Members of Loving Garland Green will be supporting three different Monarch Citizen Scientist projects at the Garland Community Garden and throughout Garland, Texas during our peak Monarch observation periods. This information will be compiled and sent to Monarch Watch—a nonprofit organization affiliated with the University of Kansas.
1. March 10 to April 30, 2017 (52 days)
This is the time in our North Texas area when we are most likely to see Monarchs returning from their winter grounds in Mexico.
During this time we ask people in Garland, Texas who observe a Monarch butterfly to please report it to eebemma@yahoo.com.
- Report the location address/zip code
- Report the time and date
- Report number of Monarchs seen
We are also asking members and citizens to please be on alert when down at the Garland Community Garden to note whether they sight a Monarch Butterfly on that date and during that time period. These also should be reported to the above email address.
Note: On April 27 we have planned a tour of the Garland Community Garden with 70 students from Beaver, a local magnet school here in Garland, Texas. As part of our planned activities we will conduct a Monarch Watch Search with the students.
The National Wildlife Federation offers the illustration above to assist in identifying a Monarch butterfly as there are two other look-a-likes. We recommend that citizen scientists study these three butterflies closely prior to going out into the field. We want to do all we can to ensure that we are identifying Monarch butterflies. For more on being a Butterfly Hero http://www.nwf.org/Butterfly-Heroes.aspx
2. From August 1 to September 25, 2017 (56 days)
This is the time period when the Monarch butterflies are coming through our area on their way back to Mexico for the winter. We will be doing the same things we did at step 1.
3. From August 25 to October 31, 2017 (67 days)
Tagging and Releasing Monarchs and Rescuing Monarch Caterpillars
We will hold classes in the Garland Community Garden during the first two weeks of August to train citizens to capture and tag butterflies with nets. Information on these tagged butterflies will be recorded and sent to Monarch Watch. We will also hold classes teaching citizens how to care for rescued caterpillars and then tag and release them. Information on these insects will also be shared with Monarch Watch.
If you would like more information on how your organization can support Monarch Watch in these areas involving Citizen Scientists, we recommend that you go to the Butterfly Hero site sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/Butterfly-Heroes.aspx
and also the Monarch Watch site at http://www.monarchwatch.org/tagmig