Beautiful Journey
It happens but once a year, and it is an incredible experience: to hold a delicate, winged creature in the palm of your hand, feeling its slight, soft weight and the slow pulsing of its wings for just a moment before it soars away. It may be a fleeting moment but it is so tangible and wonderfully joyous that you don’t want to miss the opportunity at the Monarch Butterfly Festival at Maumee Bay State Park. Naturalists and volunteers carefully collect the eggs off of milkweed plants and nurture them in a safe enclosure until they transform into the gorgeous monarch butterflies that will be released at noon on Saturday, September 7, at the MBSP Trautman Nature Center Gazebo.
According to naturalist assistant Laurel Ashley, this protective process is so essential now as the butterfly populations dwindle due to climate change, herbicide/
pesticide use, predators and the eradication of milkweed that serves as their egg laying and food source. “We invite the public to hold and release
a monarch and to wish them well on their journey to Mexico,” says Ashley.
While you’re there, stop into the nature center to visit the adorable owls Otis and Rufus (I love these guys) and to enjoy the fantastic park displays. Be sure to stroll the nature center’s tranquil and gorgeous marshland Boardwalk Trail (handicap accessible).
For info on all festival activities, call 419-836-9117 and visit parks.ohiodnr.gov/maumeebay for park info. MBSP, 1400 State Park Rd. Oregon, OH.
Fishing Heaven
Shoreline fishing is fun, but fishing on the water puts you right where the action is with the scent of the lake, motion of the waves and the breeze coursing over you. Captain John “JW” Welch invites both novice and skilled anglers “to enlighten your senses and experience what fishing is really about,” on his Fishin’ Edition 30’ Island Hopper traveling Lake Erie’s Western Basin. The crew instructs both adults and children (fishing equipment available) in the fine art of fishing. “Right now, through October, the yellow perch are biting, and they are fun to catch. [There’s] lots of action and challenge for all skill levels,” says JW. The best part of the trip is not only learning to catch any type of fish, it’s the stories and history that are shared. You are in for a really cool, in-the-heart-of-it-all lake adventure.
For more info, visit lakeeriefishing.com and call 419-666-5952 (daytime), or 419-662-8347 (evening) for scheduling and charter rates.
