Natural Bridges and Ano Nuevo State Parks

Posted by Karen on 04-Jan-2009

(Click photo for all 186 photos)

Tersha, Vic, Brianna and I headed out early in the morning and drove over to Natural Bridges State Beach to see the monarch butterflies that winter there.  According to the website,

The park’s Monarch Grove provides a temporary home for over 100,000 Monarchs each winter. From mid-October through the end of February, the Monarchs form a “city in the trees.”

and I’ve seen pictures of the butterflies clustered in trees, and was hoping to see that that sight.  Unfortunately, we didnt’ see any clusters, but we did see Monarch butterflies holding perfectly still while it was too cold still for them to fly.  On the path, we met a researcher that was doing a count of the butterflies and he explained how the death of the pine trees in the refuge were affecting the eucalyptus trees that the butterflies nest in, so the butterflies weren’t coming there in droves anymore *sad*.  Next we walked over to the beach and checked out the remaining natural arch that gives the beach its name.  Herons, seagulls and cormorants were also hanging out on the beach.  After lunch, we drove north to the Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve for our elephant seal tour at 1pm. This is my third time here and I have yet to see the bull fighting that I’d like to see in action… oh well, maybe next time.  There were a few seal pups on the beach, but they weren’t in full force yet.  It was a nice sunny day, so the seals weren’t too terrible active today.  On the way out, we decided to walk along the beach instead of the trail and we did get to see a couple of elephant seals close up on the beach.  Everyone kept a respectful distance and didn’t disturb them.  After watching the surfers for a bit, we started home, but we just had to pull over to enjoy the gorgeous sunset in Half Moon Bay.