Okay, so today’s #butterfly search took me back to Calavera, and today was a good day. I’m going to break this story up into the journey to the top of the Calavera “Volcano”, summit observations, and the trip back.
My trip starts at the west end of the preserve which is the entrance to one of Carlsbad’s high schools. There’s a trail that starts here - a dirt road actually - that heads roughly north alongside a Sycamore-lined stream. Here terrain ranges from riparian to chaparral. So as you might guess, this is where most of the bigger butterbirds hang out. I started right out seeing Monarchs. And a few other littles. #
The road continues north, but after about 1 km I break off on a trail towards the east. From here I zigzag my way up to the top. One reason I hesitated going here on a Sunday is it’s excruciatingly busy. I had a hard time getting away from people. But it worked out.
About halfway up I passed a group of mountain bikers discussing routes. As I passed by, I spotted movement on my left. I focused and saw a Queen #butterfly flying past and back down the hill. I debated running after it but figured I’d look like an idiot and probably lose my footing as well. I gave up and just checked it off in my head as another undocumented sighting. (Keep that thought in mind). Further up I saw Metalmarks and Buckeyes. I was seeing Blues everywhere but they were hard to shoot.
Heading back down, more poor luck with Blues. One of the units I chased around turned out to be a Marin Blue. Then I spotted a Fatal Metalmark only to lose it in a Lemonadeberry bush. Few decent #butterfly sightings until I got back to the road.