Goldendale – Klickitat
Our 15th annual conference was a great success, with good food, camaraderie,, speakers, and field trips. The Goldendale area, just above the Columbia River at the south end and the dry east side of the Washington Cascades, was new to us.
Friday evening we gathered in the Goldendale Grange Hall, which suited our needs nicely, renewing old acquaintances and meeting new people, including Jim Reed, a teacher and excellent butterflier from the nearby town of Klickitat. Concluding the evening, David James presented photos and descriptions of butterflies we might see on our field trips.
Drawing on Jim Reed’s familiarity with the area, our Saturday field trip focused on locations to the west along the beautiful Klickitat River canyon. Early in the day we were seeing more larvae than adults, especially for Mourning Cloaks, California Tortoiseshells, and Anise Swallowtails. Many of us had not seen larvae jump in response to loud sounds, enthusiastically provided by Jonathan Pelham. As it warmed we began seeing Pale, Western Tiger, Two-tailed, and Anise Swallowtail adults along with other species. And finally, part of our group spotted an Indra Swallowtail.
After a full day in the field we enjoyed a lovely dinner prepared by the ladies of the Grange, followed by a brief business meeting to elect officers for the next year-Richard Youel, David Droppers, and Donna Schaeffer re-elected as President, Vice-President, and Secretary, respectively, and MJ Benavente elected as Treasurer. We then enjoyed Bob Pyle’s talk showing how his research helped change the conventional wisdom of Monarch migration.
Sunday morning we met with cars already packed and drove to Satus Pass, our half-day field trip location and part way home for many of us. At pass elevation we enjoyed good butterflying in the sun. Then, as we proceeded toward the top of Simcoe Butte, increasing clouds and a cool breeze kept butterfly numbers low. But views of the entire surrounding region were spectacular.
During the two days we saw all three green hairstreaks-Western, Bramble, and Sheridan’s – along with several spreadwing skippers and Great Arctics that we usually see only in even-numbered years. Very few fritillaries were seen but we did encounter Snowberry, Northern, and Edith’s Checkerspots.
This conference was our best attended and all agreed it was one of our best.
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