Fall flights

I know I promised more pictures from the pelagic trip, but there was also an interesting flight of butterflies today that I thought was worth documenting.  So, here's a bit of both.

First, from the pelagic trip.  Here are two views of arcing shearwaters on the horizon taken from the boat on our way back from Cordell Bank on 22 September 2019.  The winds had picked up (probably ~15-20 knots), creating conditions when seabirds are often soaring high above the ocean surface:

 

 

Second, the butterflies.  During the fall, when inland air temperatures are very high, we can see flights of butterflies at the coast.  Today there were quite a few California Tortoiseshells (Nymphalis californica) coming in off the ocean and crossing over Bodega Head.  Most of them rocketed by, but occasionally they landed briefly, either on the ground or on the outer walls of buildings:

 

 

Flights of shearwaters and tortoiseshells — a nice combination!