So I may be brief, here is the story on these butterflies via the Los Angeles Times.
Docken and I have been having a blast taking pictures and marveling at 10s of 1000s of these butterflies flying across our property for past week. It's absolutely amazing.
Here are some photos from walks Saturday, today, Sunday and also some shot around the house.
Saturday...
Vanessa cardui on Coleonema pulchellum.
on Ceanothus griseus,
on prostrate rosemary,
and on Senna bicapsularis.
Sunday...
There were still lots of painted ladies but along with the wind dying down drastically so did the the butterfly traffic.
Then there was this female Calypte anna hummingbird. She's being swooped upon by a male in these images, that's what she's attentively looking up at. The plant is Peritoma arborea. We have 6 of these, about 6" tall, right now grown from seed.
Finally, here are some shots of Vanessa cardui taken at home over the past several days.
PS, Docken, I love you!
Stunningly beautiful images !
ReplyDeleteNice photos. The painted ladies are still here but the numbers seem to be on the decline. I've had a lot of hummingbird moths (of the Hyles lineata species) the past 2 days, which may have shipped into SoCal under the same conditions as the butterflies.
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