photo by: Shawn Valverde

A monarch butterfly with a tag on its wing perches on a flower head at Monarch Watch's butterfly tagging event at the Baker Wetlands on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.

To celebrate the migrating monarch butterflies, Monarch Watch will be hosting its fall open house this weekend with free family-friendly activities.

The open house will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Foley Hall, 2021 Constant Ave. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to make Monarch Waystations, which are habitats that support monarchs and other pollinators, and visit the butterfly and pollinator garden created and maintained by the Douglas County Master Gardeners. On some days, the garden has had over 20 species of butterflies visit the garden along with many other pollinators.

The event will also offer tours of their gardens, numerous activities, tagging demonstrations, games, monarch butterflies, and caterpillars. New to this year’s event, organizers will offer butterfly host plants suitable for fall planting, while supplies last.

In addition to the open house, Monarch Watch will have its annual Monarch tagging event on Saturday, Sept. 19 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Baker Wetlands Discovery Center, 1365 North 1250 Road.

The tagging event is free to the public, and it will be held rain or shine. No tagging experience is required. While participants are encouraged to bring nets if they have them, Monarch Watch will provide tags, nets, and instructions on how to net and tag monarchs.

Monarch Watch is a conservation and research program based at the University of Kansas that focuses on the monarch butterfly, its habitat, and its fall migration. The nonprofit was founded in 1992 by Dr. Orley “Chip” Taylor and the monarch tagging program was launched in the fall of that year.