Date: 11/12/2013

Number: 34000

Here is a 4 1/2 minute video I shot during my visit to the blue gum eucalyptus tree (native to Australia) and monterey cypress overwintering grove at Pismo State Beach
in Pismo Beach, Calif. on Nov. 12.  

The park docents post weekly estimates of the butterfly population and the current estimate as of Nov. 12 was 34,000 butterflies which is the highest number since
the fall-winter of 2004-05.

The video also shows how I came to notice a tagged monarch in the clusters. This butterfly had been tagged in southeastern Arizona near the Mexican border and near the town of Canelo by Gail Morris on Sept. 14. So the butterfly flew northwest in the fall and ended up in the core region of the overwintering range of the western monarchs.

Pismo Beach, CA

Latitude: 35.1 Longitude: -120.6

Observed by: Paul
Contact Observer

The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.