Finally seeing the monarch butterflies in Pacific Grove in their sanctuary

One of the symbols of the town of Pacific Grove, California is the monarch butterfly. I lived here over two years, with never seeing one so I was long wondering, how can it be the symbol but yet I have never seen a single one?? Well, I learned they only go to a very specific area, a sanctuary, and it is not in an area I regularly pass by nor can you see from any main thoroughfare. So I finally took my camera to this monarch butterfly sanctuary, and once again, my expectations were really different than reality! There were no clusters of butterflies, they were not flying right by people’s eyes, there were a scattered few, and they were high up in flowering tree branches. I brought my preferred lens for photographing insects, a Sony 90mm f/2.8 G Macro lens, which was not nearly long enough to get photos of the butterflies without a lot of cropping in to get the photos you see here. Luckily my Sony a7R V camera has the resolution to allow for that. So I recommend if you are going to photograph the butterflies, bring at least a 200mm lens, and be prepared to look up, maybe even high up, to see them! At least now I know what to expect and can be better prepared to photograph them next year.