Today, I feel compelled to write about monarch conservation. We are in the height of monarch breeding season here in the midwest, and I am seeing post after post on social media about these amazing creatures. In fact, earlier this week, I found four monarch eggs on the common milkweed patch at my house. No…
Tagging Season Tagging season is here! My tags arrived from Monarch Watch last week. I had to wait a few days until a few of the chrysali were ready to burst forth with new monarchs. But, the day came on August 25th. Three monarchs were released and tagged that day….The first of the 2018 tagging…
Periodically this summer I have been posting on my progress with raising monarch butterflies this season. Part I: Silent Sunday: Raising Monarchs Mid June Photo only Post Part II: Mid July Part III: Early August It is the 15th year I’ve raised monarchs and, as an Environmental Educator, I am active in other aspects of…
For the first time ever, I got to teach a class during a summer school session today. It sounds kind of crazy but I have always wanted to teach summer school. For many years, I asked. For many years, nothing came of it. But, being at a different school this year, in a different district,…
For the last three years, I have tagged Monarch Butterflies. Having raised these fascinating, and now troubled, iconic creatures for the last 15 years, I took on the task of tagging their hind wings in the late summer/fall of 2015. I was hooked! It was easy and fun! I was acting as a contributing citizen…
When this challenge was first posted, I was at a loss as to what I could share. Then, I remembered the thousands of photographs I have taken of the various stages of the Monarch Butterfly’s life cycle. My favorite stage is the third stage, the pupa, or chrysalis! I have been raising monarchs for 14…
Below are my submissions to the end of the year WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge for 2017: Favorite Photos.
I spent this morning at a neighboring school district, about twenty minutes away by car. Sixty first graders, in three separate classes, sat quietly and listened to my presentation on the Monarch Life Cycle, the importance of milkweed, Monarch Migration and the development of the Monarch Highway. With the exception of the information on the…
One of my son’s friends tells him I am always “shouting” about butterflies on my social media pages. Shouting might be a bit of an over-exaggeration, but I do have regular posts on this iconic species. I have been involved in Monarch Conservation for almost 15 years now, long before it became a popular thing…
I had to be patient today. Firstly, when I walked into my laundry room this morning, I found that two monarch chrysalises had darkened and I could clearly see the butterfly wings through the hard case made by the pupa. I knew we would have two eclose today, meaning I was going to be able…