourists like Diane Pruden purchased some.

[Mona Miller]

You make it sound like he is doing something wrong. Last year there was a huge storm in Mexico. This year, there was an uncertainty about people's safety. The Monarch Teacher Network cancelled their usual trips there and instead went to California.

Maybe the people who have tags for sale should get together and contact Monarch Watch. The mail still works for shipping both ways.