Mexico: Monarch Butterflies of Cerro Pelon

Our final day, our last opportunity to see the huge numbers of Monarch Butterflies, could not have been planned better. We departed for Cerro Pelon on a beautiful crisp day offering blue skies filled will puffy, white clouds.

Our first stop was at the local school to deliver supplies like pencils, pens, chalk, markers and more. The appreciative kids all shook our hands and thanked us one-by-one.

Then we boarded our horses and headed up the sometimes steep trail toward the Monarch roost. Birding along the way of course, we searched for the endemic Mountain Trogon. (We found it on the way back down!)

After about an hour of riding (I walked quite a bit as I felt sorry for my wheezing horse!) we made it to the trail head for the Monarch roost. From here we walked about 300 yards to a canopy of black and orange. All was somewhat still for a while, but as the sun moved higher in the sky the Monarchs awoke.

The butterflies fluttered and some fell from their branches. I had a clump of about 20 fall on top of me! We carefully placed each footstep as we moved to safer ground. As the sun rose higher, it peeked from behind a large passing cloud creating a flush of orange rose in a huge column toward the blue sky… the sound of millions of rustling wings like nothing else I have heard…