Just thought I'd share that there has been a HUGE Painted Lady migration this past week in Southern California. They have been migrating from Mexico and going north. Every ten years or so there is a migration of these lovely butterflies. We have had record rain this season and there is a lot of Malva neglecta growing which may be one of the reasons for the migration. The deserts are FULL of these butterflies and newsreporters are recommending motorists have plenty of windshield wiper fluid in their cars because so many people have been hitting these poor butterflies (SPLAT!). So sad…Last week I called my husband, who is also a teacher, to tell him to go out and check to see if he could see them flying by and sure enough he counted 37 a minute! It was insane…Lovely, just lovely, and the children and I have been learning about the Painted Ladies these past two weeks so it was a boon to have them flying by… :)
Painted Ladies in Southern California
That is cool! I had no idea that Painted Ladies migrated like that. And how exciting to be able to show them to the kids! I'm like a little kid myself when the Monarch's start coming thru here in the winter. Speaking of SPLAT, that's exactly how I saw my first Monarch this past summer! I could not believe that after months of waiting for them the first time I see one is when it dived into my windshield. :(
What a bummer. I went to the Anza-Borrego Desert yesterday and you should have seen those Painted Ladies all over the desert wildflowers. It was spectacular. This season's flowers look just fabulous. Total bummer was that when I got home and tried to upload my pictures, I got a blank, zip, nada—somehow I lost all of my shots (and I must have taken 100 pictures). Oh well. At least I have my memories. :) BTW: Those wildflowers only are in bloom for a short time…
Painted Ladies are also migrants in Europe. They do not overwinter in England and some years are not seen at all, but in many years they come over the Channel in large numbers.
Oh Tdogmom, that is awful! I was afraid that was going to happen to me recently. I've read a lot of posts about the butterfly numbers in CA now. :)
Kennedy, that is really cool. I wonder how far their flight is?