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Date: 5/19/26 3:23 pm From: Ryan Phillips <norcalbirding...> Subject: Re: [MBBIRDS] Butterfly erruption.
Between Lexington Res and the Summit on Highway 17 it is popping with Tortoiseshells! What an event that I cannot recall a magnitude like this in the Santa Cruz Mountains during my 47 years (my entire life, ha) in the SCM. Today while driving HWY 17 there was section where we were stopped and to my surprise (of shear number) along the median there were thousands of dead ones. I never thought about a HWY impacting butterflies in volume like that. But many are low flying and it makes sense. It must be a result of the massive fires years ago where ceanothus (host plant) has now taken over in mass in the burn areas. Get out and experience this. Who knows when we will see something like this again. Ryan Ryan Phillips ǀ Owner and Guide Personal and Group Birding Excursions in Northern California and Beyond Phone ǀ (831) 234-7324 Email ǀ <norcalbirding...> Website ǀ www.norcalbirding.com <http://www.norcalbirding.com/> Facebook ǀ www.facebook.com/norcalbirding "Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?" - Sir David Attenborough On Tue, May 19, 2026, 3:16 PM Chris Soriano <soriano151...> wrote: > I went to Mount Umunuhm yesterday to look for birds and saw literally > thousands of maybe about a dozen different species of butterflies. I had to > drive 5 mph up the road because they were literally covering the entire > road. I did see ash-throated flycatchers in a few spots, that was fun. Also > a baby mountain lion, but no mama mountain lion (fortunately). > > On Tue, May 19, 2026 at 3:07 PM Cliff Bixler <clifford.bixler50...> > wrote: > >> We have thousands of California Tortise Shell butterflies here. They are >> erruptive and we have never had an outbreak like this in 30 some years. >> They happen every 8 years or so I am told. >> Cliff Bixler >> Bonny Doon >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "mbbirds" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to mbbirds+<unsubscribe...> >> To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/CAM-pbfxvBeGCbCrBKt8SzqKTQ8dLrM6FhqLZ%<3DVGWPdwCOT8WSw...> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/CAM-pbfxvBeGCbCrBKt8SzqKTQ8dLrM6FhqLZ%<3DVGWPdwCOT8WSw...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "mbbirds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to mbbirds+<unsubscribe...> > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/<CAHCdUzVngWusjhQFSo6fraQtjEyTPpsJtD7LPj3Eu3Qr2xMrYA...> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/<CAHCdUzVngWusjhQFSo6fraQtjEyTPpsJtD7LPj3Eu3Qr2xMrYA...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "mbbirds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mbbirds+<unsubscribe...> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/<CAGiyp6W5yGbGwQ9kx07NiVgcKfmOSaYB1s3qo1rvT1VFu5_60w...>

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