<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span id="m_-8927963661075628992m_-8590287211139628502m_8466706704455669486gmail-docs-internal-guid-ab9ed9cd-7fff-f439-bd7c-15ebdaae8224"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Hello all,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Monarch butterflies are fluttering back to California’s coast, and volunteers across the West have been busy surveying overwintering sites for the </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">2025 </span><a href="https://westernmonarchcount.org/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">Western Monarch Count (WMC)</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">! Early reports estimate approximately </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><b>5,000 monarchs</b></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> observed so far, though data are still coming in. Last year's </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">early-season count tallied 7,601 butterflies. <a href="https://westernmonarchcount.org/data/" target="_blank">(View past years' data here).</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.656;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Similar to last season, </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Natural Bridges</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> in Santa Cruz is a standout site, sheltering around 1,100 monarchs as of 10/29/25. Numbers at </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Lighthouse Field</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> are also climbing quickly, more than doubling over the last two weeks (up to 979 as of 11/1/25). </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A site in west Marin</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> has topped 500, and other popular sites, including </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Pismo State Beach</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> (235 on 10/29/25) in San Luis Obispo County, </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> (63 on 10/30/25, </span><a href="https://www.pgmuseum.org/monarchs" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">weekly PG count updates posted here</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">) in Monterey County, and </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Gill Tract</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> (87 on 10/24/25) in Alameda County, are showing early clusters that may continue to grow in the weeks ahead. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-6abec4c2-7fff-227a-157a-b9ffb2c6f92f"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The early-season count officially ended Sunday, November 2, and we can’t wait to see the full picture once all data are </span><a href="https://westernmonarchcount.org/submit-your-data/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">submitted</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">. Visit</span><a href="https://westernmonarchcount.org/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> </span><span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">WesternMonarchCount.org</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> to follow along (results are usually published a few weeks after each survey period). If you'd like to visit overwintering sites near you, check out our recent blog: </span><a href="https://www.xerces.org/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-visiting-overwintering-monarchs" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">”Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Overwintering Monarchs”</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">. </span></span></p></span>A big shout-out to all the community scientists, regional coordinators, and conservation partners who help power The Xerces' Society's Western Monarch Count--thank you!!</font></div><div><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><span><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline">Isis Howard </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline">(she/her)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline">Conservation Biologist</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline">The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000">503.212.0546 | </font><a href="mailto:isis.howard@xerces.org" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">isis.howard@xerces.org</font></a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://xerces.org/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#0000ff">xerces.org</font></span></a></p></span></div></div></div></div>
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