This Ontario woman dedicated years to counting Canada's monarchs. Now, she's gone

If you ask those who knew Darlene Burgess best what they'll remember when they think of her, many will say the same thing: her love of monarch butterflies.

At Point Pelee National Park Canada's most southern mainland point not far from Leamington, Ont. Darlene could be found at sunset looking up at the trees. Her eyes would scanthebranches while her hands presseda clicker, keeping track of the number of monarchs she saw.

She didthis every night in September, and sometimes part of October, for about seven years. She was fond of the butterflies and wanted to help track the population, which has struggled at points from habitat loss and extreme weather.

Point Pelee is where monarch butterflies gather before crossing Lake Erie during their southern migration. Their destination is more than 3,000 kilometres away, in a mountainous Mexican forest.

While counting them might sound like a solo activity, anyone who happened to ask Darlene what she was up to became enraptured with her knowledge and love for the little colourful insects.

Many of those same people would take to social media this fall, wondering where Darlene was or noting that this season felt different without her.

WATCH: For years she counted Canada's monarchs. Here's why

For years, she counted Canada's monarchs. Now, she's gone

22 days ago

Duration 3:17

Darlene Burgess was a dedicated monarch counter at Point Pelee National Park. Every year, monarch butterflies gather at the tip of the park before migrating south to Mexico. For several years, Burgess tracked the population and shared her love of the monarchs with everyone around her.

Deep love of nature

Darlene was born on March 18, 1956, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

"Right from when she was a little girl, she was fascinated [with nature]. She had a pet chipmunk," said Ken Burgess, Darlene's husband.

The two met as teensand soon got married. They raised two kids and lived in different parts of the province.

After taking a trip to Hawaii for their 25th wedding anniversary, the pair decided to take a longer-term adventure. In 2001, they packed up their belongingsand moved to Maui, Hawaii, for nine years.

"I don't know if I've ever seen anybody so happy about her surroundings on Maui," Ken said, adding that she loved learning about horses and would soon own some of her own.

Eventually, the couple wanted to be close to family again and decided to move back to southwestern Ontario. They found a home in Leamington, just outsidePoint Pelee National Park.

That was where Darlene got hooked on monarchs.

"Part of her connection to nature, specifically animals [or insects],was that she wanted to be a voice for them, they couldn't speak for themselves ... so she wanted to stand up for them," said Darlene's daughter, Jill Burgess-Megler.

While Parks Canada has staff at Point Pelee that would count the monarchs, they saw Darlene's passion and gave her space to take it on as a volunteer. Eventually, Darlene got paid to help out.

She also became a member of Friends of Point Pelee, a group that works alongside Parks Canada to protect the habitats and welcome visitors.

Laurie Hart, president of the group's board, says Darlene's dedication to the monarchs and her ability to count them at night were admirable.

"It's hard to see monarchs when they're roosting at night ... they look more like dead leaves and it was just amazing to see her in her element," she said.

'This was for the monarchs'

When Charisse Klassen was 16, her mom died. Her mom loved monarch butterflies and told Klassen that they were "the meaning of life."

"I've always meant to come to look at the monarchs when they were migrating. I never had until 2018 and that's when I met Darlene," she said.

She saidDarlene's dedication to counting monarchs wasn't about herself.

"This wasn't about Darlenethis was for the monarchs, for the love of monarchs."

Klassensaidshe was struck by how much Darlene knew about the butterflies, where to find them and how to count them. It was the start of their friendship.

Similarly, Laura Vermeer also met Darlene while she was out at the park and became good friends with her.

"She loved nature the way I did," said Vermeer.

In 2018, Darlene received a volunteer award from the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) for her efforts in tracking, protecting and tagging monarchs.

During cancer treatments, shemet butterflies while inwheelchair

But last year, Darlene's counting routine looked a little different.

In January 2023, she was been diagnosed with endometrial cancer.

"It's kind of amazing that her cancer didn't slow her down, even coming down here in a wheelchair just to make sure that she got her count in," Ken said.

She slowlytransitionedto a walker and eventually was back on her own two feet.

But that migration season would be Darlene's last.

In April this year, at age 68, themonarch's most devoted fan died.

"She was my best friend and I just miss her," said Ken.

Memorial bench dedicated to Darlene

This year's migration season was the first one without Darlene.

A bench with a plaque was dedicated to Darlene, close to Point Pelee's tip. It was funded by donations from Friends of Point Pelee and the community.

While both Vermeer and Klassen tried to continue the count, they both admitit wasn't the same without their friend.

This year, the monarchs were also slow to gathering at the point, so lower numbers were recorded.

But Vermeer said thatone day a few weeks ago, when she went in the morning, she noticed there were more monarchs than there had been. She didn't have much time to stick around because she had to go to work, but decided to go back the next morning.

She caught them as the sunlight was hitting and the butterflies were opening their wings, managing to count 1,084as they flew away.

"I was watching them as they went off the end of the tip as they were leaving and one just kind of dipped down and I thought, 'have a safe journey,'" she said. "I thought of Darlene."