The Matthews Monarch Mania Butterfly Blog

[Dee & Frank Hughes]

HAWK members Dee Hughes and Carol Buie Jackson discuss plans for the Monarch Waystation with Lee Tillery and Tim Ayers from the Town of Matthews

Have you seen any monarch butterflys around your yard lately? Most of us saw some in June and early July but since then they've gone missing. Those early butterflys were part of a great migration that starts every spring in northern Mexico. The butterflys begin heading north, stopping along the way to lay their eggs and complete their life cycle. Generation after generation continue the flight until they reach their northern-most breeding grounds. Many of them will reach Canada. And then one of natures great magical mysteries happens. You see the normal life cycle of a monarch butterfly is 3 to 4 weeks. But this last generation will live up to 9 months. In this time they will fly all the way back to northern Mexico, hibernate over winter and wake up next spring to start the whole cycle over again.
Be on the lookout. The next monarch butterflys you see here in Matthews will be part of that special generation on their way home.
If you are not inspired to help the little critters on both legs of their journey - well - we'll be working on you.
HAWK and the Town of Matthews are building something called a Monarch Waystation at Squirrel Lake Park and I'll be blogging about it for the next few weeks. As you can see, we met with Lee Tillery and Tim Ayers from the town today to review the garden layout. In the next few days the town will be clearing out the garden area and prepping it with compost. All leading up to Saturday, September 12 when the waystation will be born.
What's a Monarch Waystation? How can I help? What's in it for me? All good questions so keep tuning in for answers and progress reports.
In the meantime, watch the sky and let me know when the first Monarch hits town.