Monarch on the Move: A Migration Talk and Tagging Experience
Beckley Creek Park
Join Bob Jones at The Parklands for an engaging presentation on the Monarch Butterfly’s remarkable migration and their historical significance. Details about the talk are provided below. Following the presentation, we’ll venture outdoors to search for and tag Monarchs as they journey back to Mexico. Come prepared to be outside for at least 30 minutes. You may also have the option to walk through tall grasses while trying to capture monarch butterflies, it is best to wear boots and long pants if you want to walk through the meadows.
This program will take place on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 10:00 AM, starting at the PNC Achievement Center in Beckley Creek Park. Pre-registration is required—please use the link below to sign up. The event is free for members and $10 for non-members. Space is limited, and registration will close once all spots are filled. All supplies will be provided, though you’re welcome to bring your own butterfly net if you have one.
Presentation Content:
The Monarch Butterfly Migration: From Here to Mexico
The Monarch Butterfly annually performs the longest migration of any insect in the world, from as far north as southern Canada to south-central Mexico, a distance of more than 3000 miles. The butterflies begin their migration south in August, passing through Kentucky in late summer and early fall, and gathering by November in the mountains west of Mexico City. The number of Monarchs that winter at these sites is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions (although that number is falling), all having migrated from the north, with some heading back northward in the spring. This phenomenon has been going on since well before humans inhabited the Americas.
Once Mexico was inhabited by people, these butterflies were not ignored, and there is evidence today of widespread prevalence of butterfly symbols dating from as early as 100 BC. The Aztecs considered the Monarch to be the returning souls of warriors slain in battle. In more recent times, the Monarch in Mexico has taken on a special symbolic meaning and its image is an important part of the annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations in early November.
The Mexican government has established nineteen Monarch butterfly sanctuaries in the mountains, many of which are worth visiting in the winter. Bob Jones has been involved in tracking Monarch migrations since the 1980s, counting and tagging them in California and now here in Kentucky. He has also visited several of the Mexican sanctuaries over the years, the most recent in January 2025. His presentation will take a look at both the North American migration and the Mesoamerican mythology of this amazing insect.