Excerpt:

A neighborhood park planned for Alameda Point may become a gathering place for some fluttering creatures: Monarch butterflies as they winter along the California coast after migrating from west of the Rocky Mountains.

Dozens of the orange and black butterflies, which annually gather from Mexico to north of San Francisco, have been spotted at the former Alameda Naval Air Station.

Fans of the colorful insects now hope city officials will take steps to encourage them to keep coming, especially since their numbers are reportedly declining.

“It could be a potential overwintering site for monarchs,” Susan Ramos, a naturalist and volunteer with the Xerces Society, told the city’s Planning Board on Monday as it considered the future park.

Many monarchs fly between the United States, Mexico and Canada, a journey of more than 3,000 miles.