A spring change of pace (Butterflies)



Female Sonoran Blue

I've been bitten again lately, rediscovering the joy of watching and trying to ID butterflies. I have always been interested enough to notice them, but since starting Bob Pyle's Mariposa Highway, the story of his pursuit of butterflies across the US during the year 2008, I have gotten much more attuned to the joys and challenge of lepidoptery. As an example of my ignorance, I thought that one had to make a long or difficult journey to see the Sonoran Blue, a California and Baja specialty. But it turns out that a nearby hike in Alisos Canyon out of Sage Hill campground was just the ticket. Kathleen and I came up with at least four of these iridescent sky-blue beauties. We were quite taken by the numbers and kinds of butterflies that we found (it was a perfect day for it). Some of the pictures may be found at https://picasaweb.google.com/theairyway/AlisosCanyonTrail20110317
In addition to those shown, there were 3 types of splashy large swallowtails, the Western Tiger, Anise, and Pale; and a fine Mourning Cloak, seen all over the country as a harbinger of spring and a new butterfly season (and in Europe as well, where it is known by the English name Camberwell Beauty).
It is not that we did not bird as well, but the birding this time of year is a bit slow. We did note the many early year singers, notably several House Wrens, a lone Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Oak Titmice, Orange-crowned Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos, and one of the first Spotted Towhee songs of the year. There was a brief moment of a small number of migrating Violet-green Swallows right around us, and a high-flying Sharp-shinned Hawk.
So what I'm saying is, get a good guide like Brock & Kaufman's Butterflies of North America, a pair of preferably low-power binoculars (6x is best, with close focusing) and see what I mean. The thing is, that it is an incentive if you need one to learn about local habitat and plant identities, which helps to place butterflies, along with season and location. I am botanically challenged big-time, so seeing that the Sonoran blue female was actually on a Dudleya plant (at least I think it was!) was even more pleasure, as it is its host plant, meaning it is the plant where she will lay eggs that will become caterpillars feeding on the leaves.

Male Sonoran Blue on flowering Brodeia