Day 5: Butterfly Grove Sanctuary Pacific Grove

We arrived after dark last night, so this morning was the first chance we had to explore the sanctuary. A storm was brewing with high winds in the morning and a forecast of 100% chance of rain in the afternoon. With temps at 60 degrees we weren't sure we would see many monarchs. We walked over to the grove and found dozens of monarchs battling the winds, clustering and unclustering on the eucalyptus trees. Like everywhere else in California, the numbers of monarchs is way down. In 1997 the Butterfly Grove Sanctuary was a winter home to 45,000 monarchs and by 2008 the number had dwindled to 17,866. The count this year is a startling 933. Percentagewise this monarch haven has suffered a more pronounced decline than other California overwintering sites.

A few years ago a tree branch in the grove fell on a visitor, costing the city dearly. To prevent any further losses, last September the city of Pacific Grove severely pruned some of the trees in the sanctuary. At this time it is unknown how much this has contributed to the decline of monarchs, but it is a common topic of discussion in the grove.

In the afternoon we were very fortunate to visit Helen Johnson, a key contributor to the Monarch Alert program in California. Because of Helen's extensive contacts around the California monarch community and beyond she is able to inspire and link people together who would otherwise have remained strangers. She is a master monarch facilitator who has contributed greatly to the cause. Her energy, enthusiasm, and support (both encouragement and financial) are a marvel to behold.



Bob's photo note: I got bored with shooting stationary monarchs, whether roosting, nectaring or drinking the morning dew, so I tried some on-the-wing action shots. It's pretty hard to get a decent picture of a tiny bug, moving fast, far away, and in poor light. At least the strong wind kept them together in the lee of the tree so I didn't have to run around chasing them. Despite that and my inexperience, I succeeded in capturing the collage of images at the top. I'll post some more when I get some good ones.