Mexico: Sierra Chincua Monarch Butterflies

We came to see the Monarch Butterflies. One is a beautiful creature… silent as it flutters by. These fragile creatures migrate to the high mountains of Mexico every year by the millions. Here they over-winter before mating and then returning (just the females) to the USA and Canada. Here they lay their eggs and die. Each generation goes through the metamorphosis, flies further north to lay more eggs, then dies. This continues until, inexplicably, the generation that hatches in September, typically the eighth, becomes the migratory generation that returns to Mexico.

Arriving in late October through early December, the Monarchs fly through the surrounding towns finding their way into the oyamel fir tree forests high in the mountains of Michoacan, Mexico. They are celebrated by the people and have been for hundreds of years, maybe even thousands though we have no written record that far back.

Many of the hillsides are covered in deciduous trees at lower elevations. These trees give way to cedar, fir and pine higher up.

Unfortunately, many of the forests are being taken down for farms or for lumber. The people here need to survive and earn a living. We need to help them find the balance so that the Monarchs are not lost forever.

Curve-billed Thrashers and other species attract birders and other tourists come just for the butterflies every season and pour money into the local economy. This is obviously a huge help, but the money comes only for a few short months…