Monarch Butterfly Tagging with the Old Saybrook Land Trust
Schedule
Sat, 27 Sep, 2025 at 11:00 am
UTC-04:00Location
Founders Memorial Park, Old Saybrook CT | Old Saybrook, CT
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Free and Open to All!We tag Monarch butterflies before they start their long migration south. The OSLT and local butterfly experts will be on hand to show the data we collect, how to ID the gender of a butterfly, and then once tagged, we release the butterflies. We may also have caterpillars and chrysalis to observe. You can learn how to attract butterflies, and take some free milkweed seeds to start your own butterfly garden.
We provide all our tagging data Monarch Watch, experts in Monarch migration. Per Monarch Watch, when the late summer and early fall monarchs emerge from their pupae, or chrysalides, they are biologically and behaviorally different from those emerging in the summer. The shorter days and cooler air of late summer trigger changes. Even though these butterflies look like summer adults, they won't mate or lay eggs until the following spring. Instead, their small bodies prepare for a strenuous flight. If they linger too long, they won't be able to make the journey; because they are cold-blooded, they are unable to fly in cold weather.
An unsolved mystery is how Monarchs find the overwintering sites each year. Somehow, they know their way, even though the butterflies returning to Mexico each fall are the great-great-grandchildren of the butterflies that left the previous spring. No one knows exactly how their homing system works; it is one of the many unanswered questions in the butterfly world.
In all the world, no butterflies migrate like the monarchs of North America. They travel much farther than all other tropical butterflies, up to three thousand miles. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, two-way migration every year. Amazingly, they fly in masses to the same winter roosts, often to the exact same trees. Their migration is more the type we expect from birds or whales. However, unlike birds and whales, individuals only make the round-trip once. It is their children's grandchildren who return south the following fall.
Nature is unpredictable, but in past years we have had butterflies, chrysalis and caterpillars to see. Come by and help release butterflies. This event is ideal for children of all ages and adults. If you have not yet seen the sweeping views from Founders Memorial Park, this is a great opportunity!
Learn more about the Old Saybrook Land Trust, or donate, at https://www.oslt.org/
Learn more about Monarch butterflies at https://www.monarchwatch.org/
Please contact [email protected] with questions
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Where is it happening?
Founders Memorial Park, Old Saybrook CT, Old Saybrook, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
