Welcome to the 2022 Windy Acres Monarch Butterfly study. All our data will be shared with you and JourneyNorth.org to help monitor milkweed growth, monarch butterfly egg counts and their migration. This page will be updated monthly with our findings. The area sectioned off at Windy Acres is indicated below with the orange square on the map. Photos of the progression will also be shared.
This has been an interesting journey recording milkweed plant counts, looking for monarch butterfly eggs, and keeping an eye out for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Typically, you would find the eggs before you see the caterpillars, but it seems a monarch butterfly cruised by the monitoring site, as well as other parts of the property, and hid those eggs quite effectively. Two caterpillars were found at the monitoring site and 8 were found in a milkweed patch very close to it. I have been working closely with the monarch butterfly community and there has been a consensus across the US that the migration period is on the slow side opposed to previous years. Observers have suggested a variety of reasons. Some have blamed the cooler spring we’ve had, and others point to the use of pesticides. There are others that have encouraged me to hang in there until July/August before I will see some major activity. I will post my findings toward the end of July and hope my monarch butterfly peers are right!
~ Councilwoman Amy Switlyk
https://maps.journeynorth.org/map/?map=monarch-larva-spring&year=2022
