Come visit us this Saturday - in person or online!

Saturday, 20 September 2008 7:30-11:30am CDT
Lawrence, KS, USA

Once again, Jayhawk Audubon Society and Monarch Watch are sponsoring Monarch butterfly tagging for the public at the Baker University Wetlands. The wetlands are located along 31st Street between Haskell and Louisiana. The event will be held from 7:30 AM until 11:30 AM on Saturday, 20 September 2008. There is no charge to participants and no experience is necessary - so bring yourself, your kids (all ages), your friends, and your neighbors! If you have a net, bring that too, though JAS and Monarch Watch will provide the tags, nets, and instructions in how to net and tag monarchs. In 2001, 325 participants tagged nearly 3000 of the estimated 20,000 Monarchs present, and at least 85 of those tagged were recovered at the winter roost sites in Mexico! You can view all of the recoveries tagged at these events by searching for Lawrence-tagged monarchs in our new searchable recovery database.

Every year, tens to hundreds of thousands of Monarchs stop on their way south to refuel on the nectar from the ocean of yellow Bidens flowers at the wetlands, a fantastic site in its own right. We will have check-in and information tables just inside the boardwalk entrance to the wetlands so you can arrive and leave whenever you please. The monarchs are usually roosting or clustering (sometimes in spectacular concentrations!) until around 8:30AM. As it warms up, they begin foraging on the Bidens flowers around the boardwalk.

DONATE NOW! (pretty please)

If you enjoy the various educational, conservation, and research programs Monarch Watch offers throughout the year, please consider making a donation today - it's quick, easy, secure, and fully tax-deductible. You can even set up a recurring gift (monthly or annually) if you'd like. We rely on contributions from Monarch Watchers just like you to keep the program going - thank you for your continued support!

DONATE NOW ONLINE

If you would rather mail in a donation or have questions, please visit Giving in Support of Monarch Watch.

LIVE BROADCAST

We'll be experimenting with broadcasting video "in the field" - see what's going on here:

*Note: to view our live video broadcasts, you must have the Adobe Flash Player (a free player that you may already have) installed on your computer. If you do not have it, you should be prompted to install it - or you can just get it yourself here:

LIVE CHAT SESSION

Leave us your comments about our video broadcast, photos, and/or Monarch Watch in general during our monarch tagging event...

LAUNCH THE CHAT WINDOW

*Note: the online chat requires that you have the Adobe Flash Player (a free player that you may already have) installed on your computer. If you do not have it, you should be prompted to install it - or you can just get it yourself here:

PHOTO SLIDESHOW

We'll post some photos throughout the event here...

LAUNCH THE SLIDESHOW WINDOW

DIRECTIONS TO BAKER-HASKELL WETLANDS

The East entrance to the Baker-haskell Wetlands is located on 31st Street, between Haskell Ave and Louisiana Street (Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A.)

via I-70 Turnpike:

NOTE: Westbound access to the West Lawrence Exit is closed - this affects travelers leaving Lawrence going toward Topeka or travelers coming to Lawrence from Kansas City.

Take West Lawrence exit and continue South on IOWA street. Turn left (east) on 31st street and continue to Louisiana street (stop sign). Keep going east and you'll see the Haskell-Baker Wetlands boardwalk entrance - a gravel driveway on the south side of 31st street, roughly halfway between Louisiana Street and Haskell Avenue. There is ample room along the drive or the wide paved shoulder of 31st Street to park your car. Please be careful when walking along 31st Street!

via westbound K-10: K-10 turns into 23rd street in Lawrence. The 2nd stoplight that you come to will be Haskell Avenue. Turn left (south) on Haskell and continue to 31st street. Turn right (west) on 31st and you'll see the Haskell-Baker Wetlands boardwalk entrance - a gravel driveway on the south side of 31st street, roughly halfway between Haskell Avenue and Louisiana Street. There is ample room along the drive or the wide paved shoulder of 31st Street to park your car. Please be careful when walking along 31st Street!