Date: 07/11/2006

Number: 1

We have sighted several monarch butterflies feeding on the budlea flowers in our back yard. They are joined by swallow tails, fritlillaries, and aggressive mourning cloaks, which attempt to drive them off. The monarchs look very healthy. We are around the corner from Gibbs Park, an established overwintering site in Huntington Beach. We saw no monarchs there recently. The budleas there are shrivelled, as if they need water, and have almost no blooms. The eucalytus tree leaves there are riddled with marks of being eaten by some insect. We did not see monarchs there in the spring on the few ocasions we checked either. I am confused as to why we see monarchs here this time of year, given the well-publicized migration route and timing.

Huntington Beach, CA

Latitude: 33.7 Longitude: -118

Observed by: Hilarie
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