These glorious monarch butterflies made a visit to the SoPac Trail Pollinator Garden the week of October 9, 2022. 

     The Friends of the SoPac Trail have been hard at work the last few months planting and gardening at the SoPac Butterfly Garden, located near Santa Barbara and the Mockingbird Bridge underpass. 

     Each winter, the monarchs migrate up to 3,000 miles from the northeastern United States and Canada to central Mexico. Thank you to all the neighbors and friends who helped plant the new native pollinator plants from the Texas Discovery Garden. 

     These plants were purchased from a Native Plant Society of Texas “Bring Back the Monarchs Grant.” These grants are awarded to educate people about monarch conservation and native plants and to encourage restoration of monarch habitats in Texas.

     The World Wildlife Fund has found that the monarch butterfly population has decreased by more than 80% over the past three decades, and the butterflies are now considered endangered.