Happy #WildlifeWednesday! Monarch migration is underway! Eastern monarch butterflies are currently flying through Ohio on their way from their summer breeding grounds in Canada to their overwintering areas in Mexico. The monarchs will migrate thousands of miles, traveling up to 100 miles each day from late August through October, reaching their roosting sites in November. The best time for viewing the largest numbers of butterflies during migration in Ohio is the first 3 weeks of September. The migrating butterflies rely on steady food sources along their journey, including native milkweed and flowers. Loss of grassland and prairie habitats have contributed to the decline of these charismatic butterflies as well as other pollinating insects such as bees, wasps, and moths. Late summer and early fall (right now!) is the perfect time to gather seeds from milkweed pods for planting. Providing more habitat and monarch “waystations” along their flyways contributes to their conservation. Native milkweed species to plant in Ohio include common, swamp, butterfly, and poke milkweed. Milkweed is the sole host plant to the iconic monarch caterpillar, which feeds exclusively on the leaves. Monarchs migrate both individually and in groups, sometimes congregating together in spectacularly enormous numbers to rest and re-fuel, a dazzling sight to nature lovers and photographers. Monarchs can be seen any time of day, though morning is better viewing, before the afternoon temperatures get too hot. They bright orange beauties can be admired flying in the air overhead, as well as be spotted in trees, bushes, grasses, and gardens. The Wilderness Center is a great place to look for monarchs! Come visit our prairie overlooking Wilderness Lake and hike the Prairie Loop trail soon for excellent opportunities to see monarchs up-close and on the wing.
On August 28, 2026, we will be treated to the full Sturgeon Moon and a partial lunar eclipse. The full Moon occurs at exactly 12:18AM EDT. The partial lunar eclipse reaches its maximum at 12:12AM EDT. See more about the eclipse below. If you’re up early you can catch this full Moon before it sets at 7:11AM EDT and of course it will still look big, full, and bright when it rises at 8:17PM EDT later that evening. Native American names for full Moons are rooted in their knowledge of the natural world and their observed changes to this world from month to month. August’s Moon gets its name from the lake sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America. In late summer, and particularly in August, these fish were quite abundant and easy to catch. They were an important food source for many Native American tribes who lived in what are now the St. Lawrence, Hudson Bay, Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Coosa River watersheds. The importance of this fish made it the perfect inspiration for the name of the August Moon. Today, many people are not familiar with the lake sturgeon. The origins of these fish trace back to around 136 million years ago. Their long history and the fact that they look prehistoric have led many to refer to them as living fossils. These once abundant fish that were so important to so many Native American tribes are now quite rare due to overfishing in the 1800’s, pollution and damage to their habitat. Although Sturgeon Moon is the most common name for August’s full Moon there are so many others. There are names associated with plants and harvesting such as the Lakota name Moon of the Ripening. The southern plains Ponca tribe call this the Corn is in the Silk Moon, and the Assiniboine people call it the Black Cherries Moon. There are August Moon names associated with animals. For instance, the Arapaho call this Geese Shedding Their Feathers Moon and the Cree call it the Young Ducks Begin to Fly Moon. Summer heat and drought conditions have given rise to names such as the Catawba name Dry Moon and the Shoshone name Hot Moon. The Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest call it the Mountain Shadows Moon. Although we couldn’t witness the total solar eclipse on August 12 the August full Moon will treat us to a deep partial lunar eclipse beginning late on Thursday, August 27, and ending early in the Morning on Friday, August 28. A lunar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a solar eclipse. A partial lunar eclipse happens when the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon but the three don’t form a straight line in space. When this happens part of the Moon’s surface is covered by the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow, the umbra, and the rest is covered by the lighter outer part of the Earth’s shadow, the penumbra. During this eclipse Earth’s umbra will cover about 96% of the Moon at maximum eclipse which is why it’s called a “deep” partial eclipse. This part of the Moon may glow coppery orange or red in color, very much like a blood Moon. This leaves only a sliver of the Moon covered by the penumbra shining a bright silvery color. The penumbral eclipse begins at 9:30PM, August 27, when the Moon begins moving into Earth’s penumbra shadow. The umbral part of the eclipse begins at 10:30PM as the Moon moves into Earth’s umbra shadow and begins turning red. At 12:12AM, August 28, the maximum umbral part of the eclipse is reached. At 1:51AM the umbral part of the eclipse ends and at 3:01AM the penumbral part of the eclipse ends. In total the eclipse lasts 5 hours and 38 minutes. If you have the opportunity, take time to enjoy the full Sturgeon Moon and the partial lunar eclipse.
