Count the Monarch Butterflies!

Monarch Butterflies cover the trees at Cerro Pelon.

WOW! The Monarchs were definitely there! There being their wintering grounds in the mountains of Mexico in the state of Michoacan. Each year millions of these seemingly fragile creatures make their way thousands of miles to a small region in Mexico to over-winter, and each year we travel with a group to go see them.

This year the El Nino rains were devastating and the city of Angangueo was inundated with mud... killing 18 people. We were fortunate to have been able to make other arrangements shortly before our trip, but the El Rosario Sanctuary was closed to visitors while we were there. In fact, during our stay, El Rosario received about 3 inches of snow, covering many of the butterflies!

We were able to visit two other reserves: Cerro Pelon and Sierra Chincua. We were fortunate to see the butterflies on the only two sunny days we had on 7-day our trip! It is very unusual to have so much rain there at this time of year, but the El Nino current created exaggerated weather patterns creating torrential downpours and much flooding in the region.

During our trip my computer's hard drive was giving me problems, however, I have replaced the drive and was able to save all my files, so I will be posting more photos and stories from this incredible trip soon!

photos and text © Kevin Loughlin