Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Our Butterfly Adventure

On Saturday we went to Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary in Princeton to participate in their Monarch tagging event. It was a lovely September day, though it was a wee bit chilly due to the breeze.
As you can see, the girls were super excited to be there!
There was a chat about the butterfly life cycle (which the girls were well versed in thanks to many books we've read and the Wild Kratt's episode about it).
And then there was a demonstration on how to tag a butterfly once you catch one.
"Mama, I am just so happy to be here with the beautiful butterflies!"
And then it was time for each of us to grab a net and head out into the meadow to catch and tag some Monarchs.  Our leaders told us that there was a good chance that we'd have a tricky time finding them since the winds were so high. 
We headed out in search of Monarchs.
And although we were unable to find any Monarchs we still had an absolutely wonderful time.  We all agreed that we'd surely head back next year (and yes, mom, of course you can come along)!  As we were saying our good-byes our leaders told us that they felt terrible that the conditions were not right for us to be able to find any Monarchs that day.  Apparently, the day before there were hundreds of Monarchs flying all over the sanctuary.  What a sight that must have been!  Bon Voyage, lovely Monarchs!  Have a safe flight to Mexico!



8 comments:

  1. What an awesome day!!!! Reece would love this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You both would! I bet there are some Monarch tagging events near you!

      Delete
  2. They learned that nature does not always cooperate! (Like our beach bird walk last year.....) but you still made the most of it and had a wonderful time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh, I had totally forgotten about your beach walk! Yes, this was just like that! And yes it did indeed bring on a lovely teachable moment! Here's to hoping next year works out more in our favor! :)

      Delete
  3. Love it! What a great way to spend the day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It really was such a great way to spend one of the last few days of summer!

      Delete
  4. Lovely blog. I live in South Carolina and the Monarchs are coming through on their way to Mexico. The Painted Ladies and Gulf Fritillarys are abundant in my backyard garden as well. I love taking photos of them all. Your little girls might enjoy my book, "The Butterfly Adventure"(Amazon.com). It is a story about three butterflies exploring a backyard flower garden for the first time. Nancy Lorraine

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the book recommendation! We'll definitely check it out!

      Delete