Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site

Thanks for all of your email! It has been a real collaborative effort to track the 2009 Painted Lady migration, as they travel northward. This page features some of the email we have received over the past two weeks, which has helped us track the migration northward. Except for the video, we chose to keep these email anonymous, and have only included the sender's initials. As we receive more email, we will add them to this page for everyone's benefit. If you'd like to send us an update, please use our contact form to submit your message.

April 20, 2009

The PLs coming past the house were heading NW:

Time (no.)
12:30-12:40, 10 min. (8)
15:10-15:20. 10 min. (4)
15:56-16:06, 10 min. (4) -- RJ

April 19, 2009

We saw numerous Painted Ladies at Alpine Meadows on April 12 & 13 - mostly at the summit. I can send pic if you like. -- SM

April 18, 2009

Numbers continue downward:

Time (no.)
11:02-11:03, 1 min. (0)
11:31-11:34, 3 min. (0)
13:17-13:27, 10 min. (3)

These flew west or northwest. Wind from NW

I realized this afternoon that migrants just east of our house were flying from the south and heading north or NNW, while those passing south of the house (the ones I've been counting) were coming from the east and heading west or WNW. Most from each direction maintained their courses, crossing perpendicularly about 100 feet ESE of here, but one from the south took a sharp west turn, and several from the east angled to the NNW or NW. Those from the south probably came out of the canyon near the confluence, and those from the east undoubtedly came up the nearby steep draw running ENE to WSW out of the North Fork. -- RJ

April 17, 2009

I made these counts of PLs flying past the house:

Time (no.)
13:33-13:43, 10 min. (7)
16:05-16:13, 8 min. (4)

About equal numbers flew to the west and to the WNW. From casual observations of a more open area in an adjacent field, I saw two fly across it to the west and one to the NNW. Gusty winds from the west. -- RJ

April 16, 2009

Here are counts from our house on Apr. 16:

Time (No.)
2 min., 11:16-11:18 (0)
8 min., 12:06-12:14 (1)
6 min., 12:41-12:47 (7)
6 min., 13:08-13:14 (5)

Winds were gusty and variable, mostly from the west here. PLs flying west. -- RJ

April 15, 2009

Here is some additional information for you regarding the migration of the Painted Ladies. On April 5, 2009 we saw 100's pass through our yard in Eureka, CA, all heading north with a good tail wind from the southwest. The next day on Freshwater Beach, near Orick, CA I again witnessed 100's of Painted Ladies passing by with a coworker. They were everywhere! On April 8, 2009 while performing a Snowy Plover survey on Gold Bluffs Beach (Orick, CA) I counted almost 400 ( I know I missed many) in a short space of time heading north, again with a good tail wind from the southwest. As soon as the wind picked up substantially, and the clouds moved in the numbers dropped to just a few. Three days of watching this migration was a wonderful treat. -- HEB

April 14, 2009

PL reverse migration -- Yesterday (Apr. 13, 2009), my wife and I saw a painted lady flying low (about 4-6 feet off the pavement) and heading southwest rapidly through the intersection of Eureka Road and North Sunrise Blvd in Roseville, just east of I-80. -- RJ

April 13, 2009

Here are some short counts at our house this afternoon at same spot I used yesterday:

Time (No.)
16:12-16:15 (2)
16:29-16:30 (5)
16:33-16:36 (10)

They were flying due west.

Late this morning while on the road, I saw three PLs flying near I-80 at the Foresthill exit, and all were headed due west. -- RJ

April 12, 2009

Here are some counts from today (Sunday, Apr. 12, 2009). They are made from the same vantage point I described yesterday, but this time I counted during four 8-minute periods:

Time (No.
) 12:45-12:53 (17)
12:56-13:04 (20)
13:23-13:31 (11)
16:27-16:35 (21)

Apparently, all arrive out of the east from out of North Fork canyon; during the first three time periods, most of them flew past the house to the WNW, and most of those in the last period went due west. I don't know which direction they go once they get to the top of the slope, where I-80 runs. -- RJ

April 11, 2009

I made these one-minute counts today of PLs crossing E to WNW across a line between our front porch and trees 45 feet away (just 10 meters or so west of the count area I reported to you on April 2):

Start time (No.)
11:51 (4)
11:55 (4)
13:48 (2)
14:08 (6)
14:12 (3)
14:39 (2)
15:27 (2)
15:40 (0)
15:41 (1)

Rate of individuals passing through here on April 3 seemed to be a little less than what I counted the day before. I saw very few PLs on Apr. 6 and 7. -- RJ

April 6, 2009

My son and I were out driving earlier last week (Monday and Tuesday) through the Danville, San Ramon area. We were surrounded by butterflies the entire time. From the base of Mt. Diablo on the backroads, down San Ramon Valley Boulevard to Danville Boulevard into Alamo. We couldn't believe how many butterflies there were. After searching on the internet and noting a recent blub in the SF Chronicle, I found your website. I can only assume all these butterflies were Painted ladies (they were yellow/orange in color--it appeared as if trees were shedding their fall colors). -- LM

April 5, 2009

Hello. There were very many painted ladies migrating across the San Joaquin Delta near Stockton, CA on 3/31. Even my buddy, who is strictly a fisherman and views insects as bait, noticed. Also, today on the coast near Arcata in Humboldt County, there were quite a few "hanging around" vegetation on the beach bluffs, and occasionally "interacting" with each other. -- MK

April 4, 2009

I was in Sunol Regional Wilderness today and saw a steady stream of painted ladies moving through. At one point, I stopped and counted for about 10 minutes and saw at least 60 go by. They sure were moving at a hurried pace. The few I got a look at through my binoculars (stopped at a Blue Dicks) were very very ragged looking. Further up the trail (Indian Joe Creek) there was a maple tree full of the butterflies feeding on the flowers. Yes, I actually could see their proboscis in the flowers via my binoculars. All very cool. Enjoyed reading the info in your book Field Guild to Butterflies, while I was out there. Thanks! -- AE

April 3, 2009

On April 2 we saw what seemed to be at least 1,000 Painted Ladies fly through our yard in Orangevale going north. -- LL

The painted lady migration was very apparent in Berkeley March 30 and 31, 2009. The weather was clear and sunny. I happened to be on the roofs of two buildings (7 stories, and 8+ stories) on the UC Berkeley campus those afternoons, and saw a steady stream of painted ladies flying north/nortwest--probably hundreds an hour visible from a given point in early to mid-afternoon. From those vantage points it could be seen that many of them were flying perhaps 30-80 feet above the ground. Others in Berkeley saw the migration at ground level those same days. -- SF

April 2, 2009

Yesterday, I saw many Vanessa cardui flying West or WNW through our yard in Auburn, 3/4 mi WNW of the Foresthill Bridge. So today I did an informal count. From 12:15 till 13:07, I counted 100 of them during 5 sampling periods totaling 37 minutes. I counted those flying west across an imaginary line between my vantage point and trees about 100 feet away. Most were within 30 of me, and rarely was one more than 20 feet high. Many stopped on flowers of cherry, nectarine, Ceanothus and forbs in our yard. 5-10 mph wind from the west, mostly sunny.

These would be coming out of the North Fork American River canyon just north of Foresthill Bridge and crossing Hwy 80 about 1/2 mile south of the CDF station. -- JR

Starting last Friday, thousand of the butterflies were floating though Dublin up the 680 corridor to San Ramon. They were also seen in Walnut Creek last Friday. By Sunday, from outside my door in the Dublin hills (West Dublin), I saw them fly by ever couple seconds. As far as I could see, it looked like ash or something floating through the air, there were so many. What a beautiful treat for this Spring!! -- AN

There are many of these lovely butterflies passing through the SF Bay Peninsula area along the HWY 101 corridor along SF Bay from Mountain View to Coyote Pt where I commute 4 days a week. They are definitely taking some rest stops here at the park which is full of spring growth and other wild things. Its not a swarm of insects blocking out the sunlight but enough wings to be distracted while driving through or near them. -- TM

LOTS along the Ohlone Greenway, a bike path running north-south under the BART tracks. One every several seconds on 3/29. -- SWW

April 1, 2009

Just to let you know we had 100's of these butterflies come through our garden in Dublin CA for the last last 2 days - the main surge appearing today (who knows what tomorrow will bring). Just found your site as we were curious about what was going on. -- SM

Many thanks for posting all this marvelous information. Butterflies in great numbers have been passing through our yard in Napa for several days. Some are stopping on our fragrant lilac bush. Now, having found you, I can research other visitors. -- A

Last week saw butterflies flying northeast over highway 85, near bernal rd, south san jose. last weekend more butterflies were flying north, near highway 85/s. de anza blvd, west san jose. they are lighter in color than the monarchs, and cannot recall seeing so many. -- KM

I was in Anza-Borrego DSP on March 13-16. On the 13th & 14th I was primarily in the north and northwest areas. In the area NNW of the Visitor's center (especially in the new Galeta Estate housing development) the Desert Dandelions were blooming wildly and the butterflies were extremely thick over the "meadow." PLs thicker on the 13th than 14th. DDs thicker on the 14th than the 13th.

On the 15th and 16th, I was farther south -- toward Agua Caliente -- and saw very, very few butterflies at all. The afternoon of the 14th I was in Lizard Canyon (to the south off 78) and also saw very, very few butterflies.

I also noted a fair number of butterflies on a mission when hiking in Edgewood [San Mateo] County Park this past Saturday (3/28). Not clouds of butterflies, but a fair number.

HTH in tracking the origins of this year's populations. :-) -- SF

I observed first butteflies on Friday. They have continued to pass through including today. They were quite heavy in the area yesterday. When I came home around noon on Monday, hundreds of them were eating from the blossoms of my large laurel trees. I live on the Walnut Creek/Lafayette border -- SW

March 31, 2009

I would never have noticed this, had I not recently seen a Nova episode on the annual Monarch butterfly migration cycle, but I was sitting in my car at a traffic light Saturday in San Jose and noticed one of these after another flying in the same direction, and reallized I was witnessing a migration. Continued to see maybe three or four per minute all day, all flying northward. Noticed them again today on my lunch break, same density and direction of migration. A quick web search brought me to your website. It is Painted Lady's and the migration was pretty heavy Saturday and today for sure in San Jose, and presumably the days between, though I did not check.

Thanks for the info and keeping an eye on this small wonder of nature. -- MO

Special thanks to Mr. Avtanski for sharing his YouTube video of the migration.

They have been coming through the Santa Cruz Mountains (near Summit Road and SR 17) in huge numbers for several days. On Saturday and Sunday there were several per second going past our house. It was very surprising to see them tack into the wind like a sailboat. They seem to be heading NNW and fly efficiently even headed straight into the wind. We're about 8 miles from the coast at about 2000' in elevation. -- B

I live in San Jose, Ca. (Northern California) As of March 26 there have been an abundance of painted ladies in my neighborhood. I lose count of how many of them I see on a daily basis. I only see them in my neighborhood and near work. Zip codes 95123 and 95032

Its pretty amazing, I have never seen them migrate before. I googled to see what was going on and found your site :)

I have seen the monarchs migrate right down my parents street when I was younger. Looking up and seeing a cloud of butterflies fly above you for hours on end is not something you can describe in words. These painted ladies are scattered but very high in numbers!! -- L

I live in Fremont, California close to Mission San Jose. Sunday through today I noticed when the tempature is right there are these Painted Lady Butterflies passing through my neighbors yard and mine at about 35 a minute and still continuing now. -- RJA

March 30, 2009

I am north of Livermore and had been seeing them all last week until the strong winds of today, 3/30/09. As the wind subsided this afternoon I began to see them again although not as many. -- SH

Hello Again,

Friday in my part of American Canyon (about 1 mile N of Vallejo/Napa Co line) and 1/2 mile W of Hwy 29 we literally had HUNDREDS of PL's flying from SE to NW up Highway 29 to at least the Napa River. About 2:00 I started noticing one every few seconds, this increased steadily until 3:30 when it was liking watching rows of WWII planes taking off (in the NewsReels) with dozens flying over in wave after wave as far as I could see (at least 1/2 mile) East and West. They were passing over my neighborhood too fast and too many to count. (I was up to over 200 when the stopped coming in pairs, and started coming in baker's dozens or more. This last till about 5:00 p.m. when the sun dropped and it cooled off. Sat there were dribs and drabs, and about 2-3 p.m. there were 10-12 a minute. Sunday Noon I counted over 100 in my 10 mile drive home from Church in Napa. By 2 p.m. Sun I saw well over 100 in 10 minutes pass over my yard, but nothing like Fri.

Today, Monday, they were coming 10 or so per minute starting about 10:45, by 11:30 it was about half as thick as Firday, with a dozen coming up my street, or passing over my backyard, every 15 seconds or so. I couldn't keep count from noon-2:00 each time I checked, after 2p.m. the numbers dropped off. Today I observed a number stopping on flowering plants or flowering trees, and saw one in the grass. They are still flying like "bat-terflies out of hell" when they are on the move. Mixed in are a few "white ones" of about the same size.

It really has been a delight to see so many -- and the neighbors are all commenting on them (especially what they saw Friday). I'll keep watching! Thanks for the email updates! -- RM

Large numbers on the move through the Santa Clara Valley both Saturday and today. -- RR

Not sure if you're monitoring this area but I was amazed by the stream of butterflies flying west in our neighborhood. Not sure when it started but I watched them mesmerized for an hour starting at 1:00 and then had to go to work. I did a random count and was able to see about 1 per second. They've dwindled down this evening to about 1 per 20 sec. Zip 95070. -- TB

Hi, I've been noticing many small orange butterflies in my neighborhood in Vallejo, flying south to north, and also have seen a few on my commute to Berkeley. Do you think they are Painted Ladies? Can you tell me anything about their population/migration this year? Many thanks! -- T

March 29, 2009

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=11747 -- J

Just curious = can you tell me what are the small brownish butterflies that we see, apparently headed north, not a big cluster, just very frequent sightings of 2 or 3 in the last few days (3/26, 3/28, and 3/29) in Los Altos Hills and Napa. Thanks. -- JC

I just reread your article on Painted Lady migration in 2005. Are we now seeing the painted lady again in CCC? Small, same color, same direction, south to north. -- CC

Hi I am seeing small orange brown? butterflies flying north in hordes throughout CCC. I started noticing them about 4 days ago and they are going strong! Where are they coming from and where are they goung? Are these the same that came about 3 years ago, I heard were born in cactus in Desert in S Cal and moved north to Marin or across SF bay anyway. Then I saw perhaps 5 times more, now just about 5 per minute cross my sight. I've seen them in Concord, Walnut Creek, freeway 680 and 242 and also lafayette. -- CC

March 28, 2009

I live in San Jose, CA and I couldn't help but notice a very large and seemingly sudden appearance of butterflies this spring. (I think namely painted ladies). They all seem to be flying in the same direction - north. I know the population has been decreasing. And so I was very pleasantly surprised to see so many in the last week or so. Is this something you have observed as well? -- SR

I was on Figueroa Mountain, near Los Olivos, today, and saw many butterflies flying fast and in the same direction. They appeared to be Vanessa species. -- LW

March 27, 2009

The guys and gals are coming through our neighborhood again. Looks like 15-20 a minute. We're located approximately 1/2 mile from the intersection of Fulton Ave. and Marconi Ave. in Sacto. It's interesting how they seem to follow in a stream of possibly some scent because they trail in the same line. Likewise, about a 100 yds down the street is another stream, but not as many coming through the yard next door. Didn't notice them past couple of years, but happy to see the migration this year. -- GW

Hi - I am a UCD Ecology alumni and I live in American Canyon (Napa County). This afternoon about 2:00 p.m. (when we reached about 80 degrees) we had butterflies en masse flying over the city. They appeared to fly in groups of 4 or 6, flying erratically with the wind from South to North -- orange, black and white, like a Red Adimral (my guess) or Painted Lady perhaps. Since it started to cool about 5 p.m. (50 minutes ago) their numbers have decreased but they are still flying over my backyard every few seconds. The birds are every where too chasing them. Can you tell me what they are? Are they coming from the Willows or other wetland edge plants (my guess)? Or from farther away? It's been a delightful afternoon with hundreds of these dancing butterfly groups flying over for the last several hours -- what a beautiful sight!! Thanks for any information you can provide -- and let me know if there are any field observations I can make and report to you. Thank you. -- RM

March 26, 2009

I live in Burlingame, California (zip code 94010) and I have noticed a large number of butterflies moving through our town over the last 2 days. Starting yesterday 3/25/09 we have been seeing a large number of orangish butterflies which people have been calling Monarchs. But through web research it seems this in unlikely. Also they seem a little small for monarchs.

Do you have any idea what could have caused this and what butterflies (or moths?) these are? -- GR

Seen lots of [Painted Ladies] today in Los Altos. They seem to be traveling north east. I enjoyed reading about them on this site-thank you. -- EE

March 25, 2009

I've had dozens and dozens of butterflies flying through my yard today - I am in Pleasanton, CA. They look similar to Monarchs but are much smaller. I couldn't see them close enough - they were moving too fast! But they have orange colored wings with a pale yellow or cream underside (no pattern). I've looked online and found several similar orange-patterned ones but haven't been able to identify an underside this color and unpatterned. I'm just curious - I've never had so many butterflies in my yard in one day before. It's amazing. -- AR

I am a resident of Fremont, California and am taking on the task of building a butterfly garden. It's a family project as my sister and I are building it for my mother. We both noticed a large amount of what appear to be checkerspots throughout the bay area on both March 24th and March 25th, 2009. I was wondering why this is. Are they all emerging from their cocoons at the same time? Any information you have regarding this event or butterfly gardening in general would greatly be appreciated. -- DS

March 22, 2009

Yesterday, Saturday March 21st 2009, I witnessed part of a huge northward migration of Painted Lady Butterflies while driving to Merced NWR. I first started noticing the groups of butterflies crossing Highway 152 in Santa Nella. I was not sure if, or to whom I should report the sighting. Your site seemed a likely candidate. -- ER

March 18, 2009

3/17/09 & 3/18/09 has seen Painted Ladies barreling through Santa Barbara 93105. 3/18 heavier traffic than 3/17. One to three per minute heading up coast. --DL

March 16, 2009

I'm an aquatic insect ecologist with UC Santa Barbara and just wanted to let you know the first wave of painted ladies (Vanessa cardui) began making their way through Mammoth Lakes at 9000+ft on the 15th of March. This is three full weeks earlier than last year. -- RBM