Subject: Interest in Participating in a Monarch Alert Network in KS,OK,TX, and MEXICO

From: Charles Ellenbrook <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 19:55:57 -0500

I would like to know if there is anyone [a few individuals] in the states
of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and the Republic of Mexico who would be
interested in networking together in tracking the fall migration of
monarchs in each of these states and Mexico this coming fall?

Basically, by alerting each other by the formation of such an electronic
network we would possibly have the benefit of advance information of the
migration, perhaps this would enable us to pinpoint the areas, within our
part of the state, more readily, and therefore, the advantage of being
alerted so we could take to the field for observation, tracking, tagging
efforts, etc.

Perhaps abrief data/informational format could be developed and then
forwarded to each person paraticipating in the network.  This format could
include such data as:  locale, time, count estimates, weather conditions,
wind velocity, temperatures, flight direction, tagging efforts, etc.

The network could be established for persons interested in such an Monarch
Alert Network and would rely on those individuals beginning in the northern
states who would alert those in the south as the migration progresses
southward through the states to Mexico.  Networking would be thru the use
of our individual e-mail addresses.

As for myself, I reside in Comanche County, Oklahoma in the city of Lawton.
Lawton is situated in the southwest corner of the state of Oklahoma on the
easternmost extremies of the ancient Wichita Mountains Range.  I
participate each year in the Annual Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
Butterfly Count and this is our 5th year to participate in the NABA's
National Count. In the past couple of years we have been involved in the
Monarch tagging program.

If anyone is interested please contact me at my e-mail address:
[email-masked]    .  I would appreciate your comments.

Thank you.

Charles Ellenbrook
Lawton, Oklahoma
[email-masked]

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From: Chip Taylor <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 21:20:08 -0500

The list serve dplex-l was established roughly 18 months ago by the Monarch
Watch to provide the networking suggested in the posting by Charles
Ellenbrook. At present there are over 200 subscribers to the list and new
subscribers are joining the list at the rate of 2-5 per week. The network
is now large enough so that we should be able to track the fall migration
with some effectiveness. It is our intention to post weekly reports to our
web site as well. Instructions for subscribing to dplex-l can be obtained
sending a request to me at the email address on the header or to
[email-masked]. The address for the web page is given in the
signature below.

Snip from Charles Ellenbrook
>monarchs in each of these states and Mexico this coming fall?
Snip
>wind velocity, temperatures, flight direction, tagging efforts, etc.

MW: We haven't done so but we could send such a report form to the members
of the list and we could place it on the web site as well. In fact, there
are several monarch web sites that have these kinds of observation forms.
There are pros and cons to these types of reports. They do provide better
information but they sure get dull in a hurry and frankly, many people are
inhibited by forms or might not report if they don't have them handy. Our
open forum seems to work reasonably well but since many subscribers are new
to electronic means of communication, gentle reminders are needed from time
to time to encourage them to send basic information - such as who they are
and where they are reporting from.

Monarch Watch
EMAIL:  [email-masked]
URL:  http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu
DPLEX-L:  send message "info DPLEX-L" to [email-masked]
PHONE - toll-free!:  (888) TAGGING
FAX:  (913) 864 5321
SNAIL:  c/o O.R. Taylor, Dept. of Entomology, Univ. of KS, Lawrence KS 66045

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From: Brad Williamson <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 21:53:49 -0500

Charles.....

The Monarch Watch fits your description for a network.  We started about 5
years ago and involve hundreds of KS, OK, TX and Mexico volunteers to
monitor the fall migration by tagging and observation.  Results are
discussed on the dplex-l listserv and on our web site at
http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu.