Santa Cruz Wildlife

Some of Sarah's family came over this weekend and we went touristing to some of the big Santa Cruz sites. I uploaded a bunch of wildlife photos so you can see what you are missing.

Click the image to see a bigger version where you can actually see the butterflies.

Our first stop was Natural Bridges State Park, where every year in October the monarch butterfly flock in masses for the winter. The numbers get up into the 100,000's! The park has a nice viewing area, but my camera is really not up to the task of effectively capturing the little guys. View more photos.

Later we visited the Municipal Wharf where the sea lions congregate. There are some sea level viewing platforms attached to the wharf where you can get right up close and watch 'em. It still haven't personally seen one of these guys jump up from the water onto the planks, but others have and say it's fairly incredible. View more photos.