Friday, October 14, 2011

The Monarchs Are on the Move in the South...

If you live in Oklahoma or Texas and have noticed an increase in the population of bright orange Monarch butterflies in recent days, you're not alone...


October brings increasing cool frontal activity into the central and southern Plains, which brings increasing periods of Northerly winds.  As a result, the annual pilgrimage of the Monarchs from the breeding grounds up North to their winter home in Mexico begins...


The latest cool frontal passage late Wednesday resulted in Northerly winds as far South as the Gulf Coast and deep South Texas.  It is believed that the Northerly winds, along with a built-in compass sensitive to the sun help guide the butterflies to their winter home and breeding grounds in the pine forests near Mexico City, the largest of which is known as the Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve.

The Monarch is the only butterfly that migrates like birds do.  The journey to Mexico in the fall usually ends in Texas by the first week of November.  The 2nd or 3rd generation of offspring will return back Northward sometime in February or March of the following year.

Just like humans, these long distance travelers sometimes stop for a brake along their journey.  So if you have a "butterfly bush" or any variety of milkweed plants nearby, get the camera ready and you just may be able to capture quite a site over the next couple of weeks...


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