Monarch butterflies making their way through region
CARROLL TOWNSHIP - Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge officials always welcome monarch butterflies this time of the year as the flying insects push south on their journey toward Mexico.
But 2018 saw an unprecedented surge of monarchs, as the iconic creatures waited out a weekend of rainy, cold weather along the wildlife refuge's shoreline.
Eddy Pausch, assistant refuge manager, recalled tens of thousands of monarchs congregated in trees along Wildlife Drive the weekend of Sept. 9-10, 2018.
He acknowledged he'd never seen anything like it.
"Honestly, I think that's a once-in-a-lifetime event," Pausch said this week, recalling the monarchs' 2018 arrival and the stir it caused among wildlife enthusiasts on social media.
There have been sightings of smaller groups of monarchs so far this month, and Pausch said he expects to see a bigger peak migration in the coming days and weeks.
Pausch said he and other ONWR officials have fielded some recent calls from residents asking about the monarchs and whether they've arrived.
Weather conditions are a factor in Monarch butterfly migration
Every year, hundreds of millions of monarchs head south during the autumn to escape the cold winter. While the annual migration usually runs from late August through October, it can begin sooner depending on weather conditions.
Monarch butterflies from this area travel more than 2,500 miles to winter in Mexico, where they hibernate in fir trees.
Deb Nofzinger, the Sandusky County Park District's program coordinator, said there's a Journey North website, journeynorth.org, that tracks monarch peak migration.
Since the start of September, monarch migration observers have posted about mass sightings in Ontario, Michigan and Wisconsin, with scattered postings in Ohio.
An Oak Harbor observer posted on Journey North about seeing 20 monarchs Sunday.
Nofzinger said she's been seeing monarchs moving through Sandusky County.
"The ones that are migrating, their main intention is to fuel up on nectar," Nofzinger said, with monarchs building up fat storage for their long trip to Mexico.
Last year's surge in monarchs was unusual... but it could happen again
Monarchs are not habitual, and which way the wind blows pretty much determines where they will roost, Nofzinger said.
She agreed with Pausch that last year's monarch surge at the wildlife refuge was highly unusual.
"It would be fantastic if that happened again," Nofzinger said.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced in August it was teaming up with the state's agriculture and transportation departments to help monarchs by adding ideal habitats across the state.
Ohio plans to add millions of milkweed and nectar plants to create new monarch habitat by 2035. Milkweed plants host breeding monarchs, and nectar plants provide food.
Since 2006, the monarch population has grown
Nofzinger said the monarch population reached some of its lowest levels in 2006, but has slowly rebounded.
She said some of the biggest threats to the monarch population are threats to natural habitat areas in the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the need for more milkweed patches.
The park district's Creek Bend Farm at Wilson Nature Center has added a couple of milkweed patches for larval feeding areas.
Nofzinger said the center has working to expand its pollinator garden and add a wider variety of nectaring plants since its opening in 2014.
Depending on weather conditions, monarch butterflies should continue their migration through Ottawa and Sandusky counties through the end of September and possibly into early October.
Nofzinger said she had heard there may be thousands of monarchs staging now at Lake Erie's Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada.
If the winds are favorable, that whole group of monarchs may start coming over to the U.S. mainland soon, Nofzinger said.