Record Low Overwintering Population in California

[Paul Cherubini]

Jaime George and Jamie Miller are students at Cal Poly State Univ. in San Luis Obispo, California and they posted the following overwintering colony census counts today on western_monarchs@yahoogroups.com and they are record low counts in 20 years of monitoring:

For Monterey County:

Pacific Grove Butterfly Sanctuary: 747 (11/11), 933 (11/17)
George Washington Park: none found (11/11 and 11/17)
Point Lobos State Park: 1 flier (11/11), 4 loners (11/17)
Palo Colorado: none found (11/11 and 11/16)
Andrew Molera State Park: 160 (11/11), 209 (11/16)
Sycamore Canyon: none found (11/11 and 11/16)
Private Property, Big Sur: 3,513 (11/11), 3,539 (11/16)
Prewitt Creek: none found (11/11), 1 flier (11/16)
Plaskett Creek: none found (11/11), 61 (11/16)

For San Luis Obispo County:

Morro Bay Golf Course: 1,656 (11/10)
Los Osos Monarch Lane: 61 (11/10)
San Luis Obispo Bowden Estates: 1 flier (11/10)
San Luis Obispo Cemetery: No monarchs found (11/10)
Pismo Beach State Park North Campground: 6,711 (11/15)
Halcyon Hill: 655 (11/11)
Grover Beach, Pike Street: 650 (11/11)
Oceano Campground: No monarchs found (11/11)