Mexico's Most Travelled Migrants

Mexico's most travelled migrants seek a direct return flight to be reunited with their families in their native lands.

These migrants fly in to the United States from a remote region in Mexico. They live and die along their historic route, which is increasingly dangerous and threatened. They seek and need the kind of sanctuary provided by the individuals this story focuses on, and their offspring often settle in these places along the way, where they will live out their numbered days. But then, there is a generation that longs to return to Mexico, and indeed, without hesitation, they embark on that long, 3,000 mile journey back home. This advocacy group wants to help assure these special migrants may complete their miraculous journey south.

In Inwood, New York, at the most northern reaches of Manhattan, dedicated New Yorkers have created such a sanctuary on the grounds of a former convent at Church of the Good Shepherd. Actually, it's a beautiful outdoor garden called a Monarch Waystation, for butterflies. All migrating butterflies and pollinators are welcome at the Good Shepherd Butterfly Sanctuary, which is registered through MonarchWatch.org and is located on the SE corner of Isham St. and Seaman, across the street from one of New York City's very special Inwood Hill Park, an original growth forest and migratory wetland, Muscota Marsh.

At this unique sanctuary they are fostering endangered monarch butterflies (recently in population decline by 90%) through their entire life cycle, from eggs to butterfly, in a lovely public garden where they planted milkweed to address habitat loss due to NYC parks department arbitrarily weed whacking it and Amtrak spraying pesticides by the tracks nearby). Many area families have literally adopted caterpillars experienced the joy and fascination of witnessing the metamorphosis as butterflies emerge from a chrysalis. As the season comes to a close they are tagging and releasing the beautiful Monarch butterflies for a long 3,000 mile migration back to Mexico. These migrants mysteriously know their way back home, and have no need for a travel visa.

Many in the community have been engaged in this unique and meaningful project. With permission from the Church of the Good Shepherd they hope to keep this unique sanctuary going, as the garden is filled with perennial plants, flowers and milkweed, and is uniquely suited for migrating monarch butterflies.

The garden sits on a prominent street corner where children and families are able to observe daily the monarch butterfly's lifecycle in a lovely enclosure at eye level where passersby can get a very close look at the habitat, adopt a caterpillar and participate in regular releases, often on Saturday mornings during the farmer's market.

https://www.facebook.com/GoodShepherdButterflySanctuary/