Imperial County, CA 1/2/98

[Mark Walker]

Things have been a little quiet, so I thought I'd provide the following update:

Well, I was able to leave the frozen NE for a few weeks over the holidays and visit my old home in Southern California.  A day trip to Imperial County (near Ocotillo, CA) to do some trekking through the desert was the order of business on January 2, 1998.  The weather was quite pleasant - sunshine and median temperatures around 78 degrees F. (the thunderstorms were contained by the mountains of the Cleveland National Forest).  Here is a list of my sightings (what a treatment for winter withdrawal) prior to the onset of gusty winds after 2:00 p.m.:

Danaus plexippus - >50
Danaus gilippus -    >30
Vanessa cardui -    too many to count

Pontia Beckerii -  2 (both quite tattered)
Nathalis iole -      1 (fluttering along near a spring)
Eurema nicippe - 1 (same location)
Atlides halesus (ssp?) - 2 (rapidly flying near low-hanging Phoradendron)

I didn't quite expect to see so many species, but then the weather in SoCal has been wet and spring-like.  Needless to say, I was ecstatic.

Nothing flying yet here in Vermont (except for ice-laden tree branches and power lines).



Mark Walker
BFGoodrich Aerospace AIS
100 Panton Rd.
Vergennes, VT 05491
mwalker at aisvt.bfg.com
(802) 877-4770

***************************************
"If I can't sell it,
      I'll sit on it."
Ruth Brown
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