I was standing on the edge of the bluffs at Sonoma Coast, hoping to get a closer shot of the seals down below. This beautiful butterfly fluttered into my lens. It’s yet another great gift to me from nature…
The Mission Blue Butterfly
Later I learned that it’s a Mission Blue Butterfly.
The Mission Blue is native to the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. I am surprised to see it in the Sonoma Coast, which is way out of the Bay Area.
The Mission Blue Butterfly
The butterfly has been declared as endangered by the US Federal Government. The Mission Blue depends on a very specific host plant called the lupine. As such, its habitat is restricted solely to the U.S. state of California. The Mission Blue colonies prefer coastal chaparral and coastal grasslands. Maybe that explains my good fortune that day on the Sonoma Coast bluffs.:-)
We will come back soon.:-)