September marks the migration of the Monarch Butterflies of North America. These magnificent and magical beauties can travel as far as 3,000 miles during the months of September and October. I've been noticing these delicate little creatures adding beauty to my world in the last few days and I can't help but be awed by the journey they will soon be making.
I found out some fascinating facts from Kajohu about these most recognizable of all butterflies and I thought you might be interested to know about their migration, also. In her article Monarch Butterfly Migration she shares some impressive photos of Monarchs along with information that many people probably don't know about these dainty little beauties of the garden. We learn why the migration is necessary and a little about the life cycle of the Monarch Butterflies.
We also learn about a tagging program that is underway and what we should do if we find one with a tag. This will help to better understand the pathways of the butterflies, most specifically east of the Rocky Mountains. A project that any of us can help with.
Butterflies, in general, hold a special meaning in my heart. They are a symbol of transformation and an analogy of the human life cycle. We can often times observe what stage of transformation our lives are in to better understand what needs to be done next in the never ending cycle of our time here on earth. Are we in the egg stage, or the beginning of a cycle? Perhaps we are in the larva stage where there is time to reflect on decisions. We may find ourselves in the cocoon stage where we are developing and making something a reality. Then comes the birth state where we complete the cycle. What a beautiful creature to think of for our own transforming of growth!
Find out more about the enchanting journey that these lovely insects of North America take each year to insure their species survives and prospers. Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me with the gifts and instincts she places in all of her creatures, be they winged or legged, stemmed or trunked.
Visit Monarch Butterfly Migration
Image Credit: Monarch Butterfly Mouse Pad
OH, I love butterflies too, Bev. So symbolic! And I have always been fascinated with the monarch migration and would someday love to witness their stay in Mexico. Kajohu has put together an excellent lens on this topic.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful and fascinating lens from Kajohu. It's hard to believe a creature with such a short life travels such an amazing distance. Thanks for this insightful review. Your words about transformation perhaps explain why humans seem to love them most of all the insects.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Bev, for reviewing my lens! It was a fun one to write, partly because my mother, who's been a volunteer naturalist for years, has taken part in the tagging program, and also has "raised" occasional monarchs, from eggs she's found on the milkweed plants, through caterpillar and chrysalis stage, to the adult monarch. My boys and I have gotten to see monarchs emerging from the chrysalises that she's had. It's pretty magical!
ReplyDeleteShe's also taken me out to catch and tag monarchs a couple times when I've visited her. A couple of the butterflies she's tagged have been caught and reported (the taggers get notified when "their" butterflies are found).
I liked your thoughts, Bev, about the butterfly life cycle being an analogy of our cycles through life!
Karen
The migration of the Monarchs is a beautiful story...and this is a good review of it. The way you used the life analogy gave me a moment to pause and think...good analogy. Also I had never heard of tagging butterflies, so all in all a good lens.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the introduction.