Despite weather delay, Schaumburg butterflies ready to fly
The Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg held a going away party Sunday for its monarch butterflies but, as can be the case for human travelers as well, their flights were delayed by bad weather.
A planned release of some of the more than 1,200 butterflies raised at the center - the start of their long journey to Mexico for the winter - was postponed because they will not fly in the rain.
Still, there was plenty else to do at the Schaumburg Park District's second annual Adios Amigos party.
Parents and children learned about the butterflies and made crafts. Guests also received demonstrations of what the nature center does to cultivate the monarchs as the butterflies fluttered nearby in mesh containers.
Trays of milkweed, which is necessary for the butterflies propagation, also were on display.
The butterfly initiative at Spring Valley started as an idea shared among three "ladies at lunch," Carol Johnson and Delores Potter of Schaumburg and Judy Wood of Elk Grove Village. It's blossomed into a project involving a dedicated group of 60 volunteers.
"We're all active in garden clubs and we just love to do projects together," Johnson said. "So we decided we wanted to do something that was lasting. And we looked around for things that would make us happy and leave something to the grandchildren."
"I was just fascinated to think that a little bitty white spot that you can barely see turns into a glorious butterfly that flies away," Potter added. "That really what was got me started. I never dreamed that it would turn into such a popular thing."
Instead of taking off Sunday, the center's remaining butterflies will be released over the next 10-12 days, Johnson said.
The center cultivates milkweed, which attracts butterflies when they migrate north. They lay the eggs that become caterpillars and, ultimately, butterflies.
One of the volunteers, Ned Bruns of Elk Grove Village, explained that pesticides have been reducing milkweed, which monarchs need to live.
"We tell our people (to) plant some milkweed and some butterfly-friendly plants like coneflowers," Johnson said.