The potential for these waystations is just terrific. |
These butterflies are the symbol of richness of biological diversity and marvelous scientific aspect. |
They are interested in conservation and the issues involved in saving monarch habitats in both the United States and Mexico. |
This is perfect. That is exactly what I anticipated they would find today. |
This year is better than it's been in the last three years, |
To a lesser extent (they like) the whites and reds, but blues, yellows and oranges are the main bee flowers. Although there are very good white bee flowers - white sweet clover is the best honey plant in the world. |
We can get our hands dirty, and we can have fun. |
We didn't know how to interpret it at the time, ... it turns out that was a good sign, and the number of butterflies that made it to the far north in June was quite good. There were very favorable conditions there. |
We're still in the infancy, but it is taking off, and I think so far we have probably 280 way stations registered and certified. I suspect by this time next year it is going to be 2,000. It's been a good response so far. |
What we did was create a program last April that acknowledges the fact we are in deep trouble in the United States through habitat loss. With massive habitat loss, we've got to do something. |
When I got started with this, it appeared that the whole migration was just chaos pushed by weather, totally unpredictable. It turns out you can predict to within two or three days where they are going to be, and they make this migration on the basis of some celestial change. |
When we got started, my colleague, Brad Williamson, said that we ought to get schools involved. I was skeptical that school kids could contribute, but we designed something that teachers could use to help students contribute data. |