The march of the Monarch butterfly has begun through Western North Carolina

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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From the Hendersonville Times-News:

If your timing is right, it’s a sight you will long remember: speckled orange bands of monarch butterflies flying through the Blue Ridge en route to Mexico’s warmer climate.

Come September, butterfly lovers start watching for the first signs of the regal monarchs fluttering through the Blue Ridge. Some travel distances of more than 1,500 miles, from as far north as southern Canada.

Brevard resident Ina Warren, aka the Butterfly Lady, is an amateur naturalist who has spent years studying and tracking butterflies in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In the late 1990s, Warren saw thousands of monarchs fly over the Blue Ridge. More recently, she’s sometimes seen only a handful.

“Lately, anytime I see just two or three monarchs, I’m just tripped out I’m so excited,” Warren says.

Although the numbers of monarchs seen migrating through Western North Carolina have been lower in recent years as a result of loss of habitat and harsh weather conditions, butterfly lovers can still find them, says Bambi Teague, chief of resource management and science for the Blue Ridge Parkway.