Butterfly Migration Day
Today is, March 11, 2009 - it’s the start of the butterfly migration. It’s still winter here. There are a few weeds blooming under the edges of the snow and muddy dirt. It will be another month before real Spring comes, although all of our daffodils are up but not flowing yet.
They appear to be the same species of butterfly, and look like the West Coast Lady (Vanesssa annabella). Orange and black they cover our yard in a hurry to get home. I saw a few butterflies dancing in circles in the sun over the past few weekends. One here, two there, early runners scouting the course for the rest. Today, every 10 seconds or so, one, two, three butterflies will fly across our yard and up over our house, this will go on all day for 2- 7 days straight.
We stand on our side deck and watch them coming up the hillside as they make their way up from Zurich Drive here in Crestline and fly west towards the flowering valleys of Los Angeles. We have seen them each year since our first year here on Brighton, in 1999. We are not sure where they come from, nor where they go, but they rarely stop. We look forward to this day each year because we become a part of something bigger. It’s a day to remember.