Late to the party here, but related to Monarchs, I was in Mexico at their wintering grounds this winter, and the numbers were down significantly (about 40%). They vary greatly, but the decline was concerning. I also have seen very few, and none in my yard. Last year I had lots of monarchs and bumblebees. I'm glad to hear about so many people planting milkweed.
Up the upside, I am swamped with fledgling goldfinches. :D Nina Nina Hale (she/her/hers) 612-805-2071 I live on Dakota and Anishinaabe land On Sat, Jul 20, 2024 at 3:44 PM linda whyte < 0000004e7b0e779a-dmarc-requ...@lists.umn.edu> wrote: > In following the many posts regarding hummingbird numbers, it seems there's > wide variation in the estimated counts, but some consensus about seeing > lower numbers than usual. Given the recent chaotic weather patterns, > perhaps the perceived decline reflects a change in the timing of the > species activity, due to weather. > It might be helpful to hear from some licensed hummingbird banders, > especially any associated with the "Hummingbird Hurrah" in Henderson. It > would also be good to know if the number of accidental hummingbird > encounters by other banders is normal or not. Banders are not all be > licensed to band them, but they still document the catch, and any > information available from the extraction. (So far, all those I work with > seem to have a normal number of 'catch and release'. but I don't personally > keep count.) > > As for Monarch numbers, the same factors may be at play in their > variability. I can only vouch for lower numbers in my home patch (15 > fostered earlier in summer, a long lull in sightings, a recent hatch of 4 > baby caterpillars and 2 or 3 eggs - less than half of my usual results). > > As Jason Frank suggests, there's a complex set of factors that may have > negative impact on the numbers of migrators. The jury is still out on the > actual cumulative effect of those variables. All we can do is keep the > faith and try to mitigate those effects. > > Linda Whyte (St. Paul) > > ---- > General information and guidelines for posting: > https://moumn.org/listservice.html > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social > distancing, and continue to bird responsibly. > ---- General information and guidelines for posting: https://moumn.org/listservice.html Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
