There weren’t many monarch butterflies present, but there were plenty of butterfly-related activities for those who attended the Kansas Wetlands Education Center’s (KWEC) butterfly festival on Saturday.
Around 350 adults and children attended the annual event, with visitors from as far away as Dodge City and Hays.
“It was gratifying to be able to fully host the KWEC Butterfly Festival this year after a two-year absence, said KWEC Director Curtis Wolf.
Morgan Hoffman’s young family enjoyed the event.
“My 5-year old liked the butterfly dance,” she said. “My younger son liked the cookies, and the baby was along for the ride.”
She’s hoping to bring them back out to tag monarchs at KWEC, if the butterflies arrive in the next several days. If the monarchs arrive this week, a tagging date and time will be posted on KWEC’s Facebook page.
According to Monarch Watch, the 2022 migration will be late and drawn out, due to delays in the second generation's development. Continued heat and drought will stress monarchs as they try to find food during their migration south from Kansas through Mexico.
One monarch butterfly was captured and tagged just as the festival began and three monarchs emerged from chrysalises, so those who attended could see live examples of each life cycle stage – egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult.
“My favorite part was the dance, when they raised their arms and the wings spread out,” said one young attendee.
Another’s favorite was the puppet show, and still another said she really like the art and making her own butterfly banner.
New this year, the Barton Dance Theater from Barton Community College, performed two butterfly ballets and children’s workshops, under the direction of Danika Bielek, BCC dance instructor. Both proved very popular.
“We are thankful to the many volunteers that help us put on this event,” Wolf said.
It takes a lot of volunteers to put on the festival and several have helped at every festival since it began in 2012. Karole Erikson, who has served as a tagging leader since the first festival, traveled from the Kansas City area to help, along with her husband Jay Miller. They’ll be back, she said, hopefully with more monarchs!
