This is a bit off subject, but may be of some interest.

On a recent climb of Mt Rainier we were surprised to see literally hundreds
of butterflies near the summit, flying to and fro over the snow with no
obvious consistent direction.There was no food source for them anywhere
nearby.We took a photo from which I think they were California
Tortoiseshells. My butterfly book tells me that these breed in the montane
vegetation zone of the Cascades and they do have spectacular population
booms and mass migrations. This seemed to be a mass suicide mission.

I wonder if anyone else has seen anything similar.

Richard Isherwood
Port Townsend Wa
Rjisherwood at gmail.com