June 2002 Issue:
In This Edition:
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Coming Events |
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May Butterfly Report |
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Shaw Biodiversity Days Report |
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4th of July Counts |
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Prairie State Park Video |
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... and more |
NABA's MISSION STATEMENT: *********************************************************** COMING EVENTS: Saturday, June 1, Butterfly Walk at Mark Peters' prairie, 10:00 a.m. Directions: e-mail Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net). Tuesday, June 4, 7:00 p.m. Chapter Board meeting at Yvonne's house. Saturday, June 29, Springfield, Ill. 4th of July Count. For more information, e-mail Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net). Monday, July 1, Shawnee National Forest 4th of July Count, near Harrisburg, Illinois. For more information, e-mail Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net). Sunday, July 7, 9:45 a.m., 4th of July Butterfly Count, Busch Conservation Area. A Gardening Experience (helping hands needed) will be held at 8:00 a.m. at the Jim Ziebol Butterfly Garden before the count starting at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, July 14, 4th of July Count near Alma, Illinois, sponsored by Richard & Susan Day. This Count is brand new. Sunday, Aug. 18, 8:00 a.m., Gardening Experience at Jim Ziebol Butterfly Garden, Busch Conservation Area (helping hands needed). Questions? Please call Dennis Bozzay. Saturday, Aug. 24 - 4th of July Butterfly Count, Horseshoe Lake State Park, Illinois. *********************************************************** MAY BUTTERFLY REPORT The NABA Database, "Butterflies I Have Seen" (www.naba.org) is ready to receive your sightings! Registration is easy and the database is easy to navigate. You can use the database to keep your life list as well as to record your sightings for each field trip, plus your sightings are collected with those of many other observers to produce meaningful information about species population, range, and trends. Please visit the Database soon! Jeannie Moe started the month off with the first Little Yellow, which she saw on 5/2 along the Katy Trail with the WGNSS Botany Group. Ron Goetz had 18 species on 5/3 at Emmenegger Park in Kirkwood, including 5 species of Swallowtail, 2 Henry's Elfin, Juniper & Red-banded Hairstreaks, and Juvenal's, Horace's and Wild Indigo Duskywings. The Chapter Butterfly Walk on 5/4 at Busch Wildlife offered great views of Zebra and Tiger Swallowtails, 3 freshly-emerged Silvery Checkerspots, 2 Silver-spotted Skippers, many male Zabulon Skippers, and 1 Pepper-and-Salt Roadside Skipper found by Dave Berry, which is a record for Busch (DB, YH). (Note to participants: the Pepper & Salt was the tiny skipper that some of us saw at the very end of our walk). Also on 5/4, Ron Goetz visited Fults Hill Prairie in Monroe County, IL and had 19 species, including all 6 species of Swallowtails, the first Southern Dogface, E. Comma, 2 Dusted Skippers, and 6 Goatweed Leafwings. A visit to Valley View Glade on 5/5 produced Gorgone Checkerspots, many fresh Dusted Skippers* and a worn Cobweb Skipper* (YH). A very early Cloudless Sulphur seen near Union, Mo. on 5/5 was a surprise; this butterfly is a migrant from the south and generally does not show up until mid-summer (JZ). The first Least Skipper was reported on 5/6 from the SIUE Arboretum in Edwardsville (JM). Red-banded Hairstreak, Pearl Crescent, Eastern-tailed Blue, Goatweed Leafwing, Horace's Duskywing and Zabulon Skipper were some of the butterflies seen on 5/8 at Emmenegger (RG). On 5/10, Tom Krauska saw a Monarch at Epstein Prairie near Lone Elk Park and on 5/11, a Monarch was observed at Hilda Young C.A. (YH). A Red-spotted Purple was seen at the SIUE Arboretum on 5/13 and a Tawny-edged Skipper was found there on 5/14 (JM). On 5/15, at his prairie, Mark Peters had a friendly Hobomok Skipper behaving like a Hackberry when it landed on his shirt and his finger, offering great close-ups. The State Count at Busch Wildlife on 5/18 produced 12 species and 74 individuals, including Silvery Checkerspot, Viceroy, Hayhurst's Scallopwing* and Least Skipper. Southern Cloudywing, Northern Cloudywing, Red-banded Hairstreak and Great Spangled Fritillary were highlights of the Butterfly Walk for Nature Days at Shaw Nature Preserve on 5/18, and Little Wood Satyr and Buckeye were seen there on 5/19 (BW, JM). On 5/19, thanks to Dave Larson's invitation, our chapter jointly sponsored a butterfly walk with Friends of Tyson at Tyson Research Center. In addition to Dave, chapter members Scott & Annie Marshall, Ron Goetz, Dennis Bozzay, Tom Krauska, Jim Ziebol, Yvonne Homeyer, and Bob & Claudia Noe enjoyed a cool, sunny day of butterflying, with 15 species seen, including Pipevine, Zebra, Giant, Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtails, Great Spangled Fritillary, Tawny-edged Skipper, and a Bell's Roadside-Skipper*. Ron Goetz counted 198 Gorgone Checkerspots, 1 Silvery Checkerspot, 1 Pearl Crescent, 27 Little Wood Satyrs, 1 Hoary Edge, 1 Southern Cloudywing, 1 Northern Cloudywing, 4 Crossline Skippers *, and 3 Dusted Skippers on 5/21 at Valley View Glade. The first Delaware Skipper was reported at the SIUE Arboretum on 5/21 (JM). Dennis Bozzay saw a Red-banded Hairstreak at Hilda Young C.A. on 5/21. Jeannie reported a Hobomok at Shaw Nature Preserve on 5/22. Ron Goetz found the first Snout on 5/22 at Hilda Young C.A., along with 2 Red-banded Hairstreaks, 1 Great Spangled Fritillary, 1 Question Mark, 1 Mourning Cloak, 1 American Lady, 4 Red-spotted Purples, 1 Viceroy, 5 Little Wood Satyrs, 1 Monarch, 1 Hoary Edge*, 2 Peck's Skippers, 2 Tawny-edged Skipper, 1 Little Glassywing, 1 Hobomok Skipper, and 6 Zabulon Skippers, among others (30 species total). On 5/25, Gorgone Checkerspots were still numerous at Valley View Glade and 1 Hoary Edge was seen (JZ, YH). Also on 5/25, at Hilda Young C.A., Scott Marshall had 1 Giant and 2 Tiger Swallowtails, 1 Orange Sulphur, 3 Eastern Tailed-Blues, 1 Viceroy, 2 Little Wood Satyrs, 1 S. Cloudywing, 2 Zabulon Skippers & 1 Bell's Roadside-Skipper*. The Memorial Day Weekend Count at Busch Wildlife on 5/26 produced 20 species, including Giant Swallowtail (great looks), Snout, Mourning Cloak, Viceroy, Little Wood Satyr, Least Skipper and Common Sootywings (DBz, SM, AM, JM, DBnj, YH). Two Gray Coppers and 2 Variegated Fritillaries were observed in Monroe Co., IL on 5/26 (JZ). At Hilda Young C.A. on 5/27, 2 Snouts, 2 Peck's Skippers, and 3 Tawny-edged Skippers were seen (JZ, YH). Highlights from Ron Goetz's trip to Washington S.P. on 5/27 were Juniper Hairstreak, Variegated Fritillary, Hackberry, Hoary Edge, Crossline Skipper and Swarthy Skipper. Ron also found the first N. Oak Hairstreak on 5/27, at Powder Valley. Belle Warden's garden in Madison, IL has attracted Gray Hairstreak, Monarch, Black Swallowtail, Red-spotted Purple, Question Mark, Red Admiral, Pearl Crescent, Painted Lady, Silver-spotted Skipper and Common Sootywing. She has many host plants, including Hackberry, Wafer Ash, Paw Paw, Pipevine, Spicebush and several species of Milkweed. Swallowtails, Orange Sulphurs, Cabbage Whites, Pearl Crescents, Spring Azures, Eastern Tailed Blues and Red Admirals were seen throughout the month in numerous locations. Coming Attractions: In June, more hairstreaks (N. Oak, Banded, White M, Hickory, Striped) will begin flying, as will Baltimore Checkerspot. If you are interested in knowing what is being seen where as the month goes on, call Yvonne or Jim. Please submit sightings by the 28th of each month to Jim Ziebol or Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net). * An asterisk denotes video or photo of unusual or hard-to-find species. CONTRIBUTORS: Dave Berry, Dianne Benjamin, Dennis Bozzay, Ron Goetz, Yvonne Homeyer, Tom Krauska, Scott Marshall, Anne McCormack, Jeannie Moe, Mark Peters, Betty Walters, Jim Ziebol. *********************************************************** SHAW BIODIVERSITY DAYS REPORT Available below are both Excel and PDF versions of the butterflies censused at Shaw Nature Reserve as part of the "Nature Days - Biodiversity" event on May 18 and 19, 2002. This work was supervised and coordinated by Betty Walters. Excel file (27K) PDF file (10K) *********************************************************** 4TH OF JULY COUNTS Want to enjoy the butterflies and make an important contribution at the same time? Then join us on one of our chapter's "Fourth of July" Counts this summer. (See "Coming Events" for details and contact information for each Count). Count participants collect meaningful data on butterfly populations and range. By gathering data at the same site around the same date year after year, we can tell whether butterflies as a whole are increasing or decreasing, how well a particular species is faring in that location, and whether a species' population and range are changing. No experience is needed. Binoculars are helpful for personal enjoyment but not required. There is a nominal fee of $3 per participant. The first Count is scheduled for Saturday, June 29 and will be held north of Springfield, IL; Regal Fritillary and Ottoe Skipper are expected to be seen. Susan Dees is the coordinator of that count. Next is the Shawnee National Forest Count near Harrisburg, IL, on Monday, July 1. Kathy Phelps leads that count. Then, on Sunday, July 7, the Busch Wildlife Count in St. Charles County, MO will take place. Jim Ziebol is count coordinator. The following Sunday, July 14, is a count near Alma, IL (about an hour and a half from St. Louis). Richard & Susan Day started this Count last year. Finally, on Saturday, August 24, we will have a Count at Horseshoe Lake State Park in Madison County, IL. Jim Ziebol started this Count last year. Please try to join us for at least one Count this summer! Call the count leader or Jim Ziebol if you have any questions. *********************************************************** PRAIRIE STATE PARK VIDEO Butterflies and birds photographed by Yvonne Homeyer and Jim Ziebol can be seen in the video produced by the Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources about Prairie State Park, located in the southwestern part of Missouri. Yvonne and Jim's footage of Regal Fritillary, Checkered White, Black Swallowtail, Henslow's Sparrow and Dickcissel was included in the video. *********************************************************** VISIT OUR WEB SITE at www.naba.org/chapters/nabasl/stlouis.htm. Dave Larson is our Webmaster. YOUR OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS: If you have questions or suggestions, e-mail Yvonne Homeyer NEWSLETTER ITEMS WANTED MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION If you or someone you know would like to become a member of the St. Louis Chapter of NABA, please fill out this application: Name _____________________________________________ *********************************************************** *********************************************************** |
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