Hilltop butterflies at Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery
Today's "Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery" combines four nineteenth century graveyards that clustered around a small wooded hill about a mile northeast of our then- splendid county courthouse. Even in those simpler times, sensibilities in our small town(1880 pop. 3600) required four separate boneyards to decently accommodate ethnic and class diversity! By the mid 20th. century these were superseded, abandoned in favor of the current Santa Rosa Memorial Park next-door. The old graves had to be collected into a city park of thirteen acres behind cyclone fencing to slow down vandalism a bit. The site has been left fallow since except for a small native garden managed by local volunteers in one corner. With little bloom, it does not at first seem a promising place to find butterflies; but it turns out that having a hill is sufficient.
The cemetery knoll barely looms over the adjacent neighborhoods, but enough to attract hilltopping species.
In spring and summer Swallowtails patrol glades in the oak forest along the crest. By May, you generally see male Pipevine, Anise and Western Tigers jousting in these spaces hour after hour, defending a position hoping a female passes by. Hard to photograph, but very easy to watch! The hill does have one nice black Sage blooming in April and May; and during this period you can get your shot as the bitter rivals converge on neutral ground to nectar together quite companionably. But these insects are not here to feed; and they remain quite consistently present through the summer months.
By November these have gone, and the action shifts slightly from the summit glades to the gravestones on the southwest slope. A nice variety of stone monuments in this upscale section get the best of the wintery sunshine, so are ideal for perching butterflies. Mourning Cloaks, California Tortoiseshells, Red Admirals and occasionally West Coast Ladies and Painted Ladies might be seen here any time of year, but now they've this stoneyard to themselves until March.
Of these Vanessa atalanta dominates here, and can be seen any warm winter day. If there are two butterflies, they are fighting over the best location. If undisturbed , a butterfly will perch on a favorite spot in his territory, flying off to patrol every few minutes, and usually returning to station. Any butterfly that comes by will be instantly challenged. Anything not a female atalanta will be chased off in tight circles that spiral off into the treetops. West Coast Ladies behave quite the same, and so it's tough to tell these apart until they land. As these two species have been seen to hybridize, they may have the same problem. The other overwintering species noted are less frequently seen; but all will join the Cynthia butterflies from time to time competing for prime locations. if you visit regularly you'll see them all.
By April, Swallowtails return, and seemingly chase off most of the Vanessae and Morning Cloaks. These larger butterflies dominate the space until summers end. In the warm months, other butterflies do pass through the park; with much greater variety than you could encounter in the surrounding neighborhoods.
I'd speculate that this hill takes much of its faunal character from the essentially contiguous oak-covered hills marching up to the Mayacamas Mountains.. I've seen Eastern Tailed Blues, Ringlets, California Sisters, Lorquin's Admirals, Dogface, Mylittia Crescents, Ox-eyed Satyrs and Northern White Skippers here; along with our more urban-tolerant species. I've lived for 30 years about 10 blocks from this spot, and none of those wild butterflies ever visit my garden.
I suspect--if this were a widely held priority-- we could do more to accommodate these other foraging butterflies that visit the park. The native garden is a nice start on this, and could be expanded. After all, our indigenous cultures regarded butterflies as associated with death and the transmigration of souls! But that might not be fair to the Europeans, Africans and Japanese interred here.... and it would be foolish to complain in view of the miracles already found here on any warm winter day. Short of actually removing this small hill, the Rural Cemetery should continue to delight no matter what else is done.
