AMerican Badger

November 20, 2014

Back in June of 2014, I observed an American Badger near the beach in north San Diego County. Badgers are an extremely rare site in San Diego County, especially so close to the coast. This individual was in the bottom of a wash and looking right at me as I came upon it in the early morning after sunrise. When I approached for a closer look and better photos, it turned and went straight up and over a near vertical bank. It was an amazing feat of strength.  I could not get super close for the perfect photo, especially with an iPhone, but as they say, the best camera is the one you have on you (and yes, I have reported this sighting). Enjoy!

All photos by Brian Lohstroh, unless otherwise noted.

Here's what the dorsal side of wings look like. These are specimens at the SD Natural History Museum.

Female Great Purple Hairstreak found near the LBC office on 10/28/2014.

Male Great Purple Hairstreak observed on 3/24/2010 near Jacumba. Note the blue on the underside of the forewing.

Great Purple hairstreak

October 30, 2014

A couple days ago, my daughter and I noticed an amazing butterfly walking home from school. Apparently it was stunned from some sort of trauma (probably a car's windshield got in it's way), so we were able to pick it up and view the creatures incredible coloration. The Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) feeds on mistletoe, which occurs frequently in my neighborhood on the ubiquitous western sycamores planted throughout the area.  The dark underside of the hairstreak's wings shown in the photo hides a brilliant iridescent blue you rarely see in nature. Unfortunately, this fresh female did not make it to fly again, I hope she at least has had a chance to perpetuate a new generation so we can continue to see these colorful insects in the area in the future. I rarely see them, and they are truly unique!

The LBC Blog

By Brian Lohstroh

Field notes, photos, and musings related to our natural world.