The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
WATCHING BUTTERFLIES
Nectar on the menu as visitors flock to Miller Nature Preserve
With nectar on the menu, butterflies flitted among flowers and delighted visitors at Miller Nature Preserve in Avon.
About 100 people a day walk slowly and talk in hushed tones in a butterfly house at 2739 Center Road in Avon, said naturalist Leslie McNutt.
The butterflies arrive in the spring as chrysalides that hang in the conservatory until butterflies emerge, she said. Then the delicate creatures are transferred to the butterfly house.
All of the butterflies at Miller are native to North America,
“The best time to come is on a hot humid day, because they’re cold blooded and they warm up with the sun.”
— Naturalist Leslie McNutt
McNutt said, but some are only found in the south: the Julia, zebra long wing, great southern whites and queens.
“They are related to monarchs, but they’re only found in the south,” McNutt said. “There are monarchs everywhere.”
McNutt laughed when asked about her favorite butterfly.
“That’s a hard one,” McNutt said. “There are some over there called a question mark. They can be found in Ohio, too. They’re pretty on the top, but underneath there’s a little silver question mark. you have to look to see it.”
Miller Nature Preserve opened six years ago, she said, and the butterfly house moved the following year from French Creek Nature Preserve to Miller.
Even the selections of plants inside the house are intended to inspire visitors to add butterfly friendly flowers to their landscapes, McNutt said.
The host plants such as milkweed encourage butterflies to lay their eggs on them, she said.
And butterflies flocked to flowers offering nectar like a lunch counter at high noon.
Also, bushes such as arborvitae provide shelter from rain and wind, she said.
“Butterflies also get nutrients from the mud,” McNutt said. “So that’s why sometimes they like to sit on the path, and they blend in well. You have to be careful where you step.
“The best time to come is on a hot humid day, because they’re cold blooded and they warm up with the sun,” McNutt said. “That is when they’re most active and they fly.”
Nathaniel Suprun, 15, of Lorain, a sophomore at Clearview High School, volunteered to oversee the butterfly house.
“I volunteer a lot with the Metro Parks,” Nathaniel said. “I’m part of a youth group, Teens at the Park. We do a lot at the parks. We host a maze at Halloween at Carlisle Reservation, 12882 Diagonal Road, Lagrange. And we do pancake breakfasts. I just enjoy being in nature and helping out.”
As a first-time visitor, Maureen Shildwachter, of Avon Lake, said she hoped a butterfly would land on her.
Eleven-year-old Ava Shildwachter and sevenyear-old Charlie Shildwachter, her children, stood quietly, watching.
“We’re just looking for something to do on the holiday weekend,” Shildwachter said. “It’s beautiful. We wanted to see if they would be active and land on us. It’s beautiful.”
The family visits a Metro Park monthly, she said.
“We take walks,” Shildwachter said. “We like to hike through the Metro Parks.”
She said her favorite is a swallowtail.
“I like the orange ones the best,” Ava said.
Danielle Mason, of Royal Oak Michigan, said she visits the butterfly house every year.
“I just love it,” said Mason, who is in the field of nursing. “I actually just donated here. It’s such a great setup. I studied photography in England, but I come here several times a year to get pictures just out of enjoyment.”
Her favorite is the monarch, she said.
“Because they’re so classic,” Mason said. “But I love the flowers here, too. I used to live in a place with Elizabethan gardens, and the flowers here are very comparable. I’m as much a fan of the flowers as the butterflies.”
An Indiana native, Mason said her parents have lived for about 20 years in Avon.
“I started coming here and bringing my niece,” Mason said.
The butterfly house is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. until Labor Day, and the conservatory is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The butterfly house is free, and the conservatory costs $2, McNutt said.
A butterfly feeding program is noon to 1 p.m. July 5 and 9, according to McNutt.
“We’re going to catch butterflies 11 a.m. until noon at Sandy Ridge Reservation (6195 Otten Road, North Ridgeville),” McNutt said. “We provide the nets. And then we come here and we release them into the house.”