No it’s not the flight of the bumble bee…it’s the flight of the monarch butterfly

The Monarch Butterflies’ autumn migration from northeast Canada is an extraordinary event. Studies, done by University of Toronto Entomologist, Dr. Fred Urquhart revealed that not all Monarchs are migrants, they only travel in the day, do not fly over water and their route covers thousands of kilometres in a southeast flight path. They make stop-offs in Texas where the milkweed is abundant, and, when they arrive in Mexico they make a point of attending the Festival of the Dead. The cemeteries are a mecca of festivities in November. “Flor de Muerti” or “flowers for the dead” especially marigolds, are everywhere and are thought to attract the souls of the dead to partake in the offerings of fruit and candies. The butterflies are there to partake in the nectar too, and have been apart of the ceremonial belief: The Butterfly, is also thought to be medium for the soul.
Their final winter retreat is found in the shelter of the forested mountains of Mexico’s Michoacán state.
As a young boy, Fred Urquhart asked the question “Where do the butterflies go in the winter.
In 1975, after a life time of research, after decades of Tagging Butterflies{with grocery tape adhesive)and collaboration with academics and naturalist volunteers, Fred and Norah Urquhart received their answer and were acknowledged by the Order of Canada.

The Flight of the Butterflies seen on an Imax Screen at the Ontario Science Centre is a top flight film.

Silence prevailed throughout the entire viewing process, and over half the sold out theatre was composed of children.
How does it go…Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not respect..I am nothing but a sounding brass or a tingling cymbol.

On screen, Gordon Pinsent’s voice was saying something like “It’s one of those things that you don’t have to embellish, you just have to have respect for it.”

Oh, one little girl in my row did peep up..”Mommy are you crying?”

All I recall now, is the feeling of being amazed at this miracle of such tenacity and grace. The Monarch Butterfly is yet another wonder of our natural world.

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