HERMITAGE, Tenn. (WKRN) — It's time to tag some Monarch butterflies in Nashville.

Tuesday morning, the Warner Park Nature Center is offering Nashvillians a chance to witness an important part of the monarch migration process.

Monarch butterflies make a short stop in Nashville on their annual journey south to Mexico, according to the Warner Park Nature Center.

Now that they're here, the nature center is offering locals a chance to witness Metro Parks Naturalists take part in the "tagging" process.

According to Monarch Watch, tagging helps understand the dynamics of the monarch's fall migration through "mark and recapture." The project originally began in 1992 by Dr. Fred Urquhart of the University of Toronto to help locate "overwintering" monarchs and later to determine where they came from to spend the winter in Mexico.

Each butterfly is tagged with a unique code that scientists can use to determine their migration patterns.

This year, Metro Parks Naturalists will be tagging the butterflies in Lytle Bend Park at Ravenwood Park. Lytle Bend is not yet open to the general public, so the butterfly tagging will offer those who register a sneak peek of the new nature area.

Metro Councilwoman Erin Evans told News 2 she hopes the park will continue to be utilized to teach people about nature once it's officially open.

"I think this is going to be a very cool opportunity because there's so much acreage in Ravenwood and Lytle," she said. "The opportunities for Lytle in particular with the trails that they'll have, it'll just be a huge dray for our side of town for people and all over Middle Tennessee."

Because the park is not yet open to the public, a Metro Parks Naturalist will guide those through the area Tuesday. The monarch tagging will take place from 10-11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16.

To register for the monarch tagging, email [email protected].

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/middle-tn-neighborhood-news/monarch-butterfly-tagging-event-lytle-bend-park/