Monarch Watch Update - November 2, 2001
http://www.MonarchWatch.org
monarch@ku.edu
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Contents:
1) Welcome!
9) Late Migrants and Population Size
10) 2000 Season Summary - on its way!
12) How to Unsubscribe from this Update
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1) Welcome to Monarch Watch's Update List!
You are receiving this email because you have provided Monarch Watch with your email address at some point and expressed interest in receiving updates from us. If you do not wish to receive these periodic (probably monthly) email updates or feel that you were subscribed in error, please see the unsubscribe information at the end of this message.
Have you somehow missed (or misplaced ;-) an update? Now you can find all of the updates archived online at
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update
If you know someone that you think might be interested in receiving these email updates from Monarch Watch with monarch news, special announcements, tips on raising monarchs in your classroom, monarch tagging information and a whole lot more, please send them on over to
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/signup
to join our new Monarch-Watch-Update email list - it's easy!
Monarch Watch (http://www.MonarchWatch.org) is a not-for-profit educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas. We run a Monarch tagging program and offer Monarch Rearing Kits, Monarch Tagging Kits, and other educational/promotional materials that allow you to actively experience the monarch life cycle and its spectacular fall migration.If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us anytime!
Your friends at Monarch Watch
http://www.MonarchWatch.org
monarch@ku.edu
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We are very happy to let the educators among our members know that we have a new way to help you earn some money for your school/organization as you teach people about monarchs. The Monarch Watch Affiliate Program lets you and your friends, students and their families, and others, contribute 10% of their purchases from Gulliver’s Gift Shop to your group! Here’s how it works:
Have those who appreciate your educational efforts shop in Gulliver’s Gift Shop. During checkout have them select your organization’s name from the drop down box on the coupon page. When they do, you earn 10% for your group! That’s it. They can buy our t-shirts, posters, milkweed seeds, videos, books, and more. Your group will earn 10% of the sale.
We’ve preloaded many of the schools and organizations that have participated in Monarch Watch in the past. To see if your group is listed, visit http://shop.monarchwatch.org/coupon.asp. If you don’t see your organization in the list, you can send a request for it to be added at:
http://shop.monarchwatch.org/services/customer/feedback/sendemail.asp
The Monarch Watch Affiliate Program is a great way to help you earn money for your organization while participating in (and supporting) one of the most unique educational programs available today - Monarch Watch, of course! :-)
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So far this year, we have received $7,800.00 specifically for the Adopt-a-Classroom program. However, this is only about half of what program costs annually. If we cannot meet our goal of $14,000 for this trip, the remaining expenses will have to be paid from our operating budget, as we have done in the past.
We are currently working with many school districts in Texas to get workbooks and textbooks in Spanish. In addition to the many supplies donated by our members, we recently acquired 120 new solar calculators and a few used typewriters. Also on our list of items to take are overhead projectors with transparencies and musical instruments. If you know of a good source for any of these items or have any other ideas, please let us know.
For more information about our Adopt-a-Classroom program or to make a contribution, please visit
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/conserve/adopt.htm
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Due to the abundance of monarchs this fall, we anticipate several hundred and possibly even 1,000 monarch tags will be available for purchase in Mexico this winter. Currently, the fund's balance is $2500.00 which will allow the purchase of 500 tags. If you would like to contribute to this fund, please visit
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/order
to download and/or print out a Contribution & Order Form - thank you!
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We are very pleased to announce some new educational items! After many requests, we are happy to bring you a series of 3 sets of slides that will fit wonderfully into any educator’s program. Choose from sets titled (The) Yearly Life Cycle (of Monarchs), Ecology (of Monarchs), or Overwintering Biology and Conservation (of Monarchs). Each set is $25 and includes 23-24 slides and a script.
We are also adding two new book titles to the store: The Monarchs in the Classroom Curriculum Guide: 3rd Edition and A Field Guide to Monarch Caterpillars.
You'll find a link to Gulliver's Gift Shop on our homepage at http://www.MonarchWatch.org - once you're in the shop, use the easy navigation links or enter a product name in the search box to read more about these items or to place your order.
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We don't want to sound like a broken record, broken record, broken record ;-)
but with all of the new subscribers to this Update List we really need to keep publishing this message. We know there are sources of funding out there and hope that someone receiving this update will "know someone who knows someone" that will be able to match us up with the funding that we need to continue our mission of education, conservation and research.
As many of you now know, Monarch Watch continues to be financially challenged. We are just scraping by and are still searching for corporate or foundation support. Due to a shortfall in income we are attempting to enlarge our base of support through collaborative arrangements with other organizations. Any leads for potential sources of funding you can provide will be greatly appreciated!
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Please send us your data sheets as soon as you complete them. We use the data from the tagging to estimate the size and mortality of the fall monarch population as well as to determine the migration history of every monarch recovered in Mexico or recovered along the migration path. Without your data sheets these tasks become even more difficult and time consuming. Please make copies of your data (just in case!) and send them to us as soon as possible. Thank you for your help!
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The leading edge of the migration seems to have arrived near the overwintering sites in Mexico a bit early this year. Reports on Dplex-L, the email list we maintain for those wishing to post reports on monarchs, indicated that monarchs had arrived at 20 degrees north, only half a degree north of the overwintering sites, by the 22nd of October. By the 27th, large numbers of monarchs were observed by Dave Kust below the colony sites near Angangueo, Michoacan. (Angangueo is an old mining town located between the two major overwintering sites, El Rosario and Chincua.) The local folklore is that monarchs arrive every year coincident with the Day of the Dead (today, 2 November). In fact, they usually arrive a day or three early. However, there are no long-term records or even adequate definitions and descriptions of what the local people observe when the monarchs "arrive". Arrivals at the overwintering sites should peak in mid-November but monarchs should continue to arrive at the overwintering sites through the at least the first week of December.
If you'd like to learn more about "Día de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) you can find lots of links at:
http://muertos.palomar.edu/muertoslinks.htm
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9) Late Migrants and Population Size
Although there have been killing frosts over much of the northern portion of the breeding range, late monarchs have been reported with some regularity over the past two weeks and, as recently as yesterday (1 November), two monarchs were spotted headed in southerly directions in eastern Kansas. In spite of these reports, it appears that the movement of the main portion of the migration through eastern Kansas occurred over a shorter interval than in most years. This year the migration reached Lawrence, KS on 9 September and nearly all of the monarchs disappeared from the region around the 30th. We can usually count on being able to collect up to 30 monarchs per hour through 8 October but this was not the case this year when only a few monarchs could be found during the first week of October.
Based on all the reports received for the fall season and on the surveys such as that conducted by Dick Walton at Cape May, New Jersey, we're still predicting that the monarch overwintering population will contain 80-100 million monarchs, a substantial improvement over the 28.3 million recorded last winter.
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10) 2000 Season Summary - on its way!
Yippee! Nearly 2000 copies of the 2000 Season Summary were mailed this week. Everyone who ordered a 2000 Tagging and/or Membership Kit or the 2000 Season Summary alone should receive their copy this month. Again, we would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding - if you haven't ordered yours yet, head on over to
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/order
and get one (or several ;-) today!
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More than 106 million people will shop online in December, and they will spend a record $9.9 billion during the holiday season, an increase over last year's $6.9 billion, according to Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive.*
This year you can take care of your holiday shopping online and help support Monarch Watch at the same time! How, you ask? It's simple. Head on over to our "Amazon.com Portal" at
http://www.MonarchWatch.org/amazon
use the link provided to surf over to Amazon.com, and start filling your shopping cart with books, music, toys, tools, electronics, and a whole lot more.
Similarly, if you're shopping for the nature buff in the family, head on over to Gulliver's Gift Shop (there's a link provided on our homepage at http://www.MonarchWatch.org) to get Monarch Watch gear, books, videos, posters, calendars, and lots of other nature-related items.
Monarch Watch will receive a percentage of each sale to further our efforts of education, conservation, and research - so spread the word!
Hmmm...now if we could just capture even a small percentage of that $10 billion this year, we could stop publishing Email Update Item #6! ;-)
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*Source: http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0,,4_908021,00.html
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12) How to Unsubscribe from this Update
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Thanks!
Monarch Watch
http://www.MonarchWatch.org
monarch@ku.edu
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Monarch Watch (888) TAGGING - or - (785) 864-4441
monarch@ku.edu