Washington Butterfly Association

Washington
Butterfly Association
Field Trips

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Meetings

Cowiche Canyon, May 2003

Corral Pass, August 2003

Mudding July 2004

Which one is it? July 2004

Non-consumptive appreciation of butterflies is central to our purpose and basic to our approach. This is the guiding principal behind general membership field trips.

Collecting of adult butterflies is not allowed on general membership field trips. Collecting of eggs and larval stages for rearing is accepted on the condition that individuals raised to adult stage are to be released at their original location.

The butterflying season in Washington lasts from March through August or September.
See additional notes about field trips following the schedule.

Difficulty codes:
1 = Easy, mostly by car, minor walking along roads.
2 = Fairly limited amounts of walking, some slopes involved.
3 = Moderate difficulty, up to 1.5 miles walking with moderate slopes.
4 – Difficult, Hiking required, trails or terrain are steep in places.
5 = Very difficult. Steep, extended hiking on trails or terrain.

Sheep Lake 2012

General membership trips for 2013:

Date (Alt Date)	Destination	Trip Leader/Contact
April 27 (May 4)	Deception Pass/Washington Park, Anacortes difficulty = 2-3	David Droppers lycaenid@gmail.com
May 11 (May 18)	Frenchman Coulee-Quincy Lakes (Grant Co.) difficulty =	Hassell/ Nunnallee nunnallee@comcast.net
May 25 Time: 10:30 am Spokane Area Limited to 16 attendees	Little Spokane Butterfly Walk Among the richest and most conveniently located of butterfly habitats in Spokane County is the area where the Little Spokane River approaches the Spokane River proper. The south facing canyon encompassed by the Van Horn-Edburg-Bass Conservancy yielded three new county butterfly species occurrence records in May 2012, and could have even more surprises for careful observers this coming spring! Our mid-day walk will proceed a mile or so up this canyon to find all three locally occurring swallowtail species, plus spring hairstreaks and blues, including both the Eastern and Western Tailed Blues. Mourning Cloaks, Commas, Crescents and perhaps even the uncommon little Arctic Skipper will appear. Bring a sack lunch, cameras, nets and close focusing binoculars to enjoy this 4-6 hour outing. Carpooling is advised. Please contact John for details.	John Baumann 509-327-4827 jpb6_18_56@yahoo.com
May 31 - June 2	Goldendale/Columbia Gorge Conference difficulty = 2	Various
June 15	Manastash Ridge, Ellensburg difficulty = 2	Dave Nunnalle nunnallee@comcast.net
June 15 10:30 am Spokane Area Limited to 16 attendees	McKenzie Conservation Area, Newman Lake Join us at this beautiful little protected habitat on the northwest shores of Newman Lake for a good introduction to bog loving and boreal butterfly species of the Inland Northwest. See Swallowtails, the Greenish Blue, Northern Crescents, Tortoiseshells and maybe the uncommon Long Dash skipper. If lucky, we may catch a glimpse of the Silver Bordered Fritillary, a Washington State species of concern, and the lovely day flying Elegant Sheep Moth also finds a haven here. The hike is relatively short and flat, and will take us to the lake shore where we can share brown bag lunches at Turtle Rock. Total distance perhaps a bit over 2 miles round trip. Parking at the Trailhead is limited so we will need to work together to arrange some carpools for a group of 16 to be there. Carpooling is advised. Please contact John at for details.	John Baumann 509-327-4827 jpb6_18_56@yahoo.com
June 29	4JBC - Fourth of July Butterfly Count,Chumstick Mountain (Cashmere) difficulty = 2	Al Wagar jalanwagar@gmail.com
July 6	4th of July Butterfly Count, Little Pend Oreille NWR (Colville)	NWR Staff
July 13 10:30 am Spokane Area Limited to 20 attendees	Audubon Butterfly Observation Field Trip to Mt Kit Carson Join our 1st Audubon butterfly walk! Regional higher elevation species reach their peak numbers in our area on the lush, flowered meadows of Mt. Kit Carson, a two mile hike (one way) in from the Upper Loop Rd parking lot. Look for abundant Clodius Parnassians, Pale and Tiger Swallowtails, Edith's and Blue Coppers, several species of Blues and all three of our local Anglewings. Greater and Lesser Fritillaries are common. Best of all, the trails leading in to the alpine meadows themselves are flowered with spreading dogbane that draws numbers of the now uncommon and pretty little West Coast Lady, where she appears in numbers from mid to late summer. We'll meet at 10:30am at the Kit Carson Upper Loop trailhead and slowly meander up the trail to spend time for a sack lunch (you provide) at the CCC Cabin picnic area where hikers will be able to decide how much of the remaining 1.5 mile trek they want to make: only the last .5 mile climbs very steeply, but those who make the effort will be well rewarded by beautiful vistas and opportunities to sight more than 20 butterfly species in one day. We should return by 4:30pm at the latest. A note for those new to "butterflying": these creatures may be observed with close focusing, compact binoculars (e.g., Pentax Papilio), or by netting them and showing them to others in observation jars before releasing them again unharmed. John will also share tips on butterfly photography for the shutterbugs in our midst, and be assured that even pocket cameras with a "macro" mode can produce nice results. Carpooling is advised, please contact John for details.	John Baumann 509-327-4827 jpb6_18_56@yahoo.com
July 27	Bean Basin, Teanaway River This will be one challenging hike but one that will be pioneering and potentially very exciting butterfly-wise. Bean Basin has been described in one hiking guide to have enough Buckwheat to 'satisfy the hunger of a third world nation'….. Presumably the authors knew that Eriogonum satisfies only caterpillar hunger…but the statement was intriguing enough for me to visit the location last September. Indeed, there are fields of buckwheat..at least 3 species so the potential for Eriogonum feeders is great. Despite being late season, I managed to see at least 25 species on the 5 mile round trip to Bean Basin in September 2012, including the infrequently seen Oreas Comma. Our planned trip in late July will be the first by a group of lepidopterists (as far as I know) to this location in high season, so everything we find will go into the record books! The 2.5 mile ascent to Bean Basin isnt easy but if my vanessid girls can do it, so can you! difficulty = 4-5	David James david_james@wsu.edu
August 10	Summit Lake, Pierce Co. (near Mt. Rainier) difficulty = 3	David Droppers lycaenid@gmail.com
August 17	Corral Pass, Pierce Co. (near Mt. Rainier) difficulty = 3	Dave Nunnallee nunnallee@comcast.net
August 24	Sheep Lake	Bob Hardwick

WHERE & WHEN TO MEET: Trips will depart from the Ravenna Park & Ride at 7:00 a.m. unless expressly stated otherwise. The park & ride is located under I-5 at Ravenna Blvd between NE 50th & NE 65th St. We meet in the north half of the park & ride.

On request will also stop at the Issaquah Park & Ride at 7:30 a.m. To reach the Issaquah Park & Ride, From I-90 turn south at Exit 15 (the westernmost of the two Issaquah exits). Go 0.4 mile south, through ~4 traffic lights, to a traffic light at Newport Way. Turn left (east) on Newport Way and drive a short block to the first traffic light, where turn right (south) into the park & ride. Note: the multi-story parking garage north of Newport Way is *not* where we meet for field trips.

If you live in another part of the state, contact the trip coordinator to make arrangements to meet the field trip group.

All field trips are conducted by carpool. Without the volunteer participation of drivers the trips are not possible. If you have a car you are willing to drive, please have the gas tank full and ready to go.

All WBA-sponsored field trips are fully insured through our parent organization, NABA.

COSTS:Passengers are expected to share gasoline expenses. Typically this is $15-20 each. It is suggested that each rider also pay the driver a share of any park entry fees, ferry fares, etc.

The trip leader will collect a voluntary donation of $5 per person (children under 12 are free) for each field trip to help offset expenses of the organization.

CANCELLATIONS: If you need to cancel, please remember to contact the trip coordinator as soon as you can so the group does not wait for you at the park & ride.

SCHEDULING & WEATHER: Weather is always a major factor for planning butterfly trips in Washington, particularly March through June. The key to dealing with weather is flexibility; our leaders reserve the right to make last-minute itinerary changes in order to provide you with the best possible butterfly experience. On occasion it may be necessary to cancel or postpone an outing if the weather does not permit a viable alternative. The flow of the season is also important, and it may be necessary to adjust some trips to earlier or later dates to best match the seasonal weather patterns. WBA will make every effort to keep you informed of any changes.