THE MONARCHS ARE BACK: A Visit to the Coronado Butterfly Preserve, Goleta, CA

Monarch Butterflies. Coronado Butterfly Preserve, Goleta, CA

In early February, Art and I did a short trip to Santa Barbara, about two hours north of our home in Los Angeles. Art gave a talk at UC Santa Barbara, and while he was doing that, I visited the Coronado Butterfly Preserve in Goleta with friends who live locally. Luckily they knew just where to go--at the usual spot in Elwood Grove the butterflies were gone, but after following the path for another ten minutes or so, we found them–giant dark clusters hanging high in the eucalyptus trees and hundreds more butterflies fluttering in the sunlight. 

It was thrilling, especially since in recent years the monarchs seemed to have almost disappeared. No one can explain this year's resurgence but everyone is happy.  (Although the numbers are not what they once were–when millions of butterflies gathered at their winter homes along the West Coast–this year’s butterfly count is one hundred times more than last year.)

Pollinator display.

After parking our car at the end of the residential street near the entrance to the preserve (marked by a large sign), we walked up a small hill and past a meadow and a display explaining the role of butterflies as pollinators. 

Path into the eucalyptus grove.

From there we entered the forest, where eucalyptus trees more than one hundred feet tall reach to the sky. As we approached the Elwood Grove we looked up and saw a few butterflies high in the canopy, but no clusters in the trees. We continued on the path through the forest. Then suddenly, overhead, we spotted huge clumps of butterflies hanging from the high branches. 

Clumps of monarchs.

It was a warm afternoon and the air was filled with flapping wings as butterflies searched for food and mates. Down on the ground we had to be careful not to step on a pair in their mating embrace. (see top photo) After the butterflies disperse, the female monarch will lay her eggs on milkweed leaves and a new cycle of life will begin.

Monarchs flying among the branches.

Monarchs east of the Rockies spend the winter in Mexico; west of the Rockies they gather along the California coast, assembling in large clumps in pine and eucalyptus groves where they have access to fresh water and flowers to feed on. The preserve in Goleta is just one of many places where monarchs gather in California. Typically, they arrive in October and November and stay until mid-February and March.

Clifftop path.

After viewing the butterflies we went up onto the bluff for a walk with a spectacular view of the ocean and the beach below.
Soon the butterflies will disperse. I hope some of them will come to my yard in LA and feed on the milkweed I have planted in pots on my patio.

For an excellent article in the Los Angeles Times about monarchs and the people who study them, click HERE. 

For directions to and information about the Coronado Butterfly Preserve, click HERE. 

Note: For our visit to Santa Barbara, my husband and I stayed at the Upham Hotel, the oldest continuously operating hotel in Southern California, opening in 1871. We stayed in one of the cottages surrounding the interior garden. As one reviewer says, the property exudes Victorian charm without going overboard. I had a tasty dinner in the accompanying restaurant, Louie’s Bistro, eating outside on the side porch. The hotel is just two blocks from State Street in Santa Barbara’s downtown.

Sign at the beginning of the path into the butterfly preserve.