This from the national Monarch Watch people. (Reminder.. our garden is a certified Monarch Waystation.
Greetings Monarch Watchers!
Spring seems to have sprung a bit
early across the U.S. and we know many of you are anxious to hear how
the monarchs fared over the winter in Mexico (we've been anxious too!) -
we have that news for you and more this time around so please take a
minute to read through this brief newsletter and share it with anyone
you think might be interested. We have a number of other projects going
right now and we will posting a lot of new information via our blog (http://monarchwatch.org) in the coming months so be sure to check in from time to time :-)
Happy Spring!
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Monarch Population Status
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The
size of the overwintering monarch population in Mexico is usually
released in late January or February. Early reporting helps all of us
plan for the season ahead. Unfortunately, for reasons that are not
clear, this report wasn't released to the press until the 15th of March -
at the end of the season and a week after the first monarchs from
Mexico had made their appearance in Texas.
The total for all
colonies, as reported to the press, is 2.89 hectares. There is good news
and bad news in this number. The good news is that the population was
larger, by almost a hectare, than we expected. The bad news is that this
number represents the 4th lowest total for the monarch colonies
recorded since the winter of 1994-1995. Further, this population
represents a continuation of a trend - the 8th consecutive population
below the long term average.
For those interested, we have posted further discussion (with much more detail) via our blog at http://monarchwatch.org/blog
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