The annual monarch butterfly migration from Mexico to the northern U.S. and Canada is in full swing, and luckily for fans of the beautiful orange and black pollinators, Richardson is in the pathway and is a great place to spot them. The City has been a Mayor’s Monarch Pledge city since 2015 (a program of the National Wildlife Federation) and has established dedicated butterfly gardens in four parks—Berkner, Prairie Creek, Durham and Yale—and includes plants that attract and feed butterflies in park and landscape projects wherever feasible.
Because of the critical role monarchs play in our ecosystem and their declining numbers over the past 15 years, people are encouraged to incorporate butterfly-friendly plants in their own landscapes and community gardens, and to log any sightings at www.journeynorth.org and/or www.monarchwatch.org/calendar. Scientists rely on the help of “citizen scientists” to understand the monarch’s conservation needs.
Monarchs are the only known butterfly to make a two-way migration; they’re expected to make their way back through Richardson in the fall.
