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Mexico's orange invasion
BGTW member Tim Bird savours some local colour; photos ©Tim Bird

They come here every winter, to the El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in the mountains above the small Mexican town of Angangueo, a four hour drive west from Mexico City. They congregate in southern Canada then migrate 3,000 kilometres to the same mountain forests in this same area of Mexico each year.

Illegal logging of the oyamel has threatened their habitat, although the sanctuaries are protected. El Rosario is one of several of these designated sanctuaries in the state of Michoacan where visitors can marvel at the sight of a sky turned orange by flying insects.

As the sun rises, sending shafts of light through the trees, a million pairs of wings gradually unfold as the butterflies are aroused by the warmth and take to the air. The forest floor is littered with wings and the gaps between the trees are speckled with insects. In an hour or so, the air is full of the soft fluttering of their wings.

The sun starts to fall more sharply across the forest floor, glinting on the small streams and pools. As soon as this happens, an orange carpet gathers over the water as the butterflies start to drink.

Back on the heath the blue sky is now speckled orange. A girl is lying on her back, staring up at the insects, which zoom in on the yellow gorse flowers. A group of school children has arrived and they are gathered in a rapt circle as their teacher attempts to explain the phenomenon.

During the descent to the sanctuary entrance, a small procession passes on the way up: a disabled woman is being carried on a stretcher by four heavily perspiring men, up to the colony at the top of the mountain, a pilgrim being taken to witness the miracle.

Photo Gallery: Burma by Christine Osborne

1 Monks receive rice from a villager.
2 Three girls in a temple in Mandalay.
3 Pagoda in the Siriam delta.
4 A leg-rower on Inle Lake, Shan state.

Impages © Christine Osborne, www.copix.co.uk