We are yards from the CZU burn. Lots of Ceanothus up here. Sorry for
accidentally sending a different picture.
Cliff
On Tue, May 19, 2026, 9:00 PM Suzanne Kent <surreykent...> wrote:
> Today I identified 2 California Tortoiseshell butterflies in my Westside
> Santa Cruz yard, nectaring on a (non-native) butterfly bush. I’m very
> aware of butterflies and plant host plants of various kinds, but I have
> never seen this species before, even though I have large ceanothus shrubs
> in my yard.
>
> I agree with Ryan - I was astonished to recently observe the ceanothus
> mass growth in the CZU burn areas - especially Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
> (Blueblossom).
>
> On May 19, 2026, at 3:23 PM, Ryan Phillips <norcalbirding...>
> wrote:
>
> 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...> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/<CAGiyp6W5yGbGwQ9kx07NiVgcKfmOSaYB1s3qo1rvT1VFu5_60w...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > .
>
>
>
