CA Monarch Butterfly Day Made Official - February 5th Annually

Our former California Senator Bruce McPherson designated February 5th annually to be "California Western Monarch Day."

The resolution for the special observance for California Western Monarch Day was written and submitted by Sheila Boone of Nipomo, who has been fighting to protect the Western Monarch and its endangered habitats for years. "I've suggested early February because it's the time when the most Western Monarch butterflies can be found here," Boone said in a letter to McPherson, who characterized the creatures as "a delight to observe and study," co-authored the resolution. Cal Poly entomology professor Kingston Leong, a recognized expert on the Western Monarch butterfly and its habitats, supports the observance. "I think it's a great opportunity to recognize the butterfly and its long relationship to the Central Coast," Leong said. Boone and Leong say the Western Monarch is important to the local economy. It has been around for nearly a million years and contributes to the welfare of the coast in many ways, from attracting tourists to pollinating cash crops. Pismo Beach Councilmember Rudy Natoli attended the presentation and accepted the Proclamation with Ms. Boone.

The Pismo Beach habitat is believed to be the largest in the Western United States. It is a wonderful site to behold of huge pods of thousand of colorful butterflies gathered in "their" eucalyptus tree grove. Hundreds more are happily flittering about in the sunlight.

Annually our wee-winged most popular visitors make their return migration to Pismo Beach State Park. The Monarchs annually return in November and stay through February.

 

 

Welcome to MonarchButterly.org. This web site has been created to honor this wonderful creature in general. Since this site is funded by the Pismo Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau, its specific goal is to bring attention to that special place in Pismo Beach, California, The Monarch count has averaged 25,000 over the last five years. In most years, Pismo has the largest aggregation of Monarch butterlies in the U.S. The Pismo Beach Grove is the largest in the state. Pismo is the most visited site (by humans) in the world with an average of 60,000 visitors per four month season. - Video Clip

January 14, 2008 - Estimated count = 6,500

Historical Counts
90-91
230,000
91-92
175,000
92-93
20,000
93-94
35,000
94-95
15,000
95-96
150,000
96-97
50,000
97-98
110,000
98-99
115,000
99-00
60,000
00-01
40,000
01-02
60,000
02-03
30,000
03-04
56,000
04-05
 35,000
05-06
 23,000
06-07
 22,000
Source - Dennis Frey
Professor at Cal Poly

The "Our Grove" link will take you to a page where you can find out information on where and when to visit this grove.

The "Resources" link is the place to further your explore all things Monarch. There is some very serious work being done on studying these wonders of nature.

The "Activities" link offers some coloring opportunities and a jigsaw puzzle. Go here to have some fun!

Thanks for wandering in. We hope you find the site useful. Of course, we would also love to have you come and visit our Monarchs in Pismo Beach, which arrive about the end October and vacation in our grove through the end of February.

Mark this site to return to see what special festivities will be happening in the Pismo Beach Monarch Grove on February 5, 2006 to celebrate our Monarchs.

Thank you to former State Senator McPherson and the Senate and the Assembly for the unanimous passage of the Bill which is dedicated to the thousands of students involved in studies, preservation and celebration of the butterflies habitat each year.

The grove is located on Highway 1, also called the Pacific Coast Highway, just south of the Pismo Beach North Beach Campground. During the monarch season, the grove is staffed every day from 10 am to 4 pm with talks at 11 am and 2 pm. They also have a great volunteer docent program that works with groups.

MONARCH BUTTERFLY.org: Our Grove | Resources | Activities | Contact Us