Pictures from a week-long butterfly trip in June 2012 to the southern Sierra Nevada with Jim Brock (co-author of the excellent Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America) for Sunstreak Tours. We ranged far and wide in our hunt for butterflies from Descanso near San Diego to our base at Sequoia Lodge in Kernville, east to Big Pine, and then on to Bakersfield and the Fresno Dome, before heading back to LAX by way of the Santa Ynez mountains and Santa Barbara. Great group to travel with and Jim's enthusiasm and extensive knowledge made for a fabulous trip.

In seven days of butterflying we saw nearly 100 species, most of which were 'lifers' for me and several which are endemic to narrow regions of California. Before we get to the butterfly pictures below, here are some of the other flora and fauna we saw during the trip. All photographs were taken with a Nikon D90 usually with either a 70-300 mm or an 18-105 mm macro lens.

Click on any of the thumbnails for a larger version.