We has a lot more fun at Mickey's than this photo implies! Mickey, Carolyn, Beverly, Linda, and Dianne were there the morning of 3/18. We discussed the horticultural needs of milkweed, the types of milkweed native to our area, possible locations on public and private lands to establish milkweed for monarchs, and initiation of a new North American Butterfly Association (NABA) butterfly monitoring circle to allow us and the public to start providing real data on butterfly counts. We'll be modelling our circle after the GTMNERR circle, and we appreciate their generous offer of assistance to us to get that started. We'll post more about our 4th of July Butterfly Count event as we get it together.This project got its inspiration from Mickey's Monarch Waystation last year. After we did the Support Your Local Monarchs posting, we learned that the monarch is being considered for endangered species listing. We wanted to do something to both inform that discussion and reestablish monarch habitat in our county, which is fast becoming an expanse of housing developments, roadways, and shopping centers from the St. Johns River to the Atlantic Ocean. If you'd like to get involved please email switzerlandgc@gmail.com.
Here are some background links you will find informative:
- NABA Butterfly Monitoring
- Protecting Monarchs at the Pollinator Partnership
- Monarch Butterflies Could Get Endangered Species Status
- Nearly a Billion Monarch Butterflies have Vanished
- The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies (streaming video)
- Monarch Lifecycle
- Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network
No comments:
Post a Comment