Thursday, October 16, 2008

Monarch Tagging and Release

by Donna L. Watkins

We recently attended a Monarch workshop in Charlottesville, Virginia, at Ivy Creek Natural Area.

© 2008 Donna L. Watkins - Monarch Butterfly On Upright Verbena

After learning more about Monarchs and listening to the answers given to the children present (who know how to ask great questions), we went outside to learn how to identify male and female Monarchs.

Then the fun part! We learned how to tag, record data and release Monarchs. This project helps the Monarchs. There have been 11,000+ Monarchs recovered since 1994 and the data is all online available to scientists and citizens alike. View Monarch Recovery Website.

Tagging kits can be ordered and anybody can join in on this fun project. I wish we'd ordered a kit before this year's migration through our habitat. We have determined we will be prepared for next year. It's already on the calendar. Get Info On Tagging Program.

It was a fun time and although there were excited children all around, I still managed to get a few good pictures of the step-by-step process. View Monarch Tagging and Release Workshop Photos.

1 comment:

JacquiKnight said...

Beautiful photograph. Aren't the Monarchs wonderful. We've been tagging Monarchs here in New Zealand for a couple of years. I learned a lot from Linda Marchman and her butterfly garden on a recent visit to Charlottesville. (Also loved Monticello.) Beautiful part of the world.

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