Date: 10/02/2014

Number: 100

I noticed our Butterfly Bush with dozens of beautiful Monarch Butterflies nectarying right outside my inn, the Gualala Country Inn.

The day I took the picture 9:30am, October 1, there was only 20 to 30 Monarchs on the bush. The following day (10/02) in late afternoon (6:30pm) there was well over 50 to 70 Monarchs on one butterfly bush and many more (~30) on the other shrubs and hedges around the property. There were large numbers Thursday (10/02) and Friday (10/03).

Saturday morning, the 4th, a friend came down to photograph them but they were gone. Saturday afternoon (10/04) I was out looking around and some (~20) were back but not in the large numbers as before. Many are still hanging around (10/12), but in much fewer numbers, although, I have seen them flying back and forth into the large trees behind the Inn in China Gulch.

It was extremely warm on the coast the days we saw them. There was no wind and the sun was bright.

On Wednesday morning (Oct 1), a customer asked what type of tree was attracting all of the butterfly’s. I thought she meant the hedge, she said no the tree. Thursday evening (Oct 2) I went out and talked to guests who were taking pictures and watching them in late afternoon to evening. There was probably well over 50 monarchs at that time. The guests and I were commenting how many were on the trees and in the air flying back and forth to China Gulch. The guests were the ones who pointed out some of them seemed to be flying to and from China Gulch. If you looked that way you could see the sky above the tree tops seemed to have a small thin cloud of dots that seemed to be Monarchs.

It seems strange this is the first year all of my trees and shrubs have been almost dried up and looking majorly stressed and the Monarchs are flocking to them, but we have hardly ever seen them when the plants are lush, and in full flower. Sometimes it was difficult to see them because their orange and black markings made them difficult to see on tried out spent blooms.

Gualala, CA

Latitude: 38.8 Longitude: -123.4

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