Marys Peak butterfly explosion 6/25

[pdxgene]

Far and away more butterflys than I have ever seen anywhere before including any of the migrations passing Mt Hood. The Fritillarys' were everywhere.. Like say this Tiger Lily that was maybe twenty feet from the car....


But they more commonly came in bunches..


The summit meadow area and below are packed full of Tiger Lily..




There's a view or three up there too. Mt Adams and Mt Rainier to the north were hid in the haze for camera purposes but visible as was Diamond Peak to the south. Here's Mt Jefferson and the Three Sisters with smaller peaks tucked between..


And add Mt Hood to this one..


Bottomside of a Swallowtail on a Tiger Lily..


Topside..


Fenders Blue..


Closer view of Three Sisters..


So far it's been Fritillary on orange and white... here's yellow


And purple..


A mini rock garden on the summit..


A patch of Oregon Sunshine, strangely butterfly free at that particular moment..


Down into the darker forest with a Sorrel covered floor..


Star-Flowered False Solomon's Seal..


Columbine..


The Meadows Edge Trail winds thru an old growth noble fir forest..


with big trees and blue sky above..


And itty bitty flowers lining sections of the trail..


I think this one is a moth.. he's bright red when flying..


Dock (red stuff) in the summit meadow area..


Time to try and count the butterflys...




It just went on and on like this. It was hard not to step on them. They really were everywhere..


It does tend to make for a verrrrry slow pace..


Which was so exhausting it required a refueling stop at..


The cool, cloudy, howling windy Yaquina Head series.. (63 degrees I think it was...brrr)






Pelicans in formation (my notes say penguins...glad I caught that... )...


Lighthouse..


Some of that marine layer of clouds would feel nice in this apt. right about now..


The cloudbank hovering just off the coast (though it covered 101 in places coming up from Waldport too)..


Slide show version here http://picasaweb.google.com/pdxgene/MarysPeak

We lucked into incredible timing for Marys Peak. The ranger said the butterflys should be around another week or two. It's really not possible to describe or photograph how many of them are there. But if you like that kind of thing as much as we did.... JUST GO!
it's worth it..

[K.Wagner]

Isn't nature amazing?? So glad that you "just happened" to be there at the right time to capture the scenes for the rest of us.

[kaltbluter]

I stopped by Marys Peak with the kids last Saturday and I completely forgot to look at the pictures. Thanks for the reminder!

The fritillarys(ies?) were out in force then too.





I'm not sure what was special about my daughter's finger, maybe it was the salty chips she'd just ate. But if she held her hand near the flowers a butterfly would jump onto her fingertip and stay there while she walked.




A different kind landed on her shoe. Seems like I usually see these swarming on horse droppings on the trail..not sure what that says about her shoe.


Translucent wings.

[-Q-]

Gene, did you submit your pictures to the news yesterday??
If so, I saw your picture on the broadcast.
They credited your name, and when I saw Gene, I thought maybe that was you

[pdxgene]

Gene, did you submit your pictures to the news yesterday??
If so, I saw your picture on the broadcast.
They credited your name, and when I saw Gene, I thought maybe that was you

Yes that was mine...
I'm one of our group of a few 'regulars' that send their photos over there..

[BurnsideBob]

I think this one is a moth.. he's bright red when flying..

I think your moth might be a Cinnabar Moth.

http://www.almostdailynews.com/2012/06/ ... ral-enemy/

Awesome report. Butterflies and moths seem magical, ephemeral. You were lucky!

[pdxgene]

I think this one is a moth.. he's bright red when flying..

I think your moth might be a Cinnabar Moth.

http://www.almostdailynews.com/2012/06/ ... ral-enemy/

Awesome report. Butterflies and moths seem magical, ephemeral. You were lucky!

Thanx! I remember seeing them at Mt Hebo before. I guess they qualify as a good 'invasive species'....
We really lucked into the timing for the butterflys. Especially since the main flower show that we actually hoped to time right was at its end. The lupine was pretty much done and tiger lily fading fast..

[greenjello85]

Great photos! I want to go up there now but I'm worried about folks judging me when I start singing the hills are alive and spinning like Julie Andrews
Dan

[pdxgene]

Great photos! I want to go up there now but I'm worried about folks judging me when I start singing the hills are alive and spinning like Julie Andrews
Dan

Thanx!

Less potential witnesses on weekdays....

[greglief]

Thank you very much for the report and photos! I witnessed those butterflies in the summit meadows several times during my time in Corvallis, and was disappointed to miss them this year. It was wonderful to live vicariously through your photos.

Also, thank you VERY much for correctly spelling "Marys Peak" (sans apostrophe). Yeah, it looks weird, and I botched it myself for a long time. This odd spelling stems from the fact that, in 1890, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names stopped using possessive apostrophes in place names so as not to show/denote ownership of geographic features.