September 2002 Issue:
In This Edition:
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Coming Events |
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Thanks |
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Counts |
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Reports of Dragons |
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Butterflies and Butterfly Gardening Classes |
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... and more |
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NABA's MISSION STATEMENT: *********************************************************** COMING EVENTS: Sept. 8, Sunday, 11:00 a.m., Butterfly Garden Visit at Anne McCormack's house. For directions or more information, email Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net). Sept. 15, Sunday, Busch Wildlife Area. 8:00 a.m. - gardening; 9:30 a.m. - Butterfly Count (Mo. Dept. of Conservation statewide count; no fee). Meet at the Jim Ziebol Butterfly Garden. We are looking for about 10 to 12 people to come out that morning and do some light gardening (mostly weeding). Afterwards, we will conduct a Butterfly Count from 9:30 to 11:30. Sept. 15, Sunday, 2:00 p.m. Wildlife Garden Walk at Linda Virga's house ("Shady Nook." For directions or more information, email Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net). Sept. 21, Saturday, 9:45 a.m., Butterfly Walk, Busch C.A., meet at the Butterfly Garden near the headquarters/Visitors Center. All chapter members are welcome. Students from the Local Butterflies class will also participate. Sept. 28 & 29, Sat-Sun, Butterfly House Fall Festival. NABA-St. Louis will have a display table. Volunteers are needed. Please call Ann Earley if you can help. Nov. 14, Thursday. Conservation Forum 2002. Living World, Zoo. Sponsored by the International Center for Tropical Ecology, UMSL. NABA-St. Louis will have a display table. Details in future newsletter. *********************************************************** THANKS: We certainly appreciate Tom Krauska for hosting a to visit his garden on August 4 and Mark Peters for again having a prairie visit on August 10. *********************************************************** COUNTS: 4TH OF JULY COUNT AT BUSCH WILDLIFE We had an enthusiastic group for the 4th of July Count at Busch Conservation Area in St. Charles County on July 7. Jim Ziebol, Kraig Paradise, Jeannie Moe, Yvonne Homeyer, Torrey Berger, Ann Earley, Bob Siemer, Dale & Nancy Delaney, Margaret Gilleo, Chuck Guenther, Kathy Thiele, and Scott Goldman participated in the Count. Besides Busch, we surveyed two adjacent areas: Lost Valley Trail and Weldon Spring/Blue Grosbeak Trail. Altogether, we had 31 species. A Southern Dogface was a very unusual find, and Goatweed and Tawny Emperor were notable, as was a Gray Comma at Lost Valley Trail. Only one Monarch was seen and skipper species were in short supply. Here is what the group found: Pipevine Swallowtail - 5 Question Mark - 1 SHAWNEE HILLS BUTTERFLY COUNT: Kathy Phelps has been organizing and running the Shawnee Hills Butterfly Count for 12 years. She lives in Harrisburg, IL, on the edge of the Shawnee National Forest. Kathy has done extensive landscaping for butterflies at her home, which is the beginning of the Count area. Last year, she wrote an article for the newsletter about her gardens. Her Count was held on July 1 with three participants. They found 29 species: Pipevine Swallowtail - 1 E. Comma - 1 AUGUST 2002 BUTTERFLY REPORT by Yvonne Homeyer & Jim Ziebol Two Harvesters* were found by Mark Peters on his Jefferson County prairie on 8/4. Jim Z. and Yvonne had some great looks at a very cooperative individual. This is a locally rare butterfly, one of the hardest to find. Another rare butterfly, the Swamp Metalmark*, was found on 8/25 in two locations. Mark Peters and Ron Goetz had one at St. Francois State Park and Dennis Bozzay observed one at Victoria Glade. Its host plant is Swamp Thistle. On 8/4, the group visiting Tom Krauska's garden saw Peck's, Fiery and Silver-spotted Skippers, a Monarch, and many Cabbage Whites. Jeannie Moe found Pipevine and Giant Swallowtail at the Watershed Nature Center on 8/5. On 8/6, Dennis Bozzay counted 20 Spicebush, 2 Pipevine, 2 Giants, 2 Monarchs (plus some caterpillars) and 1 Silver-spotted Skipper at Busch Conservation Area. At his home in Town & Country on 8/3 & 8/4, Torrey Berger had 1 Pipevine (not many being reported this year), 2 Great Spangled Fritillaries, 1 Snout, 1 Bysuss Skipper (not often seen in yards) 1 Horace's Duskywing and other skippers. On 8/6, Jeannie Moe observed a Mourning Cloak, the only one reported this month, at her St. Charles home. Jack Harris, Jeannie Moe and the WGNSS Botany Group saw Dainty Sulphur (the first one reported this season), Little Yellow, Red-spotted Purple, Red Admiral, Buckeye, 2 Monarchs, and Tiger Swallowtail at Riverlands on 8/8. Mark Peters' Prairie was full of butterflies for our Butterfly Walk on 8/10, a delightfully cool day for August: 1 Bell's Roadside Skipper, 4 Hoary Edge*, 10 Swarthy, many Delaware, several Zabulons (m&f), 4 Little Glassywing, 5 Dun, 2 Wild Indigo Duskywings, 15+ Silver-spotted Skippers, many Great Spangled Fritillaries and Spicebush Swallowtails, 1 Black Sw., 3 Tiger Sw., 1 Eastern Tailed-Blue, 1 Silvery Checkerspot, a dozen Hackberry, 2 Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Little Yellow, and 1 Red-spotted Purple. Unfortunately, the Harvester did not put in an appearance! The prairie walk was attended by Tom Krauska, Ann Earley, Bob Siemer, Dianne Benjamin, Jim Ziebol, Yvonne Homeyer and Dave Tylka. That same day, Scott Marshall saw a Red-banded Hairstreak at Tyson, where he was volunteering, and Torrey Berger found a Delaware Skipper in his yard. At Hilda Young Conservation Area on 8/16, Jeannie Moe reported Hackberry, E. Comma, Pipevine Swallowtail, and Great Spangled Fritillary, and she found 3 Monarchs on 8/17 at the SIUE Arboretum. Dennis Bozzay found several Monarch caterpillars on the various Milkweeds (Swamp, Common, & Butterfly) in the Butterfly Garden at Busch Wildlife on 8/18. And on 8/19, there were 5 to 7 Monarchs nectaring on a single butterfly bush in Bob & Claudia Noe's yard. This year, that is a large number to be seen at one time. At Horseshoe Lake on 8/20, Torrey Berger found 2 Black, 1 Tiger, 4 Spicebush and 1 Giant Swallowtail; 10 Dogface; 4 Sleepy Orange; 1 Variegated Fritillary; 1 Red Admiral; 5 Snout; 4 Red Spotted Purple, 8 Monarchs, 5 Tawny Emperors; 5 Common Checkered Skippers, and 1 Common Sootywing. On 8/21 in his yard, Ron Goetz found a White-M Hairstreak (this is a very hard butterfly to find) and a Sleepy Orange. In mid-August, Ron visited Unger County Park and counted 23 species. Highlights were Dainty Sulphur (the second one reported), Common Sootywing, Horace's Duskywing, Tawny-edged, Fiery and Dun Skippers, Northern Broken-Dash, Little Yellows, and Cloudless Sulphurs. Jeannie Moe observed Gray Hairstreak, Variegated Fritillary, Tawny Emperor, 5 Monarchs and Horace's Duskywing at the Watershed Nature Center on 8/23. The Horseshoe Lake Count took place on 8/24. Forty-one species, including Duke's Skippers*, were observed. (See separate article.) On 8/25, Torrey Berger's yard included 1 Tiger and 1 Spicebush Swallowtail, 2 Gray Hairstreaks, 1 Snout, 1 Buckeye, 1 Tawny Emperor, 1 Monarch, 5 Silver-spotted Skipper, 1 Horace's Duskywing, 8 Fiery, 15 Pecks, 3 Tawny-edged, 4 Sachem, 1 Delaware, 3 Zabulon and 1 Dun Skippers. Belle Warden, who lives close to Horseshoe Lake, has seen a wide variety of butterflies in her yard, which is full of native plants. Notable were a female Checkered White and 3 Byssus Skippers, both of which have been found at Horseshoe Lake. Other butterflies included Giant, Black, Pipevine, Spicebush and Tiger Swallowtails, Red-spotted Purples, a Snout (laying eggs on a Hackberry), Viceroy, a mated pair of Monarchs, Gray Hairstreak, Hackberry, Buckeye, Question Mark, and skippers (Fiery, Silver-spotted, Tawny-edged). Four Black Swallowtail caterpillars dined on fennel & dill, passing over the parsley. Pipevines and Sulphurs nectared on the blooms of her Mimosa tree. Richard & Susan Day continue to have many butterflies on their property in Alma, IL and their numbers far exceed anything else being seen. NABA visitors are welcome, so if you would like to observe this amazing concentration of butterflies, give them a call (618-547-3522). There are 100+ Red-spotted Purples, Viceroys and Hackberries at one time. The fruit trays are packed with these and Question Marks, E. Commas, Red Admirals and Tawny Emperors. Also being seen are Variegated Fritillary, Bronze Copper, Great Spangled Fritillary, Common Checkered Skipper, Gray Hairstreak, Painted Lady (very rare this year), Monarchs, and Northern Pearly-eye. Buckeye caterpillars have been found on Snapdragons. Monarch caterpillars are all over the Swamp Milkweed and Butterfly Milkweed. They have also found Black, Giant and Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars. Dave Berry reported a nice variety of butterflies in his garden in St. Peters. He has had Black Swallowtail, Cloudless Sulphur and Monarch caterpillars on their host plants, plus Monarchs, Little Yellow, Cloudless Sulphur, many Orange Sulphurs & Cabbage Whites, Buckeye, Snout, and Spicebush, Tiger, Black and Giant Swallowtails, as well as 7 species of Skippers. CONTRIBUTORS: Dave Berry, Torrey Berger, Dennis Bozzay, Richard & Susan Day, Ron Goetz, Jack Harris, Yvonne Homeyer, Tom Krauska, Scott Marshall, Jeannie Moe, Bob & Claudia Noe, Mark Peters, Belle Warden, Jim Ziebol. An asterisk * denotes photographic or video documentation of an unusual or hard-to-find species. Please submit reports at least 3 days before the end of the month to Yvonne: homeyer@earthlink.net or Jim. ST. LOUIS NABA PARTICIPATES IN BABLER PARK BUG DAY Bug Day was held on August 3 at Babler State Park west of St. Louis, and NABA St. Louis was one of many organizations participating in this family-oriented educational event. Ann Earley and Bob Siemer staffed the NABA display table and talked with over 80 adults and children about NABA and butterflies in general. Attendees were very interested in learning about butterfly gardening, and our chapter's video on local butterflies (prepared by Jim Ziebol for our school outreach program and including Tom Krauska's footage of monarch metamorphosis) was extremely popular with viewers of all ages. Next year's Bug Day at Babler is scheduled for August 2, 2003. Many thanks to Zoe Geist, Babler Park Naturalist, for inviting St. Louis NABA to participate in this event. *********************************************************** REPORTS OF DRAGONS: SUMMER 2002 DRAGONFLY REPORT by Yvonne Homeyer & Jim Ziebol Ron Goetz found 10 species at Queeny Park on 6/19, including Unicorn Clubtail*, Prince Baskettail and Spot-winged Glider. On 7/4, Torrey Berger found 2 Wandering Gliders, 1 Spot- winged Glider, 10 E. Amberwings, 4 Common Whitetails, 3 Green Darners, & 2 Halloween Pennants at Riverlands. On 7/7, Halloween Pennants were seen at the Butterfly Garden in Busch (TB, DB, JZ, YH). Eastern Amberwing, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Common Whitetail, Widow Skimmer and Pondhawk were seen during the 4th of July Butterfly Count on the Days' property in Alma, IL (YH). A hot and humid day at Busch on 7/21/02 produced E. Amberwing, Halloween Pennant, Blue Dasher, Pondhawk, Spangled Skimmer, and Widow Skimmer; several of the dragonflies were seen obelisking (YH). Torrey Berger reported many Wandering Gliders at Horseshoe Lake on 7/25. Slaty Skimmer was seen at Busch on 7/27, along with Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Halloween Pennant, Amberwing, and more (YH). Little Creve Coeur Lake had many dragonfly species on 7/27, including Blue Dasher, Black Saddlebags, Common Green Darner, and Widow Skimmer. Torrey found a Great Blue Skimmer at Horseshoe Lake on 8/5; that is a good find. In Gasconade County on 8/18, Scott Marshall saw Twelve-Spotted Skimmer and Common Green Darners laying eggs. Jeannie Moe observed the following dragonflies in August: on 8/5 at the Watershed Nature Center - Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Black Saddlebags, Common Whitetail, Green Darner, Widow Skimmer, Pond Hawk; on 8/8 at Riverlands - Common Whitetail, Black Saddlebags, Widow Skimmer, Twelve-spotted Skimmer; and on 8/17 at SIUE Arboretum - Cobra Clubtail, Pond Hawk, Widow Skimmer, Black Saddlebags, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Halloween Pennant, Common Whitetail, E. Amberwing. CONTRIBUTORS: Torrey Berger, Ron Goetz, Yvonne Homeyer, Jeannie Moe, Jim Ziebol, Scott Marshall. An asterisk * denotes photographic or video documentation of an unusual or hard-to-find species. *********************************************************** BUTTERFLIES AND BUTTERFLY GARDENING CLASSES: LOCAL BUTTERFLIES CLASS On Thursday, Sept. 12 and Sept. 19, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., a "Local Butterflies" class will be held at Meramec Community College. Part I will be taught by Dianne Benjamin, an entomologist and NABA member. Part II will be taught by Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer. Course includes a field trip on Sat. Sept. 21 (see Coming Events item above). To register, call the Office of Continuing Education at 314-984-7777. BUTTERFLY GARDENING CLASSES Dennis Bozzay will be teaching two butterfly gardening classes this fall. The first will be on Thursday, September 26, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Pattonville West High School (offered through UMSL). The second will be Thursday, October 3, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. at Fox High School in Arnold (offered through Jefferson College). Please call Dennis if you have any questions ((314) 968-2714). *********************************************************** AND MORE... NEW MEMBERS The following people have become members of the St. Louis Chapter of NABA since August 1: Charles Bauer, Jr. Glad to have you with us! 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 WELCOME 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 _____________________________________________ *********************************************************** *********************************************************** Suggestions, Corrections and Articles are appreciated. ***********************************************************
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