BF Report - Los Angeles Co.

Mark Walker MWalker at gensym.com
Mon Mar 1 16:43:15 EST 1999


To Wanda:

It was nice walking with you!

Here's a further update on our Saturday butterflying:

After leaving Little Dalton area, the kids and I went up into San Gabriel
Canyon.  We stopped and investigated a wet canyon which flows into the
Morris Reservoir, at about the 20 mile marker on Highway 39.

After hiking and scrambling up the canyon a bit, we saw the following
butterflies:

Papilio rutulus (Tiger Swallowtail) - 1
Pieris rapae (Cabbage White) - 12
Anthocharis sara (Sara Orangetip) - 2
Colias eurydice (California Dogface) - 2
Callophrys augustinus (Brown Elfin) - 2
Strymon melinus (Gray Hairstreak) - 1
Leptotes marina (Marine Blue) - 1
Celastrina ladon (Spring Azure) - 8
Plebejus acmon (Acmon Blue) - 4
Philotes sonorensis (Sonoran Blue) - 8
Phyciodes mylitta (Mylitta Crescentspot) - 2
Nymphalis antiopa (Mourning Cloak) - 12
Polygonia satyrus (Satyr Anglewing) - 2
Erynnis funeralis (Funereal Duskywing) - 2

A great day, and they're getting better!

Mark Walker 
Mission Viejo, CA

> Butterflies seen yesterday 2/27/99 by some/all--Mary Shepherd, Phyllis
> Barry, Mark, Christian & Matt Walker, Wanda Dameron in canyons above
> Glendora, Los Angeles County & approximate #'s
> 
> Western Tiger Swallowtails - 4
> Pale Swallowtail - 8
> California Dogface - 5 - unusually good looks
> Cabbage White	- 8
> Sara Orangetip  - 5
> (Western) Brown Elfin	- 2  
> (Echo Blue)Spring Azure 	- 2
> Acmon Blue	- 1
> Mourning Cloak	- 25--everywhere! in pairs, males spiraling up....  
> Melitta Crescent - 12
> Satyr Comma	- 2
> (Western) Milbert's Tortoiseshell - 1
> 
> Probable, but flybys prevented definite ID:
> 
> California Ringlet, 
> 'White' Common Checkered Skipper
> Painted Lady
> 
> Note:  Dalton Cyn. is closed M-F due to work on the upper dam and stream
> water blocked.  The latter had some impact on low # of butterflies seen
> in this canyon (though didn't get there til midday).  Recommend
> consideration of  trails in Little Dalton Cyn (next canyon west--most of
> above reports) and/or Azusa cyn, plus understand Mark had some
> additional sitings the previous week on trails off Glendora Mt. Rd.
> 
> Jim Springer--in response to your query about the earlier reported
> probable Fritillary, while we'll never know for certain, our conjecture
> is of a rather large male Melitta Crescent.  Factors that made us wonder
> were the extremely early date and previously unknown in literature south
> of Sierras in Kern Co., from a very well-worked butterfly area.   Some
> Melittas that were seen yesterday had particularly dark ventrals and in
> a flyby, along with the dark orange dorsal of the males, could have
> easily been mistaken for a (Western Meadow) Pacific Fritillary. 	
> 
> A beautiful day in the field!
> 
> Cheers, Wanda Dameron
> Los Angeles, Calif.
> 
> 
> P.S.  For those butterflying in so. Calif., recommend: "Searching for
> Butterflies in Southern California," from so. Cal. Audubons, Bio-Quip,
> or Flutterby Press--be496 at lafn.org   It has BF lists for 25 areas by
> habitat, tips on location, updated NABA names, local subspecies,
> foodplant section, timelines, BF count synopsis, immigrants, Lifelist,
> sensitive species, etc.


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