Most of us do not think about butterflies when the morning temperatures are below freezing and frost is on the ground.  However, last weekend I stumbled upon this Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) basking in the morning warmth of sunlight.  This butterfly species is extremely common throughout the United States, southern Canada, and Central America.  It inhabits open, neglected fields, grasslands, and areas of low vegetation.

The adults, of course, feed upon nectar, but also take fluids from damp earth ... a behavior that is most apparent during the warm seasons.  Common Buckeyes exhibit seasonal polyphenism (a polyphenic trait is one for which discrete phenotypes can arise from a single genotype as a result of differing environmental conditions).  Butterflies hatched during the summer months show light yellowish ventral wings and is called "linea", and the fall hatched form (morph) shows pinkish ventral wings and is called "rosa".  This photo shows that pinkish coloration (even though slight) on the ventral wings.

The caterpillars feed upon a variety of herbaceous plants, especially those in the snapdragon family (Scrophulariaceae) and the plantain family (Plantaginaceae).

Being a secondary pioneer plant in vegetative communities such as chaparral, coastal scrub, and riparian, the Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis), otherwise known as Chaparral Broom or Bush Baccharis, is a shrubby plant that quickly colonizes disturbed sites.  Normally the Coyote Bush-dominated transition from disturbed site to scrub to mature chaparral or forest takes about a half-century.   Growth occurs mainly after March when temperatures begin to rise.  Tap roots on mature plants can exceed 10.5 feet showing its adaptation to long dry summers.

The plant is a native dicot plant in the Asteraceae family, and is dioecious, which means that staminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers occur on separate plants.  Coyote Bush seed is dispersed from October to January, and normally requires a wind or gentle breeze to dislodge them from the plant and carry them great distances through the air as this photo shows.

Coyote Bush is a locally common plant at the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center.

Common throughout California, the California Quail (Callipepla californica) happens to be the official state bird.  The species also occurs also in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Baja.  Historically, the Pomo Indians used to make basket-style funnel traps to trap them and use the coma-shaped topknots to adorn some of their exquisitely woven baskets.

Research took place at the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center during the 1970s by A. Starker Leopold (UC Berkeley), Michael Erwin (UC Berkeley), John Oh (UC-HREC), and Bruce Browning (Calif. Dept. of Fish & Game) based upon the theory that there was a direct connection between forb growth and the breeding success of quail ...and it had been long presumed that the control was nutritional.  Their research showed that phytoestrogens, mainly formononetin and genistein,  are produced in the leaves of certain stunted annual plants in a dry year and that these compounds apparently inhibit reproduction in quail.  In wet years the phytoestrogenic substances are largely absent, and the quail breed prolifically.

Here you see typical covey of California Quail as occurs during the fall and winter periods.

The building progress of the Rod Shippey Education Facility & Field Lab at the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center has been fast and furious over the last couple of months.  We are extremely excited with anticipation towards the completion and educational use of this new facility.

From the building's inception, our goal was to design a facility with low energy requirements that made "maximum use of on-site renewable energy and climate-responsive design strategies".  In terms of "green" architect standards, architect Paul Roberts notes, "The Shippey building, as designed, could easily meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum benchmark, especially if money could be raised for the addition of a solar array.  Even without an active solar collection system, the building is designed to be "Beyond LEED" in design and execution.

Under the leadership of REWEST Construction, the site pad was prepared, all under-slab plumbing, electrical and utilities were installed, and the stem walls were poured.  An enormous length of radiant heating tubing is now in place in preparation for the concrete slab pour.  However, due the the cold temperatures over the last week, the floor-slab pouring is in a waiting game with Mother-Nature ... waiting for the on-site temperatures to warm up a bit.