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I’m glad you brought this up, because I’m not familiar with polygonia(commas). It looks like they’re close relatives of nymphalia and there’s some overlap in characteristics. I think this guy is a California tortoiseshell, which is common here, but I’m hardly a butterfly expert.
One thing I didn’t know before is that commas get their common name from the characteristic white comma-shaped spot on the underwing. By chance, I got a good shot of the underwing of this one also, and it looks comma-free to me. I’ve gone back and included this photo also.
Great picture of the butterfly! I think it is a species of comma, but they are hard to tell apart, and there are 6 in Oregon, according to Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygonia
Sorry we’ll miss you, but it sounds like we should have plenty of company anyway. Looks like great fun!
5 years agoAnne and I thought maybe we would join you on the 'Mountain of Hell Bike Race' but we've changed our minds. Looking forward to the videos and soundtrack 'Highway to Hell'.
Happy Anniversary!
Let me think back to my years as a math major long go. If I remember correctly, 2*0 is still 0.
5 years agoBonjour,
Faut-il que je augment mes honoraires en tant que “captionist”? Bien, ils sont de maintenant deux fois plus chers!
Er, moo!
Cheers,
Keith
Headwinds, schmeadwinds!!
5 years agoIt’s not always hot and windy, but there is a common thread. It can be mild and windy, or cold and windy too. It’s always memorable though.
5 years agoNice! It’s certainly beautiful up there. I did a loop in that area in 2016 called the Oregon Stampede, which began and ended at the mouth of the Deschutes and went through Dufur, Tygh Valley and Grass Valley.
It’s hot and windy up there, but excellent riding.
Sorry to hear your mom isn't up for the big celebration.
Glad, though, that it opened up an opportunity for a beautiful ride!
I agree completely. Connecting trails like this are attractive for cycling only because they give a break from the traffic. They’re not designed for cycling, really - they’re really just ribbon parks leveraging the only available green space in a large suburban sprawl. Portland does have some very nice cycle paths that follow the waterways or lay of the land, but this isn’t among them.
5 years agoHi Scott,
Looking at this picture got me thinking about trail designers. Here you have a lovely trail that meanders across the landscape under what is manifestly a very straight line of power poles. It looks beautiful, but as a rider I was always a little frustrated that these trails were designed to look good and not to be a part of a transportation system. I like meandering roads and in Europe or New England or any other place not governed by the Northwest Ordinance of 1797 the roads follow the lay of the land, but they do so “organically”, that is for a reason and not to be pretty. Another way to think of this might be that trails like this one are for park landscapes, while rail-trails are to get somewhere.
You’ve ridden both, and have a lot of experience in Europe, so what are your thoughts?
Cheers,
Keith
Oh, that’s so insightful! I’m thinking I should contract out the captions to you. What is your going rate?
5 years agoYes, and I thought of that afterwards too. Even closer to home though, it’s very close to the color of Rachael’s Surly Straggler.
5 years ago
I am no expert on butterflies & did not know of tortoise shell butterflies. I just google searched butterflies of Oregon and knew commas looked like it, but none exactly fit the pattern... I need to learn more about butterflies! Thanks for checking up on me! If I had done the search correctly, I should have started with your ID... Usually I do that.
5 years ago