Monarch March
The Monarch butterfly is an iconic butterfly, with large bright orange wings.
Right now, the Monarch butterflies are just beginning to emerge from their winter sleep in Mexico, getting ready to begin the journey north to lay their eggs. It takes roughly three generations of Monarchs to finally reach us in Nova Scotia. The generation that hatches here in the northern region will fly all the way back to Mexico, a 5000-kilometer flight to reach the special forests they spend the winter. This flight is one of the longest insect migrations in the world!
MTRI is asking everyone to celebrate the massive flight and to raise awareness for this Endangered butterfly by marching during the month of March. Our goal is to collectively march 5,000 kilometers for this amazing insect. Grab a friend, your coworkers or your pet and head out for a walk, whether it is one kilometer or ten, it all helps this cause.
Let us know how far you marched by sending us a message on Facebook, Instagram, through email, or submit your march here: Submit March
You can find out more information by messaging MTRI on any of our social media, checking out our website www.merseytobeatic.ca or giving us a call at 902-682-2371.
Let’s march for Monarchs together!
Kespukwitk (Southwest Nova Scotia) iNaturalist Competition
This year, thanks to the support of the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, we are launching our biggest Kespukwitk (Southwest Nova Scotia) iNaturalist Competition ever! Over the next year, we will be hosting 4 seasonal, 2-week-long Kespukwitk Municipal iNaturalist Competitions. These are fierce but friendly competitions between the municipalities of Annapolis, Digby, Clare, Yarmouth, Argyle, Barrington, Shelburne, Lunenburg and Queens to see who can collect the most wildlife observations with the free iNaturalist app. To join, all you must do is log onto iNaturalist and take observations in Kespukwitk during the 2 weeklong competitions.
Our competitions will run:
Spring: May 15 - 28
Summer: July 17 - 30
Autumn: Sept. 11 - 24
Winter: Feb. 12 - 25
During each competition, we will host guided nature walks around the region to get you out and inspired by the biodiversity around us! We will also have prize draws of wildlife guides, cards, swag and outdoor gear to help you on your next adventure.
iNaturalist is a free app that allows anyone to ID wildlife, and it uses that data to support conservation projects and wildlife research. One such project at MTRI is our Herp Atlas, a project dedicated to better understanding reptiles and amphibians in Nova Scotia.
Stay up to date by following our competition on iNaturalist: https://inaturalist.ca/projects/fourth-annual-spring-kespukwitk-municipal-inaturalist-competition
Workshops
Throughout the year we host a series on a variety of topics, including Non-Timber Forest Products, Medicinal Plants, Soils, Edible Mushrooms, Woodlot Demos, and Photography to name a few
Visit @merseytobeatic on Facebook and Instagram to see what you can learn at MTRI this year!