Note: Some of the 2020 Programs were recorded. Those have a post in the blog with the video.
1/15 – Spokane Meeting 6 pm – “Odonates of the Colville NF & Annual Potluck” – with Rick Moore
Presentation by Rick Moore about dragonflies – this is also our annual potluck with everyone.
This monthly meeting will be our annual potluck where we can talk butterflies and pollinators over a wonderful meal.
Please bring some type of food item/favorite dish to contribute to this potluck!
Retired biologist Rick Moore will add to our potluck dining experience together by sharing images and stories from his extensive study of the dragonflies of the Colville National Forest, which he has studied for many years! He has excellent photos and a deep background in the study Inland Northwest insect species. Come join us!
Rick’s Bio:
Working with Edith’s Checkerspot in the California Sierras, Rick received his Ph.D. in evolutionary ecology from the University of Texas in 1987. After graduation, he moved to Olympia, WA with his wife Sandy, and became the Pacific Salmon Treaty coho biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. In 1998, he left the Department and moved to the Colville area to raise his two children and build an earthship (a sustainable building technique using tires and aluminum cans). Since 2006 he has worked as a summer contractor for the Forest Service conducting a variety of insect surveys in the Colville National Forest.
Seattle, Feb 5: Regina Rochefort, National Park Service (retired).
Monitoring Subalpine Butterflies as Indicators of Climate Change: Cascades Butterfly Project.
Butterfly abundances and plant flowering patterns can provide insights into the effects of climate change on subalpine ecosystems. Over the past 9 summers, citizen scientists with the Cascades Butterfly Project have been surveying meadows in national parks and national forests to document annual changes. Come hear what we have learned over the last 9 summers and how you can help us next summer.
Regina Rochefort recently retired as an Ecologist/Science Advisor at North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Prior to working at North Cascades, she was the first Botanist at Mount Rainier National Park where she started the restoration program and conducted her PhD research on the impacts of climate change on subalpine and alpine plant communities.
Spokane, Feb 19: Video, Bob Hardwick, the Skippers of Washington
Seattle, March 4: Jon Pelham. There and Back Again
A different sort of butterfly migration. A demonstration of the seasonal movement of Speyeria coronis – Coronis Fritillary and its relationship with Viola trinervata – Sagebrush Violet.
Spokane, March 18: James Dillman,
Butterfly field specialist for WSU. Stories from 40 Years in the Field Seattle, April 1: Julie O’Donald. Native Pollinators: Garden and Habitat Restoration.
Spokane, April 15:
Kelly McAllister, biologist for WSDOT. Roadside Habitat Conservation for Butterflies and other Pollinators.
Seattle, May 6: Rachael Bonoan.
Species interactions in a changing environment: plants, butterflies, and ants. Spokane, May 20: TBA
Dayton, July 10-13: Butterfly Study Weekend
9/2 – Seattle Meeting – 7 pm “Species Profiles – Hairstreaks and a Skipper” using Zoom
9/16 – Spokane Meeting – 6-7:30 pm “Share the Wealth” using Zoom
Spokane’s Washington Butterfly Association chapter welcomes you and your friends to a show and tell, experience about Eastern Washington and/or other area butterfly sightings from this last spring, summer and into the September. This is where we can all share our butterfly stories, get to know each other or get reacquainted with each other, and ask questions about butterfly/pollinator related topics. It will be fun and full of knowledge!
10/7 – Seattle Meeting – 7 pm “Native Pollinators: Garden and Habitat Restoration” by Julie O’Donald
Explore the world of native bees. Learn about the landscape practices they depend on and their preferred native plants. This program will show the steps needed to convert lawn into habitat while adding vibrant color and visual interest to your garden.
Master Gardener and Community Habitat Steward, Julie O’Donald, will share photos featuring native bees and the flowers that attract them. She will describe how to create a garden where pollinators thrive and will explain ways to incorporate flowering shrubs and wildflowers into the landscape. Landscape features that promote healthy pollinator populations and provide nest sites will also be discussed.
Julie’s personal certified wildlife habitat garden contains over 200 species of native plants and has been successfully attracting birds, butterflies, pollinators, and beneficial insects for more than 25 years. It has been featured in Pacific Horticulture, The Butterfly Gardener, Bird Watching Magazine and Sunset publications. In 2012 and 2013, the rare Western bumble bee was found in Julie’s pollinator garden.
Active in community educational outreach, Julie volunteers for the Washington Native Plant Society, the Washington Butterfly Association, Kruckeberg Botanic Garden, and the National Wildlife Federation.
11/18 – Spokane Meeting – 6 pm “Glad Tidings from Mothlandia“
We are very pleased and excited to announce our very own mothman Carl Barrentine is doing the presentation this month with a few more local moth’ers!!! Keep reading for details….
Six Spokane residents invested many hours finding and photographing moths (as well as other interesting arthropods) during the 2020 Mothing Season. Four of these ‘mothologists’ will share highlights of their experiences night-lighting for leps with WBA members.
Part 1. Michelle Sloan Bos, Meteorologist and Entomologist, “If You Build It, They will Come.”
Click here to meet Michelle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PVzu0ePcJI
Part 2. Michael Woodruff, Physician and Naturalist, “My First Summer of Mothing Adventures in Spokane.”
Click here to meet Michael: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/nightjar09
Part 3. Susan Mulvihill, Garden Columnist and Book Author, “How I Got Hooked on Mothing.”
Click here to meet Susan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N7dmvSTQfk
and https://www.susansinthegarden.com/books/
Part 4. Carl Barrentine, Retired Professor and Photographer, “Taxonomic Update: Three Years of Backyard Mothing in Spokane.”
Click here to meet Carl:
https://nationalmothweek.org/2020/07/18/backyard-mothing-with-carl-barrentine-in-spokane-washington-usa/
P.S. We would like to introduce and acknowledge two other Spokane Moth’ers who are unable to make zoom presentations for the November WBA meeting. Both have been exhaustively enthusiastic in their dutiful nocturnal efforts of finding and photographing Spokane County Moths during 2020.
Ronald Smith, Wildlife Photographer, with his Moth Trap
Tom Munson, Wildlife Photographer
12/2 – Seattle Meeting 7 pm – Dave Wilderman and Regina Johnson of DNR
“Managing for butterflies on Department of Natural Resources’ Natural Areas: a delicate dance”.
Dave Wilderman is the Natural Areas Ecologist for Washington’s Department of Natural Resources and Regina Johnson is the Assistant Natural Areas Ecologist for the west side. We will look at DNR Natural Areas throughout the state that host interesting butterflies, then dive into the details of managing South Puget prairies for grassland-dependent butterflies and other sensitive animals and plants.
Dec. 18, Spokane: No Meeting