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| OHCC LIVING | JULY 2024 |25 Where are our butterf lies? That is the big question on the minds of OHCC's many "friends of the Monarch" as we rolled through April, and then May, with barely a sighting of our returning Monarchs. The Butterf ly Sanctuary in the Park has been ready and waiting, with milkweed sprouting and its many species of nectar plant blooming, but through the first week of May, only a few solitary Monarchs have been spotted. We've seen a handful of Swallowtails and a few happy Sulphur Yellows, but so far not the masses we've come to expect. Two years ago, for comparison, we were welcoming our first Monarchs in February, and even last year, after those damaging winter storms, we had Monarchs in the Park throughout April. So, what's happening this year? According to expert groups like the Xerxes Society and Friends of the Earth, this past winter has taken a huge toll on California's Monarchs. Storms in their wintering sites, which in some cases uprooted their host eucalyptus trees, destroyed tens of thousands of butterf lies, and the unusually cold and wet conditions ever since have compounded the problem. These groups estimate that more than a third of the existing Monarch population in the state died over the winter, wiping out the gains we had made in growing their numbers over the past few years. The population is now thought to be about 200,000 across the state, about the same as three years ago. That is better than 2018, when there were only about 1,800 left and the species seemed to be on the verge of extinction, but it's still a stark reminder of just how fragile these precious creatures are, and how important it is to provide conditions that are as welcoming to them as possible. Here in OHCC, the SMB Club is working hard to expand our butterf ly habitat. Club volunteers have planted five new spaces allocated to it by the Master Board: in a section of the garden on Aeolia, just off Leisure Village Way, on either side of the access road to the nature preserve beyond the Park, on the slope in the Park next to the Oceanside Water Department building, and in a space between the two benches on the walk above that building. We plan to continue this expansion through the summer as space becomes available. Meanwhile, we wait, anxiously but patiently, for our butterf lies to come home to OHCC. Written by Myra Esler Save the monarch butterfly

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