January 24

“Winter Party – Potluck and Gift Exchange”

Saturday, January 24 6pm -10pm

February 4

“Talkin’ Blues” by Jon Pellham

Some of us were “Singin’ the Blues” after summer field trips amid name changes of many blue butterfly species. Jon will guide us through all of the Washington Blues explaining the reasons behind the new splits and providing identification tips and geographic locations. This program will give us a running start for the 2009 butterfly season

March 4

“Butterflies and Wildlife of Eastern Australia & Tasmania” by Dave Nunnallee This program will focus on the natural history of Queensland and New South Wales areas of Australia and the Australian island of Tasmania. Many butterfly photographs will be shown of all areas along with many of Dave’s other outstanding nature photos including marsupials, birds with the occasional fruit bat thrown in.

April 1

“How to Run a Butterfly Big Year?” by Dr. Robert Pyle

Recently back from his historic and adventurous first run at a Butterfly Big Year (seeing as many U.S. butterflies in one year as possible), Bob will share stories, experiences, discoveries, afterthoughts, and second-guesses about his year on the road with (and without) butterflies. He will leave plenty of time for questions, and hopes to have a spirited discussion with the group about this caper & what we can learn from such exercises. This will be a fun and informal program.

May 6

“Monarch Journeys South, Mexican Wintering Grounds” by Denny Granstrand

Highly respected birding enthusiast and wildlife photographer from Yakima, Denny Granstrand, developed a new respect for butterflies when he traveled to Mexico to see and photograph wintering Monarchs. His superb photographs will give us a new appreciation of what the Monarch butterflies experience during winter and make us all want to sign up for a trip to see it for ourselves. Idie Ulsh will give a quick summary of the U.S, part of the Monarch trip prior to Denny’s part of the program.

June 3

“Understanding behavioral responses to landscape change to enhance success of conservation programs: Mardon Skipper Research”

Dr. Cheryl Schultz is an Assistant Professor at WSU Vancouver and a conservation biologist. Included in her research are ways of restoring habitat to meet the life history needs of endangered species and what key attributes of the biology of rare butterflies influence conservation design.

July – no meeting because of annual conference

August 5

“Share the Wealth”

Plan to share some of your summer butterfly photos whether to share or to get help in identification.

September 2

“Sniffing out Kincaid’s Lupine by David Vesely and his dog Rogue”

David G. Vesely, wildlife ecologist and Executive Director of the Oregon Wildlife Institute in Corvallis, and his dog Rogue, a 4-year-old Belgian sheepdog, will present this fascinating program as a team. The dog has been trained to find Kincaid’s lupine, a rare (threatened) native plant closely associated with the Fender’s Blue (endangered) butterfly, which uses the plant as a place to lay its eggs and later as a food source. With grants from the Disney Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, David has trained five Belgian sheepdogs to sniff out specific plants in this critical research.

October 7

“The Naturalist’s Field Journal: a traditional tool for learning” by Libby Mills As early as paper and drawing tools were developed, humans have used the two to record our observations of nature. From the 18th to early 20th century, naturalists accompanying world explorations wrote about and illustrated their finds in journals that are primary resources to this day of our understanding of that world. Today there is value in taking the time to observe, write notes and illustrate them as a way to slow down and learn about the natural world. Libby will discuss using drawing as a tool to observe and understand anatomy of animals and flowers. Understanding structures and anatomy informs drawings, understanding and practicing the principals of drawing help us to see the structures and remember what we have seen and learned. Libby will share some of her journals and drawings, her field experiences and books on the topic of nature journaling, maybe even a drawing lesson.

November 4

“Enjoying and Protecting Butterflies in Washington” by Ann Potter Ann will present a stunning assortment of Washington butterfly photographs and update us on the status/research on three species of great concern including the Island Marble in the San Juan Islands. As a wildlife biologist for the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ann is responsible for coordinating butterfly state records as well as butterfly research. Prepare for a relaxing and informative program. Bring friends and family.

December

Basic Butterfly Biology – Jonathan Pelham