Images by Kerry Jarvis.

Hub Staff

The Butterfly Gardens of Saugeen Shores' (BGOSS) said that 2018 was "an amazing year" for the Community Tagging Days program as they tagged a total of 893 monarchs, six of which have now been recovered in Mexico.

Monarch Watch, from the University of Kansas coordinates the tagging program and the recovered were tagged in late August and early September in Southampton at the Saugeen Golf Club, Captain Spence Path, Perkins Park and the Saugeen Rail Trail. “This is quite an unexpected surprise," said Kerry Jarvis, co-founder of BGOSS in a media release.

"The odds of having one recovery is rare, but to have six in one year is quite exciting, especially when you consider that there are millions of monarchs over wintering in Mexico," he said.

The recovered monarchs have travelled over 4,500 kilometres and were in the El Rosario and Cerro Pelon reserves.

Since BGOSS began their Community Tagging Days in 2015 members and volunteers have tagged over 1,400 monarchs, have seen a total of nine recoveries and are currently waiting for the arrival of the great grandchildren of the fall migrating monarchs in Saugeen Shores.