75 Monarchs in 48 Hours: A Butterfly Bloom at Mobbs Farm Valley Trails

75 Monarchs in 48 Hours: A Butterfly Bloom at Mobbs Farm Valley Trails in Jericho, Vermont

Mobbs Farm Valley Trails stretch for miles, offering a perfect mix of open fields and wooded paths ideal for walking the dog, mountain biking, horseback riding, or simply wandering with intention. Whether you're trail running or meandering, this place invites both movement and stillness.

The trails loop through pasture-like fields, brimming this time of year with Joe-pye weed, goldenrod, asters, and other wildflowers. These plants don’t just fill the fields with color—they hum with life.

You know it's quiet when you start to hear your own footsteps brushing along the mowed paths. You know you’re really listening when your thoughts go quiet, too. And you know you’re truly present when you can distinguish individual crickets in the chorus. That’s the art of inverting—not just flipping your perspective, but observing the world of invertebrates in its full, subtle wonder.

Inverting is the practice of watching insects closely, and it rewards patience. I wandered through the waving green under a wide, blue, nearly cloudless sky—those first warm days of September—moving slowly enough to become nearly invisible to the creatures I was hoping to observe.

While I have a general fascination with all insects, my focus during this visit was butterflies—specifically Monarchs—for the Vermont Butterfly Atlas. This project, coordinated by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, runs every 20 years and relies on community scientists to help document butterfly species throughout the state.

Earlier visits to Mobbs had offered sightings of several butterfly species, but only a handful of Monarchs. That changed on September 9th and 10th. On those two days, the fields were alive with them—a migratory feeding frenzy, a kaleidoscope in motion. On the second day, there were so many that it felt like they might lift me off the ground. I imagined letting them carry me home, but worried they’d overshoot Vermont and drop me somewhere in central Mexico.

After photographing and counting 75 individual Monarchs in just two days, I find myself even more invested in their survival. These gentle creatures—so often symbols of transformation—remind us of the fragile beauty in our world, and how important it is to pay attention, to participate, and to care.

View my Monarch photos taken at Mobbs over the two days. 

Read about the 2nd Vermont Butterfly Atlas and how you can participate.