My First Day as a Butterfly House Docent

Here is a report on my first time as Butterfly House Docent.  I am pleased to say that I think Sunday morning went wonderfully well. I had printed out a lot of the material from the trainings and the docent manual, as well as the articles on Monarchs and OE. I also brought a butterfly field guide and another two books on OC flora and fauna, and on So Cal native plants. With all of this I was prepared to discuss whatever topics arose. One of the guests was very concerned about the Tropical Milkweed and OE problem, and she took with her all the website and native milkweed information she needed to address this and help local Monarchs.

Things were quiet at first, so I had a chance to have a good look to identify the host and nectar plants, locate some butterflies, and take pictures in case they moved out of sight. We had two flying Painted Ladies and two Cloudless Sulphurs that stayed on the Bladderpod. Two more Painted Ladies had emerged and were drying their wings on the wooden structure. One of the visiting families got to see the first flight of one of these..they were thrilled to witness this. Groups came in pretty regularly after the first half hour, but usually one at a time so I was able to engage with each family and their children. It was nice to hear that a lot of the dads had chosen to come to ENC for Father’s Day with their families.

So, I loved it and I think our guests did too. Looking forward to next week! You can put me on that shift on Sunday morning whenever you need to. Thanks again for giving me this great opportunity.

– ENC Butterfly House Docent