Date: 11/10/2021

Number: 200

Ocean View Park in Santa Monica.
For the last couple of weeks adult monarchs have been present in good number. Picture shows some roosting in the morning in a pine tree above the tennis courts. Hard to estimate total number in the area.

[Additional information and photo contributed by observer, added by Journey North, 11/17/21]:

I was playing on a tennis court I don’t usually use, and the roost was above that court. Sorry I can’t say how long it had been there, but the monarchs had been around in some numbers in the area for at least 10 days to two weeks.

The pines and courts are across the street from a parking lot and the beach. There are some flowering plants in the area, but I don’t know what in particular might have been the source of nectar.

Maybe you can tell the species of pine from the picture. I guesstimated the number based on the monarchs in the air and those still in the trees. (I have been to the roasting site in Pismo, and this was a much smaller crowd, but still nice to see.)

Temperature and wind by the beach is variable. Lately it has been foggy/overcast in the morning, which is probably why they hadn’t started flying off. The area lately is in the 50’s at night and warms up to the high 60’s or ‘70’s during the day. Winds are variable and not too strong most of the time.

They were not there today, so perhaps they have moved on. We had one straggler sitting on the court in the shade for some time. We respected his space, and after about an hour, he took off.

Photo is from a week ago, on November 10, 2021.

Santa Monica, CA

Latitude: 34 Longitude: -118.5

Observed by: Linda
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