Elfin Forest Activities

By Jean Wheeler

When parking near the Elfin Forest while visiting, please avoid blocking driveways or mailboxes.

April 2 - Weed Warriors

The volunteer work party known as the "Weed Warriors" will meet from 9:00 am to about noon.  Anyone is welcome to join in and help pull obnoxious invading weeds and work on projects to reduce erosion. Wear comfortable shoes, long pants and sleeves, and park at the north end of 15th Street in Los Osos, avoiding driveways and mailboxes.

Silvery Blue Butterfly

April 16, 9:30 a.m.

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, websites, 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 Santa Ysabel in Los Osos and take a sand path to the boardwalk or the wheel-chair accessible boardwalk entrance at 16th Street.

Coming Up in the Elfin Forest

April is a major butterfly month in the Elfin Forest, and butterflies are featured on our Third Saturday Walk on April 16, led by Pat Brown (see above).  Of the 22 species of butterflies listed on our website under the Flora and Fauna button, 15 are listed as flying during April.  

Butterflies are sometimes called "flying flowers." They are attracted to many plant flowers for nectar to keep them flying strongly long enough to mate and lay eggs for the next generation. Females especially seek out plant species that will support their caterpillars. Males often patrol near those host plants seeking females not yet mated.  Males and females not yet mated can also be attracted to open hilltops, which serve as their "singles bars." In the Elfin Forest, an open hilltop between two oak groves south of Bush Lupine Point along the sand trail from 11th Street to the boardwalk is nicknamed "Butterfly Hill."

Anise Swallowtails (black and yellow) are often seen at Butterfly Hill, but their major host plant is fennel, an invasive weed discouraged in this natural area.  Pale Swallowtails (similar but black and off-white) lay eggs on buckbrush ceanothus, hollyleaf cherry, and California coffeeberry, so they and their caterpillars can be widespread in the Elfin Forest. 

Caterpillars of the Silvery Blue butterfly favor a yellow-flowered legume called deerweed.  Deerweed is also favored by Coastal Bramble Hairstreaks (green with light brown patches), along with white-flowered dune buckwheat.  Both plants are blooming widely in the dune scrub and maritime chaparral.

Among the most commonly seen butterflies throughout the Elfin Forest in April is the Variable Checkerspot (orange and black). Its large fuzzy black caterpillar with orange spots feeds on the leaves of the sticky monkey-flower, whose orange blossoms glow brightly around most of the boardwalk in spring and early summer.

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, and the large brown California Thrasher with its down-curved beak.  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!

Unless otherwise attributed, all photos, including the Spotted Towhee banner image, are taken by Jean.