Swan Lake North

Waiting to hear back from some more community gardens that might want waystations, until then continuing the milkweed search— it turns out that a kayak is often better than a bicycle for finding wild milkweed, at least in this area. Returning to survey the shores of Swan Lake by kayak revealed a mile or more of shoreline populated by abundant colonies of showy milkweed. It seems that southern or southwestern-facing beaches of gravel or rock are the perfect milkweed habitat. This lake has also seen a lot of development, but fortunately steep, rugged terrain has kept large stretches of shoreline from being altered. According to Maggie from the Bitterroot Monarch Institute (an amazing resource for this region of the Soundmap), waterways are the key to unlocking the secrets of the migration in the north country. Hopefully I can return to this site in the spring and summer to look for monarchs!

-Comrade Caracol