Day 2: Huntington Beach Monarch Sites

Reading the monarch list-serves we always see Leslie Gilson's name pop up. Today was the lucky day we planned to meet her. Leslie is the remarkable lady who transformed a city park that lost its monarch population ten years ago to one today where monarchs flourish.

The moment we stepped out of the car the fluttering orange welcome committee guided us to the park. (I guess this is the female perspective...Bob said they dive bombed us!) All I know is this moment is forever etched in memory. All I could hear them say, "Come, come and see this wonderful place!"

Leslie greeted us with arms full of photo posters offering a historical perspective of her story woven into the history of Norma Gibbs Park, better known in the area as the Butterfly Park. Her motto of "Preserve - Protect - Manage" laid the framework and fueled her perseverance to once again create a habitat where monarchs not only survive, but thrive. Leslie's contagious enthusiasm for this project taps into the reservoir of hope to save the monarchs in the area and has excited over 150 people of all ages to volunteer to restore the area in different ways -- from a graffiti removal squad to an Eagle Scout flower bed and tree planting project.

The reforestation began in 2007 with a presentation by Leslie to the City Council. She hired a company using innovative science and the latest technology to address the challenging conservation problem of the demise of the Monarch Butterfly overwintering site and she looked for a plan for future planting of trees, milkweed and habitat growth. With the help of the city, a group of over 150 community members planted over 700 plants on Arbor Day, April 19, 2008 and a core group of citizens was created to Preserve, Protect and Manage the site. Leslie tapped into local realtors to sponsor Monarch Madness. Where else could you buy monarch caterpillars (for fundraising), see a puppet show, butterfly walk, and enjoy bean bag toss games and treasure hunts seeking different elements of the monarch habitat? What a remarkable transformation! You can even sponsor a new tree for the area.

Leslie told us that the the butterfly garden is often called the Healing Park. As Bob and I walked through the area we could easily see why. Mothers walked with their children in arm and in strollers looking for caterpillars on the plants or the many chrysalises hanging on the wall. We saw monarchs in every stage of their life cycle there! Neighbors peeked over the fence to chat with Leslie and we were able to spread the word to look for the blue tags of the Southwest Monarch Study since many of the butterflies fly over the fence to visit the water features available in nearby yards. We met a friendly group of retired dog-lovers meeting in the park with the owners talking to us about their love of the park (and of Leslie, too!) while dogs basked belly up in the sun. How could anyone have any anxiety with the peace, calm and serenity here?

While only a former overwintering site, the park now has year-round monarchs. Bob and I estimated at least 175 monarchs graced the area while we were there. In December of last year Leslie said there was a cluster of 8 overwintering in one of the trees and she is hoping they cluster again. But the temperatures are so warm this November they seem to be happy nectaring (and reproducing!) for the moment. Last year the big find was a monarch tagged by David Marriott at Camp Pendleton arriving at the park! So maybe one of the Southwest Monarch Study tagged monarchs will go to Camp Pendleton again then wing its way to this monarch oasis, too!

After lunch, Leslie joined us to visit some of the smaller overwintering sites in the Huntington Beach area. First we visited the Gothard Senior Site. In 1997 it was home to 3,000 overwintering monarchs but by last year the monarch count was zero. While labeled the Senior Center site, it is really a Disc Golf course complete with Pro Shop. Imagine Leslie, Bob and me running up to all the players (young men mind you) asking if they see any monarchs -- oh, those poor people! But it paid off when they showed us where they spotted monarchs in the nearby eucalyptus trees! All in all we spotted 4 together and there were likely more. This is quite hopeful after none were spotted a year ago. Oh, remember how I mentioned that Leslie's restoration work is well known? Well, the Disc Golf players urged us to visit the "Butterfly Park" to see the monarchs. What a thrill to tell them that Leslie was its creator! Did you know there is even a monarch disc for Disc Golf? So named because of an aerodynamic grove on its edge. The things we learn!

Then we drove across the street to the amphitheater by the city library. In 1997 this area hosted 3,800 monarchs but by last year only were 25 spotted. As we descended the hill into the eucalyptus forest, all I could think was this looked like a monarch sanctuary. It didn't take too long before the first monarch glided through the air searching for a place in the sun to bask a while. We took our time walking through the secret tree passages and sometimes just lying on the benches of the amphitheater gazing skyward. The three of us counted a total of 17 monarchs.

I'm a visual person, so here is a chart of our monarch sightings and comparisons to the 2008 counts for the sites we visited:This blog doesn't do the day justice -- especially in regards to Leslie, an incredible woman. What I love about this trip is not only walking the monarch trail on their California journey, but hearing the stories of people who have a similar love, a passion, for protecting, loving and savoring the remarkable monarch butterfly.