Lower Arana Gulch, March 28, 2011

It was sunny and almost 70 degrees today. I walked to Lower Arana Gulch today with the intention of checking the dock patches along the creek to see if dock beetles were out, however all the recent rain has left standing water in that area. I noticed quite a few monarchs butterflies flying in the area and get the impression the eucalyptus trees on the other side of the creek are a winter roost for the monarchs. I ended up walking the upper area instead of the area by the creek. Saw the same species here that I saw yesterday at Fort Ord - yellow sun cups and golden brown Bombyllids, probably Bombylius major. Purple sanicle, Sanicula bipinnatifida, was blooming and an Orange-crowned Warbler was singing. As I waked the path up from the yacht harbor towards Arnana Gulch I saw lots of bumblebees, some Andrenidae and maybe some other bees were foraging on the ceanothus planted there. I will have to catch a few to determine what species are in this area.

Posted on March 29, 2011 05:39 AM by barbarab