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Update: In addition to recognizing Troop 496 for their efforts, the Wildlife Habitat Council Newsletter also pointed out how Troop 2499 helped New Beginnings and worked toward their forestry badge. They tagged migrating butterflies and also built eight brush piles, which are used to provide shelter for birds and other small animals. Read about both troops and their great work in the Wildlife Habitat Council Newsletter on pages 5 and 6.
In September Girl Scout Troop 496 answered a call from Wildlife Habitat Council. Cadettes Cynthia G. and Christina S., along with leaders Marie Garner, and Theresa Spliedt and myself went out to assist the property manager, Jeff Popp, with some projects on land in Cecil County near Camp Conowingo. The area was once a landfill but it has been transformed into the New Beginnings Woodlawn Wildlife Area.
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The morning was spent cutting back Multiflora Rose (a non-native invasive plant that crowds out native plants) and other plants that had grown into the nature trail. We also removed large sections of Japanese Stilt Grass (another non-native invasive plant).
After lunch came the real fun: capturing, tagging and releasing Monarch butterflies! Every year monarch butterflies migrate from Canada and the U.S. to Mexico. To learn more about these butterflies, scientists tag them and then track their progress. This year, we got to help with the tagging process!
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How do you tag a Monarch butterfly? Well, first you have to catch them which is not easy! Of the nine Monarchs we sighted, we only managed to catch four and two of those escaped during the tagging process. However, we did manage to tag two butterflies. The tag is a small sticker with a sequence of numbers. It is placed on the lower wing of the butterfly—a very delicate process. Then the butterfly is released and hopefully is then on its way to Mexico! Later, in Mexico, if the tagged butterfly is spotted the data will be entered into a database that can be checked online at www.monarchwatch.org. It will take awhile for the data to appear but if you keep checking for JJR150 and JJR151 you’ll know they were tagged by Girls Scouts from our council!
New Beginnings is part of the Wildlife Habitat Council. The Woodlawn Wildlife Area consists of a former landfill and an adjacent natural area. This New Beginnings project is part of an ongoing effort to transform the land into a thriving wildlife area and to establish a unique natural resource in Cecil County, Maryland.