U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Monarch Butterfly Release Celebration

Location

Walter J. Sullivan Water Treatment Facility
250 Fresh Pond Pkwy.
Cambridge, MA 02138

Get directions

Neighborhoods

  • Cambridge Highlands
  • City Wide
  • Neighborhood Nine
  • North Cambridge
  • Strawberry Hill
  • West Cambridge
  • Baldwin

Description

Calendar event image

The seventh annual raising and releasing of monarch butterflies by the Cambridge Water Department at Fresh Pond Reservation has begun! 

From now until the public release ceremony in August you can view the caterpillars’ progress in the Ranger Station at Fresh Pond. The Cambridge Water Department sees this as an opportunity to partner and engage with the public for the benefit of both the monarch butterfly population and Cambridge’s drinking water supply in the urban wild of Fresh Pond Reservation—which was recognized last summer as a migratory monarch waystation after 5 years of propagating both milkweed plants and monarch butterflies.

This raise-and-release project combines volunteer stewardship and public education activities at Fresh Pond Reservation to encourage a monarch population in the beautiful City of Cambridge.  Migratory monarch populations travel between New England and Mexico and have been in decline nationally since the 1990s, it is largely believed that habitat loss is the driving factor in that decline.  Good habitat conditions for monarchs are often conditions that are also essential for healthy watersheds.

The monarch butterfly release celebration is scheduled for Sunday, September 5th, from 2:00-3:30pm at the Walter J. Sullivan Water Treatment Facility (250 Fresh Pond Parkway). See the butterflies up close, learn about their migration, complete the free activity booklet for a Jr. Range badge, and enjoy kids’ crafts! The release will begin at approximately 2:45pm in the adjacent meadow of Kingsley Park at Fresh Pond.

To learn more about Fresh Pond or this project and event, please contact Ranger Tim at (617) 349-6489 / tpuopolo@cambridgeMA.gov, or visit the webpage at www.cambridgema.gov/monarchwatch.

Learning about Monarch migration with the rangerThe crowd viewing the Monarchs flying away

Facepainting at the release celebrationLooking at wings under the microscope

monarch butterfly pairA monarch chrysalis

A Fresh Pond Junior Ranger Badge

Page was posted on 7/11/2019 2:41 PM
Page was last modified on 3/18/2024 4:13 PM
Contact Us

How can we help?

Please provide as much detail below as possible so City staff can respond to your inquiry:

As a governmental entity, the Massachusetts Public Records Law applies to records made or received by the City. Any information received through use of this site is subject to the same provisions as information provided on paper.

Read our complete privacy statement


Service Requests

Enter a service request via SeeClickFix for things like missed trash pickups, potholes, etc.