Searching for Monarchs in the Sierra Chincua
by Elizabeth Howard
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A
personal guide ("guia" in Spanish) accompanies all visitors
to the sanctuary. |
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For a special treat, our guide offered to take us on a two hour hike deep into the Sierra Chincua Sanctuary. He knew where a second colony had formed near a place the local people call La Mojonera. There, we'd find trees draped with butterflies, more spectacular than at the first colony, which was nearby but busy with tourists. If we were willing to walk that far, he said, we'd be treated to a private audience with the butterflies. Who wouldn't go?
But, when we reached the site, the butterflies were gone! The place they had occupied for a month, and had been seen as recently as 3 days before, had suddenly been vacated. Although disappointed, this changed our day into a butterfly hunt; we experienced what the biologists did when first searching for the colonies. We knew the butterflies were here, but where? Clustering monarchs are surprisingly hard to see, they're so well camouflaged in the trees, and the Sierra Chincua is huge forest. We scanned the trees carefully as we walked. We also watched the ground for clues. But that day, the butterflies that had temporarily inhabited La Mojonera were not to be found.
Journaling Questions
Writing prompts for your Science Journal:
- Why do you think we watched the ground when looking for the colonies?
- What clues do you think we were looking for on the forest floor of the sanctuary?
- Which pictures contain trees with clusters of butterflies?
- In your answer, use the most descriptive details you can to convey how monarch butterfly colonies appear in the oyamel fir forest.
- Try your skills! Then see our answer.
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