of five or ten. >> reporter: researcher richard brockman is also on the green counting monarch butterflies just hanging out behind the ninth hole. >> here we have a few hundred clustering close together. they're pine cones or dead leaves, looks like. most people would never see them. >> reporter: an estimated 200,000 my grating western monarchs are spending the winter in california. last year only 2,000 were spotted and thought to be on the verge of extinction. >> some of the biggest factors impacting monarch populations are insecticides as well as habitat loss. >> reporter: is there a big comeback. >> i think it's way too early to tell and we'll need a few years of decent numbers to see if this is really a comeback. >> reporter: in cool weather the monarchs cluster in trees, flying off to feed in polleny when temperatures rise, conserving energy for spring when it's final to reproduce. future generations will fly to other western states for the summer before making the long