Migrating visitor

  

A couple of quick photos of a Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) visiting flowers while we were visiting family today in Massachusetts (23 September 2022).

 

 

Nice to see

 

So nice to see a few Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) during the past couple of days.  They're such a striking butterfly!

Warming up

Remarkably, air temperatures reached 70°F (21°C) in Bodega Bay this afternoon.  That's warm for February!  [Daily air temperature records were broken throughout the Bay area today.]

I decided to go for a short walk in the late afternoon to look for butterflies basking in the sun.

I wasn't surprised, but it was interesting to see five species of butterflies today.  I'll show all five below so you can compare them.  (Note: All five species can overwinter as adults in this area, hence their brief appearances on warm days.  In contrast, many other butterfly species overwinter as caterpillars or pupae.)

 

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 

 

West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) 

Satyr Anglewing (Polygonia satyrus)

 

California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica) 

 

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

 

Winter sun

 

Not necessarily surprising, but it was nice to see a few Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) basking in the sun on 20 January 2018.  Although there was frost inland that morning, air temperatures reached about 55°F in Bodega Bay during the afternoon.

Solar-powered

Air temperatures in Bodega Bay reached ~56°F (~13°C) this afternoon.  After a week of rain, it seemed like a lot of insects were taking advantage of the sun today:

 

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

 

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

 

Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum)

 

Unidentified fly (Let me know if you recognize it!)

ADDENDUM (12 February 2017): One of the suggestions I received about the fly in this post was that it could be a hover fly.  I did a quick image search, and noticed a similar-looking hover fly here.  I don't think it's the same species (based on the abdominal patterning), but it's very close, and I think it's likely the fly in the picture above is in the same family (Syrphidae).

Then I skimmed some information about syrphid flies, and learned that sometimes they eat aphids.  In the field I had noticed that these flies were spending a lot of time around the tips of the Monterey Cypress.  I wondered about what they were doing there (i.e., what was attracting them to those sites).  Well, I went back and reviewed my photos and it looks like there might be tiny aphids on the cypress tips!  Check it out — and note the arrow pointing to one of the possible aphids:

 

In the sun

Have you heard that it might get chilly this week?  Night-time and early morning temperatures might dip into the 30s (°F), even at the coast.

A few days ago, on 1 December 2016, I noticed a few Monarchs basking in the sun and nectaring.

Here's one perched high in a Myoporum:

 

Stay warm!  :)

 

Winter sun

Although air temperatures have been cool lately, it was surprisingly warm in the midday sun on 4 January 2013.  During a quick walk through a section of the Bodega Dunes Campground, I spotted a few insects basking in the winter sun:

 

Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) on eucalyptus bark.  To see what this species looks like with its wings open, review the post from 25 November 2012.  I only saw one admiral on 4 January 2013.

 

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) sipping from wet mud.  Note the long tapering proboscis arching down to the ground (just in front of the eye).  I saw at least 4-5 Monarchs on 4 January 2013.  For more about overwintering Monarchs, see the post from last February.

 

Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum).  You can read a little more about Variegated Meadowhawks in the post from 16 August 2012.  They're not common in winter, but can be seen year-round in California.  I saw two individuals on 4 January 2013.

Overwintering Monarchs

Bodega Bay is close to the northernmost site for overwintering Monarch butterflies on the West Coast (it looks like Rockport, CA, in Mendocino County is the limit).  Sites to the south (e.g., Santa Cruz and Pacific Grove) support much higher numbers, but up to 5000 overwintering Monarchs have been counted in recent years in Bodega Bay.  

In California, Monarchs roost primarily in eucalyptus, Monterey Cypress, and Monterey Pines.  I don't know a lot about the local timing, but it sounds like they arrive at the overwintering sites in mid-late fall and remain until about mid-March.  

On warm, sunny days in winter on Bodega Head, an occasional Monarch may be seen gliding by.  On 18 February 2012, it was very windy, but fairly mild (~51°F or higher in the sun), so I decided to see if I could find more butterflies in wind-protected areas of the Bodega Dunes campground.

There was a minimum of 25 individuals basking high in the trees — beautiful orange against the greens of the trees and the blue sky.

 

 

 

 

 

Above, note the center butterfly is a male, with expanded oval black spots in the middle of the inner vein of the hindwing.

 

Soon these Monarchs will be on their way inland and north!