North American Nature and Wildlife Photographer, St. Charles, dedicates himself to reconnecting people with nature and exploring effective ways to protect our environment. In the latest installment of GPDN Channel’s nature documentary series, St. Charles unveils his newest documentary, “Guarding Little Flutters’ Expedition: Reviving The Monarch Butterfly.” This film showcases his dedication to the descendants of monarch butterflies and the profound mysteries of life he has discovered in nature. He also encourages everyone to work together to create a better future for our planet.
St. Charles explains that in the wild, the survival environment for monarch butterflies is extremely harsh. Out of every 100 eggs, only one can grow into an adult butterfly. However, through artificial rearing, this ratio can be significantly improved. By protecting monarch butterflies from predators and parasites, up to 90 or more adult butterflies can be raised from every 100 eggs. Each year, St. Charles collects monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars and raises them artificially. He places them in petri dishes safe from predators, then transfers them to net-covered containers, and brings them to classrooms, after-school clubs, gardening societies, and libraries to educate more people about the transformation and migration process of monarch butterflies, emphasizing the importance of planting more milkweed.
St. Charles not only raises monarch butterflies himself but also shares this process with interested adults and students. He often gives monarch butterflies to those interested, allowing them to enjoy the experience of raising and releasing them. These individuals contact him year after year, sharing their rearing experiences and participating in this activity together.
Every September, as monarch butterfly activity peaks and their autumn migration passes through St. Charles’ area, he begins tagging the butterflies. These so-called “super generation” monarch butterflies will fly all the way to Mexico for the winter. St. Charles purchases small tags from the Monarch Watch organization and attaches them to the butterflies heading to Mexico. At the end of the season, he submits his observations to researchers to help them locate these tags in the wintering grounds.
St. Charles may be the only person in his area who tags monarch butterflies and actually recovers tags in the wintering grounds. Sometimes, he shares extra tags with others. If he’s lucky, he can tag over 100 monarch butterflies in a single field. He keeps field notes, a butterfly net, and tags in his car, searching for these beautiful butterflies in rural areas, recording their gender, date, and location, and then gently releasing them.
This work is not only enjoyable but also contributes to research. St. Charles realizes that the monarch butterfly population is a phenomenon spanning the entire American continent, requiring a network of volunteers to fully understand everything that is happening.
Through his documentary, St. Charles hopes to inspire more people to take action in protecting nature. He encourages viewers to share projects they know of or have participated in that help nature and hopes to cover more such stories, conveying the inspiration we can achieve when we try, creating a better future for our planet.