Today was my first full day in Pt. Reyes. I’m here for an extra long weekend in an Olema cottage. A grievcation. Time away from everyone and everything. Just so I can cry whenever I want without bothering or worrying anyone. With a framed photo of my dad to keep me company. It’s something I truly have needed. I’m so grateful to have it.

While here, I will also be indulging in some Naturing outings. I fell in love with the beauty of Pt. Reyes forever ago. Long before I became a nature nerd. Ahem. Naturalist. But my love for it is so entirely different and more meaningful now. Now, it’s both a beautiful place to escape to AND an incredible natural wonderworld for me. Can’t possibly be here for long and not get outside…

I had a hard time deciding where to venture to today. So I bopped around, covering the Papermill Creek Trail (which I realized, upon arrival, that I’d actually done part of it before with friends a long time ago, but pre-naturalist me), part of the Olema Valley Trail (a very small part), and part of the Sunset Beach Trail. I guess my lack of exact inspiration is telling, given how little I actually completed. I just wanted to be out in the area. So I did that.

Yesterday, I bought Liam O’Brien’s new book, “Butterflies of the Bay Area” at the Pt. Reyes Bookstore. I already pre-ordered it to have in the Roving Ranger for work. And when I happened upon it in the bookstore, I knew I had to have my own copy. It’s so fun to have a book penned by (and in this case, also illustrated by) someone you’ve met.

I met Liam while learning about the re-introduction of the California Ringlet butterfly to The Presidio, as part of my second California Naturalist certification’s capstone project. Liam was working with then Presidio Trust Wildlife Ecologist, Jonathan Young. I met them both to learn about the re-introduction and watch them actually mark and release the Butterflies above El Polin Spring.

Liam was so flippin’ cool. I was an instant fan. Still hope to join for a Butterfly Count he leads one of these days… It was only after I’d met him that one time that I came upon an illustrated poster of local Butterflies he made that lists their host plants. I saw it somehow once I started interning at the Parks Conservancy, grabbed a spare that no one wanted for myself, THEN saw that he had done the dang poster. SO COOL.

I figured I’d flip through it. Use it as a reference. But I ended up reading it cover to cover last night, only skipping a handful of pages for species I haven’t seen yet. Turns out I’ve seen MANY in that fairly large book!

Anyhoo, I went to bed thinking of Butterflies. And Moths. And all the great things I’d learned from the book, not just about the handful of juicy facts but also about Liam himself. He’s had a pretty unscripted life.

ANYHOO, I was hoping to see some of the Butterflies he has in the book that can be seen in Pt. Reyes and surrounding area. And, I DID.

The very first thing I saw while just walking down the street in Pt. Reyes Station (before I started Naturing) was a Cabbage White. A butterfly he happily admits is still one he loves to see, despite it being pretty dang common. I can relate, as I feel quite similarly.

I even spotted two Skippers while admiring the Cabbage White. One even remained on a flower long enough for me to get a crap photo with my iPhone. It turned out that I’d see a good number of Butterflies today. So awesome.

Starting out at Papermill Creek Trail, the first thing I saw was a Skipper. Couldn’t get a photo of it, but it was a nice sight to see so often throughout the day.

Being the time of year it is, I wasn’t expecting excitement in the flora department. And the rows and rows of Fennel on the trail was a sad start, but what can you do. No Anise Swallowtail caterpillars (boo), but TONS of Ladybugs. I spotted both Convergent Lady Beetles and Asian Lady Beetles.

Things got a little more interesting once I got closer to the marsh. A Mylitta Crescent popped up out of nowhere. Soon followed by a similarly sized Skipper of sorts that appeared to be chasing the Crescent off. It quickly vanished, so I’ve no idea what kind of Skipper it was.

But I noticed both were on the same plant. Newtome Bull Mallow. I was stooped down, getting photos of it, when three people came up the trail and stopped where I was, as the trail was somewhat narrow (so I was taking up enough of it for them to slow down on their approach).

I moved when I noticed this was happening and said, “Sorry, please go by me,” and the woman replied, “No problem. We’re wondering what you’re looking at.” I proceeded to tell them that I’d recently seen Butterflies on this plant, so I wanted to find out what it was. The woman said, “Oh, was it the white one?” I gave her more detail about the ones I had seen (even though a Cabbage White was indeed in the area), and she seemed impressed. It’s too funny that I’d ever impress someone with my limited Lepidoptera knowledge!

I went on to share about Liam’s new book, and the three older folks perked up even more. Asking me if I’d gotten the book from The Bookstore and if I knew he was doing talks for it. We then parted ways. They thanked me for sharing, and I thanked them for being interested. Love when that happens.

After investigating a side trail (that wasn’t on the AllTrails map!) that turned into an Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole, dead ending at Lagunitas Creek (where the White House Pool Park trails are), I made my way out. Stopping to note just a couple of sweet Pacific False Bindweed blooms and TONS of Western Boxelder Bugs (?) hopping all around and mating.

Next was checking out the Five Brooks Trailhead. I’ve always been curious what was over there. And it looked like I could do a bit of the Olema Valley Trail and see what that pond was about along the way.

Turns out, the pond is pretty tough to see. And wasn’t inhabited by many birds, minus a couple Mallards. And I started the walk into the forest but felt like I wanted to explore somewhere in the sun. To see more wildlife, since flora is pretty uneventful right now. So I bailed. I think that forest trail would be fun to revisit in the Winter. When Fungi might be fun to find there…

But while in the area, I did manage to see a California Sister and a Satyr Comma. I even finally figured out a way to differentiate the Lorquin’s Admiral from the California Sister in the field. Thanks to the book! Seeing them side by side, I can remember that the Admiral has a red stripe (a la military), while the Sister has bigger red dots in comparison.

A pretty Warbling Vireo, Hairy Woodpecker, fearless Western Wood-Pewee, and a dozen California Quail were nice to see there, too.

Next was to check out the first bit of the Sunset Beach Trail. I’ve always wondered what these inlets looked like up close. Yes, I’ve seen the Limantour side, but these fingers into the sea have long tempted me. I just wanted to get to the bridge and back. No need to actually get to the beach. The official length of the route is 7.9 miles. Why anyone would walk that far to get to A BEACH is beyond me.

Maybe I’ll explore the other side someday. And not bother actually getting to the beach. When it’s not warm whatsoever.

After parking in the lot, I saw a small raptor flying toward me. I first thought, “PEREGRINE!” But given the small size, it couldn’t be that. KESTREL! Yes, indeed. It was an American Kestrel. It stayed pretty distant, but I got a crap photo that’s good enough for an ID. Always a good consolation prize. The several I saw on wires above the road on my way out all flew the second I paused my car to see them better. Boo.

A Sandhill Skipper (?), Pacific Aster, and Skunkweed were all I saw for a while. And some White-crowned Sparrows. The trail starting out isn’t very exciting right now. Things got interesting once I got to the trees, where a couple Northen Flickers were calling. More Quail. Lots of feather carnage on the trail…

And then I was in the clearing where the water was freely flowing. A Great Egret was in the distance, making its funny dinosaur squawks. And at the scary-looking bridge, a couple Striped Shore Crabs were on the rocks below the water. Just like at Crissy Lagoon.

The Pickleweed marshyness out there is just lovely.

I turned back to head out. Wanted to see if I could squeeze in one more stop before the light was gone. And Drakes Beach was calling.

Stopped to finally see one of the Flickers I’d been hearing. No good photo, to show how gorgeous it was. Too far away. But I’ll take the small victory of finding it.

I was nearing where I’d started when I caught sight of a CATERPILLAR on the trail just ahead of me. That deserves ALL CAPS because I feel like I don’t see enough Caterpillars. I’d love to see more. Every time is super special. And this fuzzy thing was newtome Isabella Tiger Moth! As I stooped down to get photos, it actually turned its head to me to see what I was about. Gah, I hope I can see its adult stage sometime. Sooooo preeeeetty.

I had thought about checking my phone at about that moment, to see how long it’d take me to get to Drakes Beach. If I had, I might’ve not seen this Caterpillar. Might’ve even stepped on it! A good reminder to stay on target. Naturing doesn’t end til you reach the trailhead. And even THAT isn’t necessarily the end…

As was the case when I reached the parking lot! A lone Quail was perched on a gate just beyond my car. Such a great photo op. AND, something in the distance on the hillside looked like something. And it was! A Red-tailed Hawk was oddly on a low rock. Just chillin’.

On my drive out, a Great Blue Heron was also chillin’. With a couple cows casually grazing right next to it!

I was getting close to the turn for Drakes Beach when I happened to spot A FLIPPIN’ WHALE BREACHING IN THE OCEAN. I kid you not! It took my flippin’ BREATH AWAY to see it. It seemed SO FAR AWAY, but I knew exactly what I saw! So I zipped past the turn for Drakes Beach to figure out how to go West instead to see MORE WHALES.

But first I had to make a quick stop to gawk eversobriefly at a LARGE GROUP of Tule Elk!! I’ve never seen so many before. I’ve yet to make that trek up to the most Northern spot on Pt. Reyes to see them up there. So this was THRILLING. Watched for a bit, snapped some photos, then resumed my rush to see the WHALES.

South Beach was perfect, and there was even a pull out area to get a great view of the WHALES and the SUNSET.

I can’t even tell you how many WHALES I ended up seeing. If I had to guess, I’d say I saw about ten. At least. SO MANY spouts and several breaches and a definitive Humpback Whale TAIL! I just took it all in. Shrieking every time one came up through the surface.

And the sunset. Just perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my time out there.

That is, until I headed out…

I was on my way when I spotted a shape high up on top of a tree that I know REALLY DANG WELL. “That’s AN OWL,” I said out loud to myself. And I immediately took my first right to turn around and go back.

And, SURE ENOUGH. A Great Horned Owl was perched there! It was facing away from me, but I got lucky that it turned its head around a couple times. Unfortunately, two bicyclists came by, and the Owl flew off onto a pole further away from me. I walked a little bit to see it better. And as I was getting a couple photos of it, I started to hear COYOTES.

And here I was going to be SO FLIPPIN’ ECSTATIC to end my day with all the Humpbacks and that sunset!

I had a hard time not grinning the whole drive back to my cottage.

This place is so dang special.