Past Issue September 2006
In This Edition:
NABA's MISSION STATEMENT: 1) Upcoming Walks and Events 1. UPCOMING NABA WALKS AND RELATED EVENTS – September 2006: Beginners and children accompanied by adults are welcome on every butterfly walk and count. Directions are found below, at the end of the Calendar. Water, hat, and sunscreen are recommended for every outing. Tick prevention methods include wearing long pants and using insect repellent. Feel free to invite a friend, or even better, several friends! Wed. Sep. 13. Tom & Gloria Bratkowski will talk about their trip to the Monarch wintering grounds in Mexico. 7:00 p.m., Powder Valley. Sat. Sep. 16.Kirkwood Market. Missouri Wildflowers Nursery will be selling native plants starting at 9:00 a.m. Orders can be placed ahead of time – call 573-496-3492. Sun. Sep. 17. Busch C. A. Butterfly Count for Mo. Dept. of Conservation. Workday begins at 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. at the Jim Ziebol butterfly garden. Please bring work gloves, pruning shears, leaf rake, and/or shovel, to help clear weeds and honeysuckle bushes. Butterfly count begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch at 1:00 p.m. DIRECTIONS: PowderValley Conservation Area: From the intersection of Interstates 44 & 270, take Watson Road to Geyer Road. Turn north on Geyer for 200 yards to Cragwold Road. Go west on Cragwold for one mile to the nature center entrance on the right, and follow the drive to the parking lot. Enter the building through the left entrance. Busch Wildlife Conservation Area: From St. Louis County, take I-64 (Hwy 40) across the Missouri River bridge and exit at Hwy. 94. Go left (south) on Hwy 94 approximately 1 mile to Hwy D. Turn right onto Hwy D and go about 1.5 miles to the entrance on your right. Turn right and at the T intersection, turn right again and proceed to the parking lot at the Visitor's Center. Meet at the Jim Ziebol Butterfly Garden at the bottom of the parking lot. 2006: Looking Ahead - Butterfly Programs and Walks: Wed. Oct. 11. Torrey Berger will give a program about his trip to Brazil, 7:00 p.m., Powder Valley. 2. AUGUST BUTTERFLY SIGHTINGS by Yvonne Homeyer Additional July Sightings: On 7/29, Jim, Yvonne and Mary-Eileen visited several locations in Washington and Jefferson Counties. They checked Victoria Glade for Swamp Metalmarks but none were seen (note: a field trip to Victoria Glade is scheduled for Aug. 26, which should coincide with the second brood’s flight time). Over 60 fresh Silvery Checkerspots were flying at Bootleg C.A. south of Potosi. Mark Peters’ prairie was alive with butterflies, with 20+ Spicebush Swallowtails, Tiger Swallowtails, Great Spangled Fritillaries, and Silver-spotted Skippers flying. Other species included several Hoary Edges, a Red-spotted Purple, a Swarthy Skipper, a Northern Broken Dash, a few Monarchs, and some Summer Azures and Eastern Tailed-Blues. Neither American nor Painted Lady was seen at any of the locations they checked. August Sightings: August has been a strange month. Some of the most unusual sightings have been in our members’ gardens! This reinforces the importance of natural habitat in urban and suburban landscapes. As weedy fields and unused land have become scarce to non-existent, recreated natural spaces have taken their places. Any natural space is helpful, because skippers use grasses (many different species) and butterflies nectar on dandelion, white clover and red clover. Adding native plants and host plants just makes it even better! Mark Peters saw a Reakirt’s Blue at his prairie on 8/1. This sighting added another species to the list of butterflies seen there. On 8/2, Jeannie Moe found a Gray Hairstreak nectaring on Rattlesnake Master in the Butterfly Garden at Busch. Mary Eileen Rufkahr counted 10 species at St. Stanislaus Park on 8/5: 3 Pipevine Swallowtails, 1 Cabbage White, 1 Orange Sulphur, 20+ Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Pearl Crescent, 1 Silvery Checkerspot, 1 Eastern Tailed-Blue, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 7 Hackberries, 7 Monarchs, and 3 Fiery Skippers. Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer surveyed Victoria Glade on 8/5 for Swamp Metalmarks (none were seen) but they did locate quite a few Tall Thistle host plants – many of which were in distress due to lack of rain. Eighteen species were seen, including 1 Silvery Checkerspot, 1 Goatweed, 2 Monarchs, 1 Delaware Skipper, and 1 Bell’s Roadside Skipper. On 8/8, Bob Noe and Tom “Terrific” visited a native plant garden near Rockwood Reservation and saw 1 Pipevine Swallowtail, 10 Spicebush Swallowtails, 1 Cloudless Sulphur, 1 Gray Hairstreak, 4 Great Spangled Fritillaries, 2 Monarchs and a Swarthy Skipper. A Clouded Skipper and 2 Hayhurst’s Scallopwings were seen at Busch Wildlife on 8/9 (JZ). Dave Berry’s trip to Cuivre River on 8/10 did not yield any Swamp Metalmarks, but Dave had a good day otherwise: 8 Spicebush Swallowtails, 1 Pipevine Swallowtail, 5 Cloudless Sulphurs, 4 Little Yellows, 5 Pearl Crescents, 1 Red-banded Hairstreak, 1 White M Hairstreak (a very nice find), 1 Variegated Fritillary, 4 Great Spangled Fritillaries, 1 Tawny Emperor, 2 Hackberry Emperors, 5 Northern Pearly-eyes, 1 Silver-spotted Skipper,1 Zabulon Skipper, 1 Hoary Edge, 2 Little Glassywings, and 1 Fiery Skipper. Mary Eileen Rufkahr and Yvonne checked Victoria Glade on 8/13 and found 13 Swamp Metalmarks – the first sightings of the second brood (as noted above, Jim and Yvonne did not see any flying on 8/5). The Tall Thistle plants that were so wilted on 8/5 had perked up considerably after the two rain storms in the middle of the week. The poison ivy was thick, as always. Other highlights included 1 Silvery Checkerspot, 1 Hayhurst’s Scallopwing, and 1 Bell’s Roadside Skipper. Monarchs were migrating by the second week in August. Yvonne saw 20+ Monarchs at Horseshoe Lake on 8/12 but few other species. Even the resident Southern Dogfaces were low in numbers. In mid-August, Anne McCormack found a Checkered White at Meramec Community College. Four Swamp Metalmarks were found on 8/19 by Scott Marshall and Mary Eileen Rufkahr at St. Francois State Park, one of the survey locations. Unfortunately, no Swamp Metalmarks have been located this year (or last) at Cuivre River State Park, despite diligent searching by Dave Berry and others. Dave most recently checked Cuivre River on 8/19, during the Swamp Metalmark flight time, but did not see any. He did report Tiger, Giant and Spicebush Swallowtails, Cloudless Sulphur, Little Yellow, Sleepy Orange, Great Spangled Fritillary, Monarch, Hackberry, Gray Hairstreak, Buckeye, Northern Pearly-eye, and Dun, Silver-spotted and Zabulon Skippers. Also on 8/19, a Southern Dogface and Dainty Sulphur were reported at Riverlands (David Rogles, Tom Bormann). The 4 th of July Count at Horseshoe Lake took place on 8/20. Jeannie Moe, Kraig Paradise, Linda Virga, Sherry McCowan, Yvonne Homeyer and Jim Ziebol (coordinator) participated. Despite overcast skies, 32 species and 711 individuals were seen, including 85 Southern Dogface, a local specialty. Other highlights included: 116 Checkered Whites, 101 Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Dainty Sulphur, 1 Question Mark, 12 Red Admirals, 37 Buckeyes, 86 Monarchs, 7 Southern Cloudywings, 14 Common Checkered-Skippers, 17 Common Sootywings, and 3 Dukes’s Skippers. Common skipper species were seen in low numbers (5 Silver-spotted, 2 Least, 1 Fiery, 1 Tawny-edged, 6 Sachems). A trip to Lincoln County on 8/27 by Yvonne and Jim was very productive. Butterflies were numerous, and 29 species were seen. Highlights included Checkered Whites and about 30 Dainty Sulphurs at Winfield Dam, and a Dion Skipper, a Woodland/Ozark Swallowtail, 3 Common Checkered-Skippers, 1 Variegated Fritillary, 3 Red-spotted Purples, 25 Red Admirals, 6 Viceroys, 20 Question Marks, 10 E. Commas, 1 Snout, hundreds of Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Sleepy Orange, several Little Yellows, and many migrating Monarchs at B.K. Leach Conservation Area. No Painted Ladies were seen. Jim Ziebol counted 3 Tawny Emperors and 12 Least Skippers at Busch on 8/21 and on 8/28 at Busch, he found 20 Buckeyes, 1 Giant Swallowtail and 1 Pipevine Swallowtail. Garden Reports: In July, Tom “Terrific” had a lot of activity at his Crestwood garden, which was recently featured in a full-length article about Tom in the Suburban Journals (including mention of NABA, thanks Tom!). Species seen included Black Swallowtail, Tiger Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Orange Sulphur, a Gray Hairstreak laying eggs on unopened Rose Mallow flower buds, Eastern Tailed-Blues, Summer Azure, a Snout laying eggs on a Hackberry tree, Monarchs, Silver-spotted Skippers, Fiery Skippers, and other skipper species. As of 8/22, Tom had not seen any Painted Ladies – a wide-ranging migratory species that is non-existent in the St. Louis area this year. Black Swallowtails were laying eggs on Rue and Bronze Fennel and Tom found Spicebush Swallowtail eggs on his Spicebush. Monarchs (including caterpillars), Tiger Swallowtails (yellow and black forms), Cabbage Whites, Silver-spotted Skippers, Fiery Skippers, Peck’s Skippers and Sachems were seen throughout the month. Mary Eileen Rufkahr saw these species in her garden: Spicebush Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Monarch. Jeannie Moe found Monarch, Eastern Tailed-Blue and Cloudless Sulphur at her home. Two unusual skippers showed up in Yvonne’s Brentwood garden: on 8/11, a Eufala (found by Jim Ziebol) made an appearance, having traveled to St. Louis from some place south of here, and on 8/13, a Duke’s Skipper (a rare local wetlands species) was enjoying the Swamp Milkweed (Mary Eileen, Yvonne). (See photos below: Duke's skipper on left, Eufala skipper on right.)
Ironically, on a visit to Horseshoe Lake the day before (8/12), Yvonne did not see any Dukes’s Skippers on the Swamp Milkweed patch that is a reliable spot for finding them! By 8/11 or so, Monarchs were being seen every day in Yvonne’s garden, drawn to the Swamp Milkweed. Vicki Flier has attracted Spicebush Swallowtails to her Spicebush which she planted last year. She is carefully monitoring the progress of a Spicebush caterpillar. Anne McCormack noted the following species in the first two weeks of August: Buckeye, Question Mark, Giant Swallowtail (may have been laying eggs on Ruta graveolens), Tiger Swallowtails (including black form females), Spicebush and Pipevine Swallowtails, Silver-spotted Skippers, Hackberry, Monarchs, Summer Azure, and Eastern-tailed Blue. And, best of all, a wandering Funereal Duskywing on 8/1. Now that’s a special butterfly to add to her yard list! Jeannie Moe has seen lots of Cloudless Sulphurs and Monarchs in her garden in St. Charles. CONTRIBUTORS: Torrey Berger, Dave Berry, Tom Bormann, Dennis Bozzay, Ann Earley, Ron Goetz, Yvonne Homeyer, Tom “Terrific” Krauska, Dave Larson, Scott Marshall, Anne McCormack, Sherry McCowan, Jeannie Moe, Bob & Claudia Noe, Kraig Paradise, David Rogles, Mary Eileen Rufkahr, Alana Studebaker, Linda Virga, Belle Warden, Jim Ziebol. Bold indicates the first reported sighting of the year. 3. KID’S CORNER FUN PROJECTS With our summer season coming to an end, all too soon those butterflies we love will be gone from our area for a while… however, there is a way to keep them “around” the entire year. Just visit these two links below and you can get creative and surround yourself with colorful butterflies throughout those long, cold winter months. http://www.tammyyee.com/origamibutterfly.html - Learn how to make an origami Monarch butterfly. All you need to do is print the pattern, get out your scissors and you’re ready. After a few folds and you have a beautiful paper monarch butterfly! (Editor’s comment – I tried this, it takes about 5 minutes and the butterfly is beautiful!) http://schoolnet.gov.mt/butterflies/butterfly%20crafts%20Page.html - Nine great butterfly crafts from one website! It will be hard to decide what to make first-- the mobile, the string decoration, an egg carton caterpillar, a handprint butterfly or the colorful greeting card to send to a special friend.
And don’t forget to keep watching the Kids’ Corner---you just never know what you may find there! 4. BABLER'S BUG DAY “FUN” REPORT by Ann Earley Bug Day was held on August 12 at Babler State Park west of St. Louis, and NABA St. Louis had a display table at this fun yet educational event. Over 70 adults and children visited our display to learn more about NABA and butterflies in general. Attendees were very interested in talking about various local butterflies, host plants and nectar sources. Many thanks to the staff at Babler for inviting our chapter to participate in this event. 5. TOWER GROVE PARK STORM FUND by Yvonne Homeyer The devastating tornado storms of July 19 and 21, 2006 took a heavy toll on Tower Grove Park. John Karel, park director, has worked with NABA-St. Louis and other nature organizations in the past to plant butterfly nectar and host plants in the park. John has issued a plea for donations to help the park replant the large oaks and other trees that were uprooted or damaged. The NABA-St. Louis Board members have agreed to donate $100.00 from our chapter for this worthy cause. If you would like to make a donation of your own, here is where to send it: Tower Grove Park Storm Fund 6. NABA-ST. LOUIS MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION… YOUR OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS, AS OF APRIL 2006: (AT = @ in Email address)
NEWSLETTER ARTICLES WELCOME: If you have questions or suggestions, e-mail Ann Earley (aee623ATprodigy.net). MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION: If you would like to join NABA, please fill out this application. You will become a member of both NABA and the local St. Louis Chapter, if you live within the St. Louis metropolitan area or nearby Illinois area: Name ____________________________________________ Dues are $30 (regular) and $40 (family) per year. Please make check payable to NORTH AMERICAN BUTTERFLY ASSOCIATION. Please mail this form with your check to: Scott Marshall, Membership, 609 West Lockwood, St. Louis, MO 63119. |
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes
it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” - Maya Angelou -
Editor: Dave Larson, Email: larsrblATearthlink.net ("AT" = @)
Suggestions, Corrections and Articles are appreciated.
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