The Monarchs are here! The Monarchs are here!

It just occurred to me that the title of this post might mean something completely different to those in the UK, Canada, Australia, and other parts of the world. lol. This post is about the Monarch Butterflies overwintering in California.

Pacific Grove is well known for this annual event, but there are other locations in California where the butterflies hang out in the winter months. Why the locations are chosen by the butterflies is a topic of research, but all of the sites have a few things in common: mild winter temperatures, Eucalyptus groves for overwintering, Milkweed for the larvae to eat, and flower nectar in the Spring for the new adult butterflies to eat.
Wikipedia: Monarch (butterfy)

Ardenwood Historic Farm has a Eucalyptus grove where the Monarch butterflies overwinter and this year there are ~10x more Monarchs than last year. The admission for Ardenwood is only $2 for adults and they have guided walks to learn about and see the clusters of butterflies, or you can view them on your own.

Monarch Butterfly Walks at Ardenwood Farm

Ardenwood has the early stages of the Monarch life cycle on display in their greenhouse (click on a photo to see a larger image):


Monarch larvae (caterpillar) feeding on Milkweed


Monarch larvae (caterpillar) and chrysalis

Clusters of butterflies are in the Eucalyptus grove. I wish I had a tripod and a lens that would allow me to get "closer".


Monarch Butterfly cluster

The day we went was cool and cloudy, but at one point a few rays of sunlight hit the cluster and the butterflies became more active. There are thousands of butterflies in the grove all packed together in these clusters.


Monarch Butterfly cluster

Ardenwood is a working farm and holds special activities throughout the year like Sheep Shearing Day and the Harvest Festival.





Here are more sights from our visit to the farm--


What?


Up from an afternoon nap


Farm gear


Corn Sheller


Popcorn on the cob