Sunshine and Butterflies
Sunrise reflected on Mt. San Jacinto
I've been in Palm Springs since late friday evening. We have spent the weekend with UrSpo and Someone, who journeyed out from Phoenix on Friday. The weekend has involved a lot of relaxation and visiting. Tody we'll go for a hike. I hope to be able to capture a Wright's metalmark butterfly. It's in the same a close relative of the swamp metalmark, but it's a fairly common butterfly in these parts. I want to extract DNA from it and use it forr tthe cross-amplification study that's a part of my paper describing microsatellite DNA characterization from the swamp metalmark.
It's wonderful to be seeing butterflies and other insects out and about, especially given how bad springtime in Chicago has been so far this year. The desert is still in bloom, which makes for some great scenery. It will be interesting to see what other insects are around, as this is my first spring visit to the California desert sine my entomological interests have expanded beyond butterliies. I'll pictures from today's hike.
California Sister (Adelpha bredowii)
Labels: Butterflies, DNA, Insects, Swamp Metalmark, Travel
posted by Doug Taron @ 10:40
10 Comments:
It's great to see morning light on Mt. San Jacinto. It's been a very long time since I've been out to the Palm Springs Desert. What a treat to see butterflies too. You sure do get out to some nice warm spots.
thank you both for a lovely time
we enjoyed seeing you.
have a safe trip home.
Looks like a great spot. I've NEVER been to Palm Springs, all the celebrity and etc, I thought it must be just paved over and overpriced. Maybe I too need to visit there to see some nature. I'll look forward to those pictures....SOunds like a fun trip and good company.
come on down here to louisiana and i will paddle u around some of the swamps..so u can swap butterflies, copperheads, and a few alligators.
anytime you want.
tommy
Wow, that looks inviting. It's 38 here this morning. I think tomorrow it's going to be in the 70's. Springs in the southeast are wacky.
I love that explorer's lust you have for life - and you get paid for it. What a fantastic combination. I think you sure know how to live!
Don't you need to move to Oklahoma for some important research? I would be your assistant for free - I'm a good spotter.
I noticed over at Sycamore Canyon you mention encountering a Queen in Palm Springs - well, imagine that. Heard there were some bears about too.
Have a good time.
The California sister is nice.
Good post.
Robin- I go to Palm Springs nearly every year. At least once on each trip, I get up early enough to watch the sunrise on San Jacinto.
Spo- Thanks. It was a lot of fun seeing you guys as well.
Mark- You and Rodger should come down sometime. I think that you would enjoy it, and it would be fun to meet up there.
Tommy- Tempting. I've only ever been to Louisiana once before, and I did little in the way of collecting while I was there.
Valown- I associate that sort of weather pattern with springtime in the Midwest,as well. I would have expected your relative proximity to the ocean to even things out a bit. Apparently not.
t.r.- Oklahoma is another place where I've been only once and not collected. I know that there is a lot of interesting stuff out that way. I saw lots of queens on my trip. Both in town and out in the desert. The bears I only saw in town.
texas travellers - Thanks. I wasn't expecing to see a California sister this early in the year, so it was a nice treat.
Love the sunshine on the mountains.
Your blog is one of my favorites.
Thanks for the nice comment on my site. Yes we did see arctic butterflies while we were at Deadhorse, on the Arctic Ocean, for 3 days. Yup, Butterflies at Midnight. We were extremely fortunate as the temp while we were there was in the 60's. Quite a few flying. We got several lifers in both butterflies and birds.
Come visit again,
Troy and Martha
Doug, forgive me for asking, what is microsatellite DNA?
Post a Comment
<< Home