10/27/2026
I love this season 🫶
MONARCH BUTTERFLIES ARE BEGINNING THEIR EPIC JOURNEY SOUTH.
And one of them could be passing through your backyard.
As summer fades and temperatures begin to drop, monarch butterflies across North America begin one of nature’s most remarkable migrations.
Eastern monarchs can travel up to 3,000 miles from the northern United States and Canada to their wintering grounds in the mountains of central Mexico. Western monarchs generally migrate toward overwintering sites along the California coast.
Along the way, monarchs may stop in gardens, fields, parks and backyards to feed on nectar-producing flowers.
The journey is even more remarkable because the butterflies making the fall migration have never made this trip before. The monarchs that flew north in spring were earlier generations. Scientists believe the fall generation uses cues including the position of the sun and Earth’s magnetic field to navigate.
In the eastern United States, the southward migration begins in late summer, with northern monarchs generally starting earlier than those farther south.
So if you see a monarch resting on a flower this fall, take a moment to look closely.
That tiny butterfly could be part of a journey stretching thousands of miles.
A creature weighing less than a gram.
Crossing an entire continent.
And somehow finding its way home.
