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Pismo Beach celebrates its butterflies at California Western Monarch Day

Tribune staff
Maria Gasparini, 8, of Los Angeles uses a magnifying glass to view a display of the monarch butterfly life cycle at a science table at the California Western Monarch Day celebration in Pismo Beach on Saturday. A monarch caterpillar can be seen to the left of her hand.
Maria Gasparini, 8, of Los Angeles uses a magnifying glass to view a display of the monarch butterfly life cycle at a science table at the California Western Monarch Day celebration in Pismo Beach on Saturday. A monarch caterpillar can be seen to the left of her hand. Laura Dickinson ldickinson@thetribunenews.com

Visitors flocked to the Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove on Saturday to celebrate California Western Monarch Day with talks by experts, educational booths for adults, and art and science activities for the kids. As always, the star attraction was the tens of thousands of monarch butterflies hanging in huge clusters or fluttering among the eucalyptus and pine trees in the grove.

Brilliantly colored orange-and-black butterflies spend each winter, from October to February, at the grove — one of the largest monarch wintering spots in the country. An estimated 27,000 butterflies are spending the winter in the grove this year.

Located on Highway 101 just south of the Pismo Beach city limits, the butterfly grove will be open through February from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Docents are on hand all day to answer questions; talks on the monarchs’ life cycle and amazing winter migration are given at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily. For information, call 805-773-5301.

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Pismo Beach celebrates its butterflies at California Western Monarch Day."

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