Dear Dummerston Neighbors,
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of you last Thursday at Bunker Farm. It’s clear you share my excitement about Monarch butterflies. Hopefully your Swamp Milkweed plant now has a home in your garden and is soaking up today’s rain. Like you, I am anxiously awaiting the return of the Monarch butterflies to VT!

As spring moves into summer, I will send you periodic homegrown informational videos to help you learn more about the Monarch’s life cycle and assist you as you begin to collect data. The first video, which is attached below, is an introduction to the project. The videos will also be posted on the Dummerston Conservation Commission’s Youtube page. I am not an expert on Monarchs so I do hope you’re comfortable having us learn together. Feel free to contact this group with your own observations, tips and questions. In addition, I recommend you visit the website of Monarch Joint Venture and Xerces. Both contain a wealth of information regarding Monarchs and butterfly habitat restoration.

So that you will be prepared for what’s ahead, I recommend you have on hand a good metric ruler, hand lens, and a notebook/sketchbook for recording information, making observations and sketching. If you’re more comfortable collecting data digitally, that’s totally fine! Also, plan to take lots of photos.

Thanks again for participating, and keep in touch!
Judy Fink