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Butterflies and Native Plants: In honor of California Native Plant Week, butterfly enthusiast Pat Brown will lead a walk from the point of view of a hungry butterfly. As you tour the Elfin Forest with her, Pat will introduce you to several native plants and talk about the butterflies that sip their nectar and the caterpillars that eat their leaves. Pat has taken many photos of butterflies in all stages of development from eggs to mature butterflies, and will share them along with fascinating butterfly facts. She'll lead you to hang-outs of Variable Checkerspot, Moro Blue, Swallowtail, Hairstreak and other butterflies that make the Elfin Forest their home. She will also share information about butterfly books, web sites and butterfly-related materials. She recommends that you bring a hand lens and a pair of close-focusing (5-10 ft.) binoculars.
Besides docent-led events, visit the Elfin Forest any day to experience the quiet natural beauty of this small wilderness area. Park at the north end of any street from 11th through 17th streets off Sta. Ysabel in Los Osos and take a sand path to the boardwalk or the wheel-chair accessible boardwalk entrance at 16th Street. When parking near the Elfin Forest, please avoid blocking driveways or mailboxes.Coming Up in the Elfin Forest
Female butterflies hunt plant species that will support their caterpillars. Males patrol near those host plants seeking females not yet mated. Butterflies may also look for mates on open hilltops, serving as their "singles bars." Nicknamed "Butterfly Hill" is one such hilltop between oak groves south of Bush Lupine Point along the sand trail from the boardwalk to 11th Street. The wildflowers attracting all these butterflies come in many colors. Yellow to orange flowers include California poppies, deerweed, fiddleneck, golden yarrow, suffrutescent wallflowers, and sticky monkey-flowers. Cobwebby thistles and California hedge nettles have pink flowers. Red fuchsia-flowered gooseberries are nearing the end of their long blooming season but Indian pinks (red flowers appearing cut by pinking shears) should continue to bloom all summer. Blues are provided by blue dicks in the understory and the tall blue spikes on silver dune lupine shrubs. Purple nightshade plants add that color, while some ceanothus flowers are lavender.
White to slightly lavender flowers abound like pompoms on black sage. Also white-flowered are California croton, ceanothus, chamise, wedgeleaf horkelia, and wild cucumber. California blackberry and poison oak each have small white flowers and three leaves now, but the blackberry plants have thorny stems. Coffeeberry, hollyleaf cherry, and toyon are all tall shrubs with white or yellow flowers at this time of year along the lower boardwalk. The flowers are so tiny they are hard to see, but the berries they become on these shrubs later in the year will be much more noticeable. While admiring butterflies among the many lovely flowers of spring from the boardwalk and sand trails, your eyes will no doubt also be attracted by the flight of avian residents. Most of our year-round birds are actively nesting or raising young. Especially likely to be seen and heard are the bright blue Western Scrub Jays, orange and black Spotted Towhees, chattering flocks of tiny fuzzy gray Bushtits, several species of sparrows, large brown California Thrashers with down-curved beaks, and even larger California Quail with silly dark plumes on their foreheads who seem to call for "chi-CA-go." Among arrivals in April from winter homes farther south are Warbling Vireos, Hooded Orioles, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Townsend's and Wilson's Warblers. What a colorful and exciting time to visit the sand trails and boardwalk of our small wilderness area!
Photo of Jean by Ron Ascher |
