Deanna Boettcher found a rare-in-our-area butterfly, a Gulf Fritillary, in the gardens at Mar Vista, north of Anchor Bay. She wrote, “We have been so thrilled to see the abundance of butterflies this fall - first the onslaught of Monarchs, and then the Painted Lady Butterflies!  All of which are still around now, just not in as many numbers. In any case, I captured this beauty, a Gulf Fritillary, on our yarrow in the flower cutting garden yesterday, and I just had to share.”

Gulf fritillaries are native to the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. This butterfly has no native host plant in California and is entirely dependent on introduced species of the Passionflower/Passion Vine. They are a rare sighting here. I asked Deanna if they had a host plant and she wrote, “Yes, we have passion vine along one fence line of the flower cutting garden.”

Deanna reported this morning that many of these butterflies were seen today at Mar Vista. And she got more photos!

Thanks to Deanna for allowing me to share her photos with you here. Mar Vista is a charming place to stay. You can learn more about it at this link to their website: https://marvistafarmandcottages.com/

It's a magnificent, clear, windless day here on the Mendonoma Coast! This morning's sunrise was so very beautiful...sigh.