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Date: 5/20/26 5:11 am From: Carol Pecot <carol.pecot...> Subject: Re: [MBBIRDS] Butterfly erruption.
We just came back from the Sierras, where we camped off of a forest road by a stream, and there are a lot of the white ceanothus blooming. There was a gathering of about 40ish Butterflies. There were about 4 varieties of different butterflies, but most were Ca. Tortoiseshell. They seemed to be doing puddling behavior, and they were “tasting” the dirt in a particular patch far away from the stream, but weirdly the dirt was totally dry. They even were on our van, “tasting” the dust and dirt on it. Are they getting some minerals for the journey? At home (about 4 miles below Summit Road) we have had a several lately, but not large amounts. They have been visiting my garden for about a month. They also seem to be pretty human tolerant. Ex: I was watering and looking at a butterfly that was a short distance away. I thought “I wonder if that is a Painted Lady”. A few seconds later, the butterfly flew over to me and landed on the hose in my hand, then oriented to me and opened its wings. It was definitely a Tortoiseshell. Job done, it then flew away to the rest of the garden. Carol > On May 19, 2026, at 9:47 PM, Lola Ross <lolabones...> wrote: > > When I got home on the Westside of Sc near Natural Bridges, there were two tortoiseshells in my yard. I didn’t know what they were! But seeing your apology for posting the wrong photo prompted me to look them up. So cool! > > On Tue, May 19, 2026 at 9:05 PM Cliff Bixler <clifford.bixler50...> <mailto:<clifford.bixler50...>> wrote: >> 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...> <mailto:<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...> <mailto:<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...> <mailto:<norcalbirding...> >>>> Website ǀ www.norcalbirding.com <http://www.norcalbirding.com/> >>>> Facebook ǀ www.facebook.com/norcalbirding <http://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...> <mailto:<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...> <mailto:<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...> <mailto: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...> <mailto: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...> <mailto: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>. >>> >> >> >> -- >> 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...> <mailto:mbbirds+<unsubscribe...>. >> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/CAM-pbfxyBF_qCVH6bsOHL2DypEiFrj%<3DLt7CWL3Wf_xn5q9O4tw...> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/CAM-pbfxyBF_qCVH6bsOHL2DypEiFrj%<3DLt7CWL3Wf_xn5q9O4tw...>?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...> <mailto:mbbirds+<unsubscribe...>. > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/CAFCCGgmseavJDFMUfLCNETZeDgVeCw9AJzOvua%3DDrSwA%<2BaVQaA...> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mbbirds/CAFCCGgmseavJDFMUfLCNETZeDgVeCw9AJzOvua%3DDrSwA%<2BaVQaA...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "mbbirds" group. 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