Vanessa Butterflies - The Ladies

Each spring I try once again to find and identify our local butterflies. Trying more to make some sense of this large subject. The genus Vanessa is always a challenge, as the 3 species we see in California are quite similar.

Brush-footed Butterflies, family Nymphalidae, are a large and diverse group, comprising 6,000+ species world-wide. The "True Brush-footed Butterflies" are in the subfamily Nymphalinae, which includes local favorites such as the Common Buckeye, Morning Cloak, and the "Ladies" featured here.

In Bob Stewart' s "Common Butterflies of California" you'll find 3 similar "lady" butterflies in the genus  Vanessa : Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), American Lady (V. virginiensis), and West Coast Lady (V. annabella). Bob's descriptions tell all you need to separate the 3 look-alikes.

Painted Lady, sometimes called American Painted Lady

Last week at Las Gallinas I watched a Painted Lady (above) visit the many wild radish blossoms. All 3 "Lady" species have a row of 4 spots near the trailing edge of the upper hind wing.  In the Painted Lady ( V. cardui ) all 4 spots are black, while in  the American Lady below  two  of these spots have blue centers. In the West Coast Lady (no photo)  all 4 spots have blue centers. 

American Lady - Note the white spot in one of the orange rectangles of the forewing.

The small white spot in one the orange patches on the forewing is seen only in the American Lady. You'll have to get Bob's book to learn all the details.

The underwing view is often diagnostic  Here the American Lady would shows 2 large "eye spots". In the Painted Lady below we see 4 eyespots, all with colored centers.

Painted Lady - underside of hindwing , showing 4 colored spots.

We learn in Shapiro and Manolis' Field Guide to Butterflies of the SF Bay and Sacramento Valley regions that these features can be variable. Unfortunately my ability to remember the differences is even more variable, but that's why he have these excellent guidebooks.

The vanessa's are often migratory, and the Painted Lady the most highly migratory of them all.  "Brush-footed" refers to the very small front legs which are used as sensory organs to "taste" the substrate, rather than to for grasping. These legs are particularly small in "true brush-foots".

Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte anna

We may not have a great variety of hummingbirds, but we do have an abundance of Anna's Hummingbirds, a species that has flourished and extended its range as homeowners install feeders and plant ornamental flowers.

Anna's are present year round in our Mediterranean climate, although some probably still migrate. The males are territorial and love to sit on an open perch to display their gorget, probably more to warn other males than to impress a female, who accepts him for mating only if he impresses with her with an aerial  diving display. Here he is sitting and giving me a look-over. The rose iridescence varies with the angle of the light, and often is seen on the crown as well. Note the pollen on the bill tip.

Here's one with the crown lit up:

A shot from April 2008 at Mt. Burdell shows how the color can vary, in this case a pretty violet:

I watched this Albany male for about 5 minutes as he sallied out to catch small insects, returning to his favorite open perches. As he lands the tail is spread and the wings fold, slow enough for the camera to capture some detail in the 10 primaries (outer flight feathers), 6 secondaries (inner wing), and 10 rectricies (tail feathers).

Another shot of the same bird landing on a different perch. Note that the tail feathers of the male are pretty much all shades of gray, whereas a female wold show white tips on the outer rectricies.

Now time to go out and try for an Allen's hummer!

Common Merganser - Mergus merganser

At Lake Solano Park (Putah Creek) we got good views of a Common Merganser pair, Mergus merganser. The late morning like highlighted the green sheen on the black head and neck plumage of the male. In the first photo the resting pair have tucked their impressive red-orange bills, as many birds will do.

The second shot is a crop to show the serrations on the bill edges, which help a bunch on a bird that depends heavily on catching slippery prey like fishes. Note also the thick base  of the bill (compared to the more slender bill of the Red-breasted Merganser), and how the nostril is positioned well towards the midpoint.

In the third shot we get a good view of the green sheen, and how the longer feathers at the rear of the head form regular rows. The extensive white on the flank and breast of the male often dominates the photo, but makes for an easier identification at a distance.

Found this good summary of feather color from the Cornell Lab:  "Color in Birds"

With birding there is "always something new", at least for my eyes. At the Marin Civic Center I watched a mated pair swimming in the middle of the pond. The female assumed a rather striking posture, swimming low in the water with neck outstretched and almost touching the water as she followed the male in a leisurely paddle out and back. 

This display was described by Townsend in 1916, as documented in the Bent series in 1923:

" At last she succumbs to the captivating display and submerges herself so that only a small part of her body with a bit of the crest appear above the water, and she swims slowly beside or after her mate, sometimes even touching him with her bill. Later she remains motionless, flattens herself still more, the crest disappears, and she sinks so that only a line like that made by a board floating on the water is seen. One would never imagine it to be a live duck."

This particular solicitation was not consummated. Common Mergansers have bred only rarely in Marin (D. Shuford, Marin Breeding Bird Atlas).

Here the female is seen following the male, always staying pretty close. 

Nearby on an island there were 3 female Mergansers that had not found a male yet, but posed nicely as they rested.

The Common Merganser is one our largest ducks, the male weighing up to 3.4 pounds. They prefer fresh water, i.e. lakes and rivers and prefer to nest in a tree cavities in northern climes, i.e. Alaska and all across Canada.

Mourning Cloak - Butterfly Laguna de Santa Rosa

At Laguna de Santa Rosa we spotted several Mourning Cloak butterflies feeding from ornamental fruit tree blossoms. First shot is of the underwing, and shows how deftly the butterfly can bend the proboscis to sip from the flower's nectary. The underwing is brown, trimmed with a white border. When the Mourning Cloak stops for a rest, perhaps landing on the trunk of a tree, the brown underwing makes it invisible to predators.

Second shot from above shows the the significant wear to the wings. Fresher specimens have more yellow color on the wing border, but wear leaves a faded look, as here.

The Mourning Cloak is very widely distributed in the U.S., and is in a group of brush-footed butterflies called Tortoiseshells. Host plant in the Laguna would likely be the willows.

My favorite sources for local butterfly information are Bob Stewart's Common Butterflies of California, and the Shapiro/Maolis Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco and Sacramento Valley Regions.

Favorite Northern California Birding Spots

Birders who live in the Marin/Sonoma/Napa/Solano counties are fortunate to be close to many birding hotspots. Some of our favorite spots are listed. Click on the link for each location for more information. The quality of the birding varies greatly with season, weather, and tides.

East Marin:

• Bothin Marsh, Mill Valley (Bayfront Park, bike trail to Sausalito)
• Strawberry Point (east side, path along shoreline)
• Richardson Bay Audubon Center
• Tiburon Shoreline and Tiburon Marsh (behind the library)
• Corte Madera marshes - Roger Harris (Shorebird Marsh, Marta's Marsh)
• Las Gallinas water treatment ponds (includes video by Jeffrey Martin)
• Rush Creek/Bahia - Atherton Ave. exit

West Marin:

• Hawk Hill
• Rodeo Lagoon
• Stinson Beach/Bolinas Lagoon/Stinson Gulch
• Five Brooks (especially for Wood Duck, Dragonflies)
• Tomales Bay (many locations, starting at the Giacomini Wetlands)
• Point Reyes National Seashore, including Bear Valley Visitor Center, Limantour Beach and Muddy Hollow, Drake's Beach, Fish Docks/Chimney Rock, Lighthouse, Abbott's Lagoon

Sonoma/Napa:

• Route 37, especially the new Culinan Ranch area just east of Mare Island
• Petaluma's Shollenberger Park and Ellis Creek water treatment ponds
• Bodega Bay (Doran Beach, Porto Bodega, Bodega Head, etc.
• Sonoma County Birdwatching Spots (extensive summary by Colin Talcroft)

Central Valley:

• Lake Solano Park
• Consumnes River Preserve
• Vic Fazio/Yolo Bypass Preserve (seasonal)