[Pollinator] Western Monarchs Are Returning to California: Early-Season Count Documents Several Thousand So Far

[Isis Howard]

Hello all,

Monarch butterflies are fluttering back to California’s coast, and
volunteers across the West have been busy surveying overwintering sites for
the 2025 Western Monarch Count (WMC) <https://westernmonarchcount.org/>!
Early reports estimate approximately *5,000 monarchs* observed so far,
though data are still coming in. Last year's early-season count tallied
7,601 butterflies. (View past years' data here).
<https://westernmonarchcount.org/data/>

Similar to last season, Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz is a standout site,
sheltering around 1,100 monarchs as of 10/29/25. Numbers at Lighthouse Field
are also climbing quickly, more than doubling over the last two weeks (up
to 979 as of 11/1/25). A site in west Marin has topped 500, and other
popular sites, including Pismo State Beach (235 on 10/29/25) in San Luis
Obispo County, Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary (63 on 10/30/25, weekly PG
count updates posted here <https://www.pgmuseum.org/monarchs>) in Monterey
County, and Gill Tract (87 on 10/24/25) in Alameda County, are showing
early clusters that may continue to grow in the weeks ahead.

The early-season count officially ended Sunday, November 2, and we can’t
wait to see the full picture once all data are submitted
<https://westernmonarchcount.org/submit-your-data/>. Visit
WesternMonarchCount.org <https://westernmonarchcount.org/> 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: ”Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Overwintering Monarchs”
<https://www.xerces.org/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-visiting-overwintering-monarchs>.

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!!

Isis Howard (she/her)

Conservation Biologist

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

503.212.0546 | isis.howard at xerces.org

xerces.org
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