Just a reminder that five of the SE Arizona butterfly counts will take place over the next month or so and you all are invited. Consider joining one or more of these counts to find out first hand what the prognosis is for our local butterflies. Please contact the compilers for specific party assignments if you wish to participate. Compilation dinners follow most counts where you can find out what was seen by the other parties.
Sabino Canyon, Friday July 24, Compiler: Greg Greene (greenecycle at hotmail.com)- Aside from Sabino Canyon proper and other lowland areas such as Loews Ventana, and Agua Caliente Park, count covers the high country along the Catalina Highway from from Molino Vista to top of Mt. Lemmon.
Ramsey Canyon, Tuesday July 28, Compiler: Doug Danforth (dougofbis at gmail.com)- Covers the east side of the Huachuca Mountains from Ramsey Canyon to the Mexican border and east to the San Pedro River. One of the top counts species-wise in the nation.
Santa Rita Mountains summer Friday July 31, Compiler: Gerry and Vicki Wolfe (seaba_publicity@yahoo.com)- Covers many of the canyons: Gardener, Box, Florida, Madera, and Montosa along with the high country.
Patagonia, Tuesday Aug 4, Compiler: Rich Bailowitz (rbailowitz at gmail.com)- Covers Patagonia and vicinity. This count is consistently in the top three for species in the nation and most years is number one!
Portal, Friday Aug 7, Compiler: Lori Conrad (lconrad6853 at gmail.com)- Chiricahua Mountains from Portal up to Rustler and Barfoot Parks. Had the top species count in 2023 for the U.S.
Check the SEABA website (www.seaba.org/naba-counts) for further info on these counts including meeting and compilation dinner times and locations.
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The weather was very pleasant today but started a little chilly at 58F! 8 participants hiked up the col. Devin Trail from Washington Park Trailhead, taking it slow as the trail seems to get steeper each year (or are we getting older??) 27 species of butterflies were seen, with Weidemeyer’s Admiral and Thicket Hairstreak being the most exciting, but Northwestern Hairstreak the favorite photo-op.
Total list: Two-tailed Swallowtail (4), Western Tiger Swallowtail (2), Pipevine Swallowtail (2), Checkered White (1), Dainty Sulphur (3), Orange Sulphur (4), Southern Dogface (3), Mexican Yellow (4), Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur (3), Sleepy Orange (1), Northwestern (Bramble) Hairstreak (1), Thicket Hairstreak (1, pictured), Marine Blue (2), Lupine Blue (3), Spring “Echo” Azure (16), Zela Metalmark (4), Mylitta Crescent (3), Gray (formerly Common) Buckeye (7), Red-spotted Purple (2), Variegated Fritillary (1), Weidemeyer’s Admiral (3), Arizona Sister (13), Mourning Cloak (1), Funereal Duskywing (2), Silver-spotted Skipper (14), Northern Cloudywing (2), W/C Checkered Skipper (4).
I want to thank all participants for a great trip! Hope you will come out again soon!
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On Friday, April 10 the Sabino Canyon Spring Butterfly Count was run and compiler Greg Greene reports that 27 people divided into 14 parties recorded a record high count of 68 species! This count covers much of the Santa Catalina Mountains and foothills from Agua Caliente and Sabino Canyon up to Mt Lemmon. The summer version of this count will be run in late July.
This is also a heads-up about the 5 SE Arizona counts which will be run in late July and early August. Counts are open to all. They are fun, but importantly, the data compiled helps to give us an idea of how our butterfly populations in SE AZ are doing, especially with the effects of climate change. Please mark the dates down on your calendars and feel free to contact the compilers if you wish to participate.
-Friday July 24 Sabino Canyon Summer (Santa Catalina Mts and foothills) Compiler Greg Greene (greenecycle at hotmail.com)
-Tuesday July 28 Ramsey Canyon (covers east side of Huachuca Mts and San Pedro River) Compiler Doug Danforth (dougofbis at gmail.com)
-Friday July 31 Santa Rita Mountains Summer (Madera, Box, Florida, Montosa Canyons) Compiler Gerry Wolfe (azgervic at yahoo.com)
-Tuesday August 4 Patagonia Compiler Rich Bailowitz (rbailowitz at gmail.com)
-Friday August 7 Portal (covers east side of Chiricahua Mountains) Compiler Lori Conrad (lconrad6853 at gmail.com)
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