June 2026 Newsletter

First-ever EDI Monarch Butterfly Festival!

This month, EDI hosted our inaugural Monarch Butterfly Festival, and we were blown away by the incredible community support and turnout! It was a wonderful day celebrating these iconic butterflies while bringing our community together to learn about pollinator conservation.

Festival attendees enjoyed a variety of interactive activities, including face painting, creating butterfly wings and bracelets, the monarch butterfly life cycle obstacle course, and pollinator activity books. Guests also had the opportunity to browse and purchase native plants that support monarch butterflies and other important pollinators.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who attended, volunteered, donated, or supported EDI from afar. Thanks to your generosity, we not only met our matching donations goal, we exceeded it! A special thank you to our fantastic volunteers, whose hard work and dedication made this event possible.

Thank you for making our very first Monarch Butterfly Festival such a memorable success. We can't wait to welcome everyone back next year as we continue this new tradition of celebrating monarchs, pollinators, and our amazing community.

If you captured photos during the festival, we'd love to see them! Share them on social media using #EDIMonarchFestival or email them to info@earthdiscovery.org.

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Migratory Bird & Wetlands Walk

We had an amazing time with 10 guests at our Migratory Bird & Wetlands Walk at the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge this June!

Together, we explored the importance of wetlands, learned how they help combat climate change, and discovered the incredible migratory birds that depend on these habitats. Along the way, we spotted great egrets, elegant terns, least terns, and even a special guest, the reddish egret!

And as an added bonus, our walk happened to fall on National Go Outside Day, a perfect reminder of how rewarding it can be to connect with nature and explore our local wild spaces.

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Canyon Connectors

That’s a wrap on our tabling season! Over the past few months, EDI has had the opportunity to connect with so many wonderful community members at events throughout the region. We always appreciate the chance to get out into the community, share our mission, and connect with families, nature enthusiasts, and fellow conservation supporters.

We wrapped up our tabling season at Canyon Connectors at the Tecolote Nature Center in early June. This free, family-friendly event brought the community together for a day of live music, hands-on workshops, science activities, animal encounters, and more. At the EDI booth, visitors tested their knowledge with our interactive Pollinator Quiz, where they learned about pollinators, native plants, and the importance of conservation in protecting the habitats these species depend on.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table this season! We enjoyed meeting so many new faces, reconnecting with familiar ones, and sharing ways to get involved in protecting our local environment.

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Monarch Talks at Oceanside Public Library

Earlier this June, we were thrilled to welcome 50 attendees to our community library event discussing the Western Monarch Butterfly population, with a fantastic mix of adults and children excited to learn! Our Conservation Coordinator, Veronica, delivered an informative presentation, sharing insights about monarchs and the importance of protecting their habitat.

This marks our second year partnering with Oceanside Public Library, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to continue this collaboration. We look forward to working together again next year!

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Cajon Valley Union School District's End Of Year Celebration

We were so happy to attend the Cajon Valley Union School District (CVUSD) End of the Year Celebration for the third year in a row! This annual event brings together district staff, students, and families to celebrate the school year alongside their community resource partners, and we're proud to be one of them.

We had a delightful time connecting with families from across the district, sharing EDI's mission and programs. It was especially meaningful to see familiar faces, families and students who had previously joined us for field trips, classroom programs, and family events, stop by our table to chat and reconnect.

We also want to extend a thank you to Sandra Candler and all of the CVUSD Family and Community Engagement (FACE) liaisons, whose support has been invaluable this year. Their dedication to connecting EDI with families throughout the district has allowed us to share our love of nature and outdoor recreation with so many more people. Here's to many more years of celebrating together!

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Surveying For Our New Restoration Project

Exciting news from EDI’s Conservation Team! We’ve officially begun work on our newest restoration project: restoring cactus scrub habitat for the Coastal Cactus Wren at the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.

Funded by the California Wildlife Conservation Board and in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this project will focus on restoring critical habitat and supporting the recovery of this unique coastal species. Our team has started the process with vegetation and bird surveys to better understand the current landscape and guide our restoration efforts.

We are beyond excited to become stewards of this land and watch this habitat transform over time! Stay tuned for updates and keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities coming this fall.