While driving across the north valley yesterday, I witnessed something I don’t ever recall seeing before. I saw dozens of butterflies flying southward just above the tall prairie bunchgrass and fields of alfalfa. I also saw a handful of them flitting past my house. The butterflies appeared brown on the underside of the wings and orange on the upper side, with a dark border along the edge.
I
tried to catch a close look at one of the butterflies, but they seemed obsessed
with pushing across the expanse, as if completely caught up in migration mode.
None of them ever alighted near me. A bit of online research led me to Montana
Field Guide and a page featuring the California tortoiseshell butterfly. I
think that’s our critter. The tortoiseshell migrates west and south in
September and October, but I have never noticed them before yesterday.
PHOTO:
Wikipedia
—Mitchell Hegman
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