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March 30, 2005
Fluttering through Saturday and this week
On Saturday, one of the first warm days we'd had in quite a while after enduring the heaviest rainy season in 100 years, I took the twins over to visit with my parents and sister who live behind the Orange Curtain in So. Cal. The sun was bright and I marveled at how lushly green the hills were, with the higher San Gabriel mountains still topped in snow. As I traversed through Brea Canyon I wondered at the drifts of leaves across the road.
Then I realized they weren't leaves but butterflies.
Millions of butterflies. From all over California.
Spurred by wet weather, followed by sunny skies, portions of Southern California are in the midst of a butterfly population explosion, bug experts say.We stood in the backyard and watched in awe. So. Cal is naturally arid so even a handful of butterflies in the garden is an event to pause and enjoy. This was a glutton's delight."Everyone should stop and take a look," said Gebork Arakelian, the entomologist for Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner. "They are beautiful creatures."
The most commonly sighted butterfly so far is the painted lady scientific name, Vanessa cardui. ...
Painted ladies look a bit like small monarch butterflies, and they travel in caravans that fly about 10 feet above ground.
Even if the explosion isn't as dramatic as Saturday, I'm thrilled even as I drive to and from work, sitting at stoplights, watching groups of 5 to 10 butterflies flit above the cars, inexorably moving northward in their migration.
Posted by Darleen at March 30, 2005 12:19 PM