Rita and I drove out to Death Valley to see the wild flower show, and found there was yet another "spectacle of nature" underway. Warm weather after cool rains had spawned an immense flight of Painted Lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) northward from Mexico and southern California. They were moving across the desert and Central Valley in the millions. It was impossible not to 'paint' a canvas of Painted Ladies on the windshield (right). According to Bob Stewart's Common Butterflies of California (1997), this migration occurs at this time every year, but usually not in such multitudes.

Although we are birders and not botanists, one could not help but be impressed with this show. The greatest diversity seemed to be along the road over Salsberry Pass at the southern end of Death Valley National Park. Here (right) Rita works on Bigelow Coreopsis and Desert Chicory. Any who stops and pulls off the road starts a "flower jam" with dozens of other carloads of tourists stopping to see what you've found. It was just like the "bear jams" in Yellowstone!