Where To Spot A Local Endangered Butterfly This Summer

REDONDO BEACH, CA — A South Bay non-profit is hosting its annual nature walk in the coming weeks, where attendees will have the opportunity to learn about and observe the endangered El Segundo blue butterfly.

The butterfly, whose color is described by the South Bay Parkland Conservancy's Vice President of Rewilding Projects Jim Montgomery as a "beautiful blue," is the size of a thumbnail and feeds off the local seacliff buckwheat plant.

Over the years, the butterfly started losing its habitat due to urbanization and a decline in the seacliff buckwheat plant, according to Montgomery.

For a while, the butterfly could only be seen in areas like Palos Verdes and near the Los Angeles Airport, where the seacliff buckwheat thrived in a fenced-off area, according to Montgomery.

But habitat restoration efforts by the SBPC have helped the El Segundo blue butterfly thrive once more in the South Bay.

"We've taken a species that was on the brink of extinction and expanded its habitat along Redondo and Torrance," Montgomery told Patch in April.

To educate community members and allow them an opportunity to spot the endangered butterfly, the SBPC is hosting three nature walks led by the non-profit's Board Member and Bluff Restoration Project Biologist, Ann Dalkey , and Board Member Mary Simun.

Here is the schedule for the walks:

• Saturday, June 28
• Saturday, July 5
• Saturday, July 12

Each date will have a walk at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. They will last about an hour and attendees are asked to meet at Esplanade and Vista Del Mar in Redondo Beach (north of Miramar Park).

"We will walk and talk discussing the habitat, plants, and of course the butterflies," SBPC President Aga Chenfu said in a statement Monday, adding that spaces are limited.

To register for a walk or volunteer opportunities, click here.