Basking and nectaring

   

Air temperatures reached at least the high 60s in Bodega Bay today (7 March 2026).  I started seeing butterflies zipping by in the morning, so I went out after lunch for a short walk and took a few photos.

California Tortoiseshells (Nymphalis californica) were the most common butterflies I saw today (photo above), but I also noticed quite a few Margined Whites (Pieris marginalis) and at least one Western Pine Elfin (Incisalia eryphon).

Many of the tortoiseshells were nectaring on willow catkins:

 

 

Golden-fronted and golden-bellied

 

 

I encountered a small flock of Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) in a willow thicket in the late afternoon today (20 February 2023).  They were so covered in pollen that at first glance I thought they might be warblers!

 

Here's another individual:

 

 

 

 

And the Bushtits weren't the only ones — here's a Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) dusted with so much pollen that its belly is golden:

 

 

 

Have you been eating willow flowers?

 

Who me?

Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla), 4 March 2020

 

Springtime in the willows

 

Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) in the willows (Salix sp.), Bodega Dunes, 2 March 2019.

I liked the view from farther away, too: 

 

The early bee...

...gets the willow!

 

Bodega Dunes, 8 March 2018

 

Among the willows

A quick look at two nice butterflies (both photographed in Santa Rosa on 3 July 2016):

 

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)  

 

Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini)

 

Predictability

While my family is enjoying record-breaking snow in New England (can you tell that I'm jealous?), and predictions in Boston are for a wind chill of 25 below zero tomorrow, air temperatures reached 62-64°F in Bodega Bay today.

I had 45 minutes in the afternoon for a short walk.  The conditions seemed perfect for butterflies — sunny and warm, with only a slight breeze.  I thought I had a chance at finding an elfin, so I decided to check the Bodega Dunes.

 

Score!  One Western Pine Elfin!  I found them in March last year, but I think this is my first February sighting.  I know these pictures are horrible, but they're the only ones I got before the elfin flew off and disappeared...and I'm excited about sharing this experience with you.  For me, this is a very fun aspect of natural history — having a hunch about something, going out to see if you can find it, and then being successful in your search (or even just having fun trying!).

This is a blurry picture from 14 February 2015 (below)...but you can still tell it's a pine elfin (really!).  After the image I'll share a link to a better photo taken in 2013.

 

Western Pine Elfin in the Bodega Dunes, 24 March 2013.

I wondered what a pine elfin might use as a nectar source at this time of year.

Red-flowering Currant?

 

Willow?  (This one was being visited by a Painted Lady.)

 

I also took a quick look around for other butterflies and spotted quite a few Monarchs and a couple of Red Admirals:

 

 

Given the opportunity, I would have traded butterflies for snow today.  But since it wasn't an option, being able to predict that today could be an elfin day was also a fun game!