South Fork Nature Center partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2015 to create a monarch habitat as part of its Glade Restoration project. Volunteers, including docents and community members, worked together for many hours to plant and maintain milkweed plants needed by the monarchs to fuel their migration north during the spring months and their southern migration during the fall. This newly created habitat will also supply a much-needed breeding habitat that will allow the multi-generational migration to be successful.

Where do they spend their time during North America’s winter season?
Most monarchs’ Over-Wintering season is spent in Mexico. There are approximately 12 Butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico.

TIP:

Go to Learner.org: Journey North and view a great map of these sanctuaries. Visit other sites listed below to learn more about the migration patterns of the monarchs and some of the partnering organizations working toward their preservation.

Many organizations are collecting and sharing information to help protect the monarchs and other pollinators in the United States.

Some of the monarch threats are:

Breeding habitat loss

Over-wintering habitat loss

Climate change

Pesticides

Natural enemies

South Fork Nature Center is committed to join the ranks and should have monarch activity to report this spring and late summer. Scientific observations will be recorded and shared. Hopefully some of our local students will be participating in this hands-on scientific data collection. Our highly trained docent staff stands ready to join with local educators to extend the classroom learning and create “field based” experiences for students of any age.

Click here to go to our educational page to schedule your class, club or organization field trip.

Educators!

Check This Out!
The educational website “Journey North” has a learning unit available on the Monarch’s Winter Habitat in Mexico. Be sure to click on the “Teachers Guide” to access all the resources such as lesson plans, print-outs, pictures, videos and ideas for creative journaling, scientific process, and assessing your students.
Don’t miss this incredible resource!