After four years, the Audubon Center and Sanctuary's annual monarch butterfly event has become so popular that this year it's expanding into a day-long celebration.
The Monarch Butterfly Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the center.
"Our visitors have been so excited about seeing monarchs in every stage of development, from tiny eggs through the caterpillar, chrysalis, and into beautiful butterflies, that we want to extend our hours and offer even more ways to get up close and personal with these amazing creatures,'' said Jeff Tome, Audubon senior naturalist.
Visitors will walk into a large room filled with wildflowers and be surrounded by monarch butterflies in all stages of development. The butterflies are allowed to fly free, and a special area is set aside where children and adults alike can sit down to hold a butterfly or caterpillar.
In preparing for the festival, naturalists and volunteers from the Audubon Center and Sanctuary have been collecting and raising scores of monarch eggs and caterpillars this summer. Day camp children have found monarch eggs that are being raised for the butterfly house. One group found 15 eggs a day on the same two patches of milkweed; another fed more than 100 caterpillars every day.
Barbara Case, a monarch butterfly expert, said she looks forward to answering questions about raising and tagging monarch butterflies, growing milkweed, planting a butterfly garden, or establishing a monarch way station to help these beautiful travelers.
Visitors will be able to borrow a net to catch butterflies outside and have them identified. There will also be a plant sale, crafts, special signage for the butterfly garden, ongoing slide shows on monarch migration, hot dogs and chips.
Children are welcome to attend with adult supervision. The Monarch Butterfly Festival admission is $5 for Audubon members, $7 for non-members and $3 for children.
The Audubon Center and Sanctuary is at 1600 Riverside Road, off Route 62 between Jamestown and Warren. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sundays The trails and Bald Eagle viewing are open from dawn to dusk.
For more information, call 569-2345 or visit www.jamestownaudubon.org.
