This late morning was for the bugs. With this mid-September day's temperatures reaching the low 80's, I decided to keep my head down. Pollinators were everywhere down at the grasslands around the pond. So, Violet-green Swallows were also in abundance, among others. I enjoyed a Santa Cruz County Vaux's Swift as well.
Regardless, plenty of butterflies out in the coyote brush, grasses, thistle, and sedge. The following photographs captured a few common species to be expected late-summer into September/fall in this particular ecotype.
Plenty of fresh, adult skipper species (family Hesperiidae).
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| Umber Skipper (Poanes melane) |
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| Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis) |
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| Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis) |
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| Woodland Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides) |
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| Umber Skipper (Poanes melane) |
Within (
family Nymphalidae), the Brush-footed butterflies..
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| Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe) |
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| Callippe Fritillary |
And (
family Lycaenidae)..
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| the widespread Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) |
And brushfoot subfamily (
Satyrinae)..
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| the curiously creamy-white variation in California, Common Ringlet (Coenonympha tullia) |
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| Within the order of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), there was no shortage of Cardinal Meadowhawk (Sympetrum illotum) |
