Tags clipped on to monarch butterflies Saturday in Sturgeon Bay could be detected as far away as Mexico this winter. Crossroads at Big Creek held Pollenpolooza featuring lessons on how to grow plants that will attract the right kinds of pollinators and a presentation from Karen Newbern of Monarch Watch. Newbern is a Door County native who helps to raise the majestic butterflies locally, from caterpillar to adult. She was showing off her newest butterflies Saturday to the family of Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead from the Miller Art Museum. 

The sunny skies were accompanied by strong winds that kept wild monarchs away. Luckily, for the kids in attendance, Newbern needed some help tagging her own. Monarchs migrate thousands of miles each year across North America and back. The trip takes months each way and is one of science’s most studied phenomenons. Newbern says she has never had a tagged monarch recorded by watchers south of the border, but several locals have. The events are staples of the area through September in anticipation of the great migration for the wintertime.