Santa Cruz Fluttering to Peak
Monarch Butterflies, Natural Bridges State Park (11/10/14) Cory Poole
Color spotter Cory Poole made an incredible road trip this past weekend, stopping at points all around the San Fancisco and Monterey Bay areas, reporting that he didn’t get into the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park but that a peek over the fence had it peaking. C’mon Cory, you mean to tell us you toured the rainforest exhibit at the Academy of Sciences instead!? Can’t blame you.
Still, he did send this shot of monarch butterflies wintering on eucalyptus trees at Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz. We often make a trip to that great park and also to Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz where the monarchs are seen now through early December.
Wildlife viewing is a legitimate aspect of California Fall Color (look for our next post on Yosemite) and the return of the monarchs is special. The butterflies cluster on the branches, close to one another to avoid the cold, but when the sun is clear and shining on them, they spread their wings and flutter about, often landing on you. Definitely a must do for fall color spotters.
To read previous posts about the monarchs and where they can be seen, search “Monarch” or CLICK HERE.
In other news from Santa Cruz County, color spotter Nicole Coburn reports from Soquel that the Summit Road which runs from the summit of Hwy 17 down to Soquel is peaking with canopies of bright yellow bigleaf maple overhanging the road.
Monarch Butterflies (Peak 75-100%) – The monarch butterflies have returned to Natural Bridges State Park and other nesting areas along the California Coast. To attract monarchs to your backyard, plant milkweed this coming year. Read Cory’s comment, below, for an absolutely vivid description of the experience of standing amidst thousands of swirling butterflies being attacked by a corvid. GO NOW!
Summit Road (Peak 75-100%) – Summit Road is canopied with yellow bigleaf maple. GO NOW!
I’ve never been surrounded by more butterflies. Even at special “butterfly house” type exhibits you rarely have more than a hundred or so butterflies while here there were thousands. They were flying all around and once when a bird (It was a corvid of some sort…a crow, raven, jay…not sure which) decided to go swooping down on a group thousands took to the air at once. It was quite a sight. You can see more pictures that I take of Northern California beauty at https://www.facebook.com/CoryPoolePhotography