| HOW YOU CAN HELP Members of the Monarch Watch are involved in a variety of
activities, including tagging of migrating monarchs, maintaining migration journals, rearing monarchs
for release or for classroom projects, and planting milkweeds and butterfly gardens.
Go here for information
creating a Monarch Waystation. Tagging is
the principal of the activity of our members in the fall. The spring activity is one of reporting
sightings, egg laying activity and flight direction. Even if you don't formally join the Monarch Watch, I
would still like to hear of your sightings or other activities. |
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MEMBERSHIP ACTIVITIES - When does the Watch begin? Our educational programs run
year round, but the monarchs fly for a limited time only! As the length of our days shortens in
mid-August and September, Monarchs in the northern latitudes, i.e., near the Canadian border, begin
to migrate. Monarchs farther south will begin their journey a few weeks later. Tagging and
monitoring should begin in late August in all regions, with a concentrated effort made in September and
early October. Instructions on how to collect and tag monarchs are provided with membership kits.
Also included in each membership kit are a calendar and data sheet for recording daily observations.
Some of our most useful information is obtained from individuals who simply maintain a
monarch journal, diary or calendar. Monarch Watchers keep records of the first appearance of
migratory monarchs, the numbers seen each day, and habitat information, etc. Some participants have
obtained very good quantitative data by counting the numbers of monarchs passing a given observation
site each hour. A Season Summary is sent to all members in April of each year. This summary
includes records of all tagged monarchs that were recaptured during the previous fall, winter, and
early spring. It may also include observations on the conditions of monarch populations, news items,
tips on rearing monarchs, ideas for teachers and students, and new information on
monarch biology. |
| HOW TO JOIN The annual membership fee is $25, which
helps to defray some of the cost of the materials, postage and tag recovery
efforts. Monarch Watch members receive a tagging kit containing
25 tags, instructions, and updates about the migration. |
|
**All tag orders for the 2008 season must be received by September 1,
2008. After that date I can
not guarantee being able to fill your order. If you wish to become a member of the Monarch
Watch, please send your name, address, and order information. Include a check or money order payable
to Arkansas Monarch Fund for the appropriate amount and send it to: |
| Arkansas Monarch Watch |
| c/o Dr. Jim Edson |
| School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences |
| University of Arkansas at Monticello |
| Monticello, AR 71656 |
|
|
HOW TO REACH US - We're in the business of sharing knowledge, so it's important that you
know how to contact us and access information. There are several ways to do this: |
|
MAIL/COURIER - See address above. |
| TELEPHONE - OFFICE: (870) 460-1966. |
| TOLL FREE: 1 (800) 844-1054 |
|
In the height of tagging season, we're inundated with phone calls, so this may not always be
the fastest way to reach us. There is an answering machine, though, and we try to answer all calls
within one working day. When you leave a message, please be sure to give your name and full
phone number (speaking clearly and slowly, of course!), as well as when you can be reached. |
|
FAX (870) 460-1164 |
| The fax machine is on 24 hours a day, but we only retrieve faxes 8-5 M-F, unless prior
arrangements have been made. |
|
E-MAIL edson@uamont.edu |
| Please be sure to include your snail-mail address (and an alternate summer snail-mail address
if you're a teacher), and tell us just what you need. We try to answer all e-mail within one or
two working day(s). |
|
ELECTRONIC MAILING LIST |
|
Dplex-L is the name of
our electronic mailing list and discussion group on the Internet. If you
have an internet Email account, you can join in!
We have finally reached
a critical number of subscribers who are well-distributed along
migratory routes. Reports of the migration by subscribers allow many
students and teachers to follow the migration before, during and after
their tagging. Many spectacular observations of the migration have been
made by Monarch Watchers in previous years. Information on recovered
tags are reported to the list. Subscribers also post questions, provide
useful tips and tricks on the use of Monarchs in classrooms and report
news of meetings and conservation efforts. Following reports to the list
is a good way to learn much more about Monarchs. Presently there are
more than 500 subscribers from 11 countries on Dplex-L; however, we need
more of you to join in, so... |
|
To receive more
information about Dplex-L, just send an e-mail message to
Listproc@ku.edu; in the body of the message
type: info Dplex-L. Do
not type anything in the Subject field and do not include any extraneous text -
these requests are processed by a computer. You will receive an Email message
that summarizes the goals of the list and includes ListProc commands you'll need
to know in order to subscribe/unsubscribe and participate.
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