Welcome to December 2007 and magnificent Monarch Monday. I love this month. Today’s all you can eat photo buffet features shots taken at the eucalyptus grove at Natural Bridges State Beach from over the past couple of weeks. When it’s warm and sunny and the monarchs are fluttering in the sky, it gives me an incredibly peaceful feeling. Kind of like riding the New York City subway at rush hour.

The monarch state preserve at Natural Bridges is the only one in California. This year the monarch population peaked at about 3,000 to 4,000 where as last year the total was 10,000. According to Barbara Cooksey, an interpretive specialist at Natural Bridges, “Ten years ago there used to be 150,000 every year.” When asked why the number has dropped so drastically, she says, “Herbicides, pesticides, habitat loss, reality TV and bioengineered corn and soy, because both products contain pesticides. The pollen will blow to adjacent milkweed and the insecticides will kill the caterpillar.

Monarch butterflies spend the winter along the Pacific coast because the weather here is cold enough that the butterflies can go into reproductive diapause (similar to hibernation but common in many marriages) but not cold enough to freeze, something that would kill a butterfly which would then put a damper on their sex life.

The monarchs come to this particular eucalyptus grove at Natural Bridges because it is located in a canyon with shelter from the wind and filters sunlight to keep their bodies from freezing. These trees also flower in the winter giving the butterflies a convenient source of food and holiday gifts for friends and other insects.

As you can see in the photos #3,4 and 5, monarchs cluster in the trees. They cluster like this to protect themselves from the wind, rain and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Clustering may also make it easier to find a mate as the male scent gland no longer functions in the monarch and is a lot more effective than monarchmatch.com.

To get to Natural Bridges, the monarchs fly 60 to 100 miles a day with an hour stop for lunch. On the west coast they must fly against the wind, east of the Continental Divide they are helped by the wind, and in the north, according Christopher Cross, they “ride the wind. And of course The Association proclaimed years ago that “Everyone knows it’s windy,”

Monarchs are born in the fall and live six to nine months. They follow the milkweed patches north as the weather grows warmer. Each generation flies a little further north to lay their eggs and then dies. Monarchs do not have a mouth with which to chew. During this stage, they can only drink water with a straw-like proboscis, which gives them energy. A monarch drinks only about once a week, unless they are off the wagon and then they suck down the nectar like a banchee. They will only fly when the weather is warm, when it is above 55 degrees. In the words of Sammy Hagar, “I can’t fly 55.”

So now you’re probably wondering, how can you tell the difference between a male and a female monarch? The males have a spot on each hind wing, easily seen on the upper side of the wing. The females do not have the spot and their black lines (veins) are wider than the veins. Also, the females love to shop and are much more nuturing while the males prefer watching sporting events and remaining emotionally unavailable.

Monarchs are perhaps the most well-known of all North American butterflies. They are of the few insects capable of making transatlantic crossings. Who even knew they could make reservations? They can’t really hear (what?) but sense the world through smell and vision. They communicate through colorization- by opening and closing their wings, they seem to by saying , “Don’t land on me” or “Get off of my back.” It is suspected that male monarchs communicate with the female monarchs by emitting a scent referred to as pheromone. Myself, I’m more of an Old Spice man.

Butterflies have the broadest visual spectrum of any known animal and can see colors that humans can’t. They can see UV light, which human can’t. They don’t really sleep, but are inactive when it’s dark. They can’t shut their eyes because they don’t have eyelids. That’s why you never say to a butterfly, “Close your eyes, I’ve got surprise for you.”

Monarchs begin life as an egg. Which begs the question, what came first, the chicken or the butterfly? The eggs, laid on milkweed leaves, hatch into caterpillars. The baby caterpillars eat the milkweed and grow very quickly. The milkweed contains a poison that the monarchs use for their defense. That and a zone trap. While the poison doesn’t hurt the monarchs, it makes them taste bad to birds and other predators.

The Aztecs believed the adult monarch butterflies to be the incarnation of fallen warriors, wearing the colors of battle. This is not to be confused with the red-hot Golden State Warriors, who wear the colors blue and gold.

So that’s it for our entree into December. Lots of colors coming up this month so don’t change the dial. Growing up in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the orange and black buses used to pass by our house every day and my high school colors were orange and black, so having this incredible grove of multi-colored marvels less than a mile from my home is just a natural progression. I am one lucky, middle-aged boy. Enjoy the day and get ready for some superb sunrise action on Wednesday. Aloha.