Butterflies play a major role in supporting life on earth. As pollinators, they help plants reproduce, and they’re an important link in the food chain for birds, bats, and other insectivorous animals. To gauge their health, it’s essential to count them. Local volunteers contributed to a continent-wide annual census in July, tallying 874 individual butterflies and 27 different species in the Point Reyes National Seashore, Inverness, Point Reyes Station, and Olema on a single day. Scanning trees, flowers, and fields while hiking a combined total of over 40 miles, teams made several rare sightings. On the outer coast and dunes of Point Reyes, Liam O’Brien spotted the endangered Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly, which lays its eggs on the western dog violet and whose last surviving territory lies in patches of coastal Marin and southern Sonoma Counties. He also found a coastal green hairstreak, a small, iridescent emerald-green species found in dunes and chaparral. In the Muddy Hollow area, Wendy Dreskin found a Boisduval’s blue and a satyr comma, which has jagged, scalloped wings. At Abbott’s Lagoon, Cat Chang counted a slew of skippers: the sandhill, woodland, fiery, and common checkered varieties. A single western monarch butterfly was discovered in Olema by naturalist David Wimpfheimer. Monarchs are not usually found in West Marin in the summer; they typically spend part of the year west of the Rocky Mountains, returning to the coast to overwinter starting in October. But their numbers have dwindled dramatically. The most abundant butterfly species counted locally was the gray buckeye, whose bullseye-like spots trick predators, with 289 individuals. Also plentiful were cabbage whites, California ringlets, and Mylitta crescents. This year’s count was more fruitful than last year’s, when 491 individual butterflies and 29 different species were recorded. In 2024, volunteers saw 394 butterflies representing 28 species. “Butterfly counts are a good way to assess short- and long-term population trends and provide a chance for community enthusiasts and volunteers to get outside and appreciate nature,” said Ed Nute, an Inverness resident and one of the organizers with the Marin Monarch Working Group. But results can be influenced by weather. A gray, cold, or windy summer day can limit both participation and sightings. This year’s July 18 weather was mostly sunny, and the event attracted 52 volunteers. But with seasonal fog and stiff breezes on the coast, the timing of the count matters, too. If the census had been held earlier this year, it could have recorded the dramatic irruption of California tortoiseshell butterflies, when swarms of the orange and brown butterflies mysteriously blanketed the region. The national count, sponsored by the North American Butterfly Association, took place at 450 locations, where volunteers gathered with binoculars, pictorial guides, cell phones, mobile apps, and notepads. In Tennessee, volunteers reported plenty of swallowtails, but also three pearly-eyes: southern, northern, and Creole. In New Jersey, eastern-tailed blues were seen mating. In Wisconsin, a lone and weary monarch flew by on tattered and transparent wings. The findings will contribute to a massive dataset maintained by the butterfly association. That data served as the primary information source for a sobering 2025 study published in the journal Science that found the United States has lost 22 percent of its butterflies over the past two decades. “It is a stark reminder of all the work that must be done to reverse this trend, and that we must take immediate action to create a world where butterflies thrive, for the benefit of nature and people,” the butterfly association wrote.