2024 October 12

Jeff Gaskin writes:   Today was a great day for butterflies.  I found a Painted Lady at the top of Christmas Hill at 2:45 p.m. on the north summit.  The rest of my butterflies were Cabbage Whites but yet I found four of them.  One was along Saanich Road where it meets up with the Lochside trail near Lodge Avenue and the other three were in the Burnside/Gorge community.

Aziza Cooper writes:  On a drive today, coming back from Jordan River, I saw two white butterflies, a Cabbage White along Highway 1 east of Tillicum Road, and one crossing Sooke Road near the traffic light at the town centre. The second one could have been a Pine White, but my view was very brief.

At Jordan River today, Colin Veerkamp told me he saw a Purplish Copper briefly. Val George saw a butterfly which may have been the same one. Colin also told me he saw up to 15 Purplish Coppers at the Cowichan Bay Dock Road “about a month ago”. He had excellent photos.

Jeremy Tatum reports a single Cabbage White at Carey Road today.

Ian Cooper found a full-grown caterpillar of a Peppered Moth in View Royal today.  On being supplied with some sterilized potting soil, the caterpillar promptly buried itself prior to pupation before a photograph could be taken.