The 2019 Season is Here
The new season is here! While I haven’t actually seen a monarch yet this year, I have 8 eggs after my milkweed inspection this morning. I found 3 yesterday and decided I needed to take another look today as Monarchs don’t generally leave eggs on one milkweed and leave the yard. I found 3 eggs yesterday on one plant and found 5 more today on 5 different plants. Mommy monarch hit the Common, Swamp and Tropical milkweeds I have in different places in the yard. She definitely made the rounds!
The first eggs I found last year was May 31st, so we are pretty much right on schedule. However, the milkweed in my yard last year at this time was at least several inches taller. The tallest Common milkweed in the yard today is only about 4 inches tall. Last year at this time they were at least a foot or more. That late April snow we got didn’t help. The monarchs don’t seem to care how tall the milkweeds are though. They will find the plants no matter what. In fact, one of the eggs I found today was on a milkweed barely two inches tall. I remember finding eggs last summer on milkweed barely an inch tall. These little creatures are on a mission when it comes to laying their eggs. If there is milkweed available, they will find it!
So happy to see such a great increase in the overwintering numbers this year. Journey North has reported the overwintering monarchs to have covered 6.05 hectares (14.9 acres). This is the highest number recorded since 2006, making an increase of 144%! These measurements are made at the overwintering sanctuaries in Mexico each December and considered to be annual report card on how well the monarchs are doing. Unfortunately, these beautiful creatures had been on a downward trend for the past decade, falling to an all-time low of 0.67 hectares (1.65 acres) in the winter of 2013-2014. (Journey North, January 30, 2019)
While I am thankful the Monarch population is picking up in my midwestern area, this is not the case for the monarch population on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. There are two migratory monarch populations in North America. One population overwintering in Mexico (the eastern population) and one overwintering along the California coast (the western population). The western population has dropped to the lowest levels ever seen, with less than 30,000 individual butterflies. (Journey North, January 30th, 2019)
Shout out to #nordj73 who I follow on Instagram raising monarchs in San Fernando CA. Keep up the great work girl! She is doing her part in helping the western population, releasing about 125 at the end of October 2018. Hats off to her as her season almost never ends.