Pend Oreille County is a place we rarely visit perhaps because it is in the far-right hand corner of the state! But it is a treasure-trove of butterflies and this year we will be making the trek there for our annual butterfly study weekend on July 21-23. We will headquarter in Metaline Falls which is about 80 miles north of Spokane and only 10 miles from the Canadian border. The area is at the southern end of the Selkirk Mountains and is dominated by mixed forest with abundant openings and meadows and has a wonderfully diverse and abundant butterfly fauna.

There are a number of lesser-seen species that we will very likely see on our weekend including the Atlantis Fritillary and Northwestern Fritillary among Zerene, Spangled, Hydaspe, Callippe and Mormon Fritillaries! The Pink-edged and Christina’s are two rarely seen Sulphurs that we should see, along with the not often viewed Pecks and Mystic Skippers.

Other excitement will be provided by trying to distinguish native Garita Skipperlings from the introduced European Skipperling! Other notables we may see include the Silver-bordered Fritillary and Compton Tortoiseshell. Given good weather we should exceed 30 species and maybe get close to 40!

David James will scout the region for the best current butterfly locations before our study weekend and will give a Zoom presentation on Monday July 17 detailing the butterflies we are likely to see. Looking forward to seeing you all on what will be a great weekend of Wings over the Selkirks!

While the program is a little bare bones, the spirit and enthusiasm to gather and discuss butterflies and moths will not be bare bones at all. In contrast to pre-pandemic years, there will be no lunches provided, no Young Naturalist scholarship attendees, and no Saturday evening speaker, though there will be a silent auction this year. We will provide refreshments on Friday evening at the Metaline Falls Visitor Center, and pizza buffet on Saturday night at the Historic Washington Hotel in Metaline Falls. All other meals will be on your own. In recognition of the reduced circumstances, we are only charging $50 for the entire weekend’s activities, Saturday pizza included.

Prior to the Study Weekend, on Monday July 17, David James will present by Zoom on the butterflies we hope to see on our excursions. Watch the WBA Noticeline for the link. On Friday, July 21, we will hold our registration event at the Metaline Falls Visitor Center. David Droppers will set up a Mothing activity somewhere to be determined. His enthusiasm is contagious as he goes about attracting the larger part of the Lepidoptera that we all love.

Again, this is a catch and release activity and few – if any – moths will be harmed. It will be a great opportunity to get an introductory course in Mothing 101. There will be snacks and drinks available. There should be ample opportunity to meet and greet others in a socially distanced setting.

The Historic Washington Hotel is reserving all its rooms for WBA members. There may still be rooms available. If you prefer to camp, the National Forest is available for camping outside of town.

We will gather the next morning (Saturday, July 22) at the Historic Washington Hotel to caravan to our field trip sites. Don’t forget to bring lunch and water!

For dinner Saturday night, we will set up a pizza buffet at the Historic Washington Hotel’s meeting room. There is plenty of space available for outside seating where we can disperse. Please bring your own chairs. There are a few other local restaurants in town but are unable to host the entire group in a COVID-safe manner. WBA will provide a variety of pizzas and salad for attendees. We will also be voting on our officers for next year: President, Jim Reed; Vice President, Danny Dunphy; Treasurer, Regina Johnson; Secretary, Liz Kuehn; At-Large members Paulette Murphy, Melanie Weiss, David James, Sylvia Sheets, Carolyn Heberlein. We can take nominations for up to 2 more At-Large board members.

We will reconvene Sunday morning for another excellent David James field trip. Don’t forget to bring lunch and water! Dinner is on your own tonight.

There is a possibility of an optional field trip on Monday for your way home. More details to come.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of what we have to offer at this point. We hope to see our old friends and colleagues in person for the first time in two years, and the butterflying should be awesome with some new species. Please take care of continued virus awareness and respect the health of others. Thanks to Dave & Jo Nunnallee and the David James Family for volunteering to preview and lead the field trips.

Watch David James Species Preview

All photos by David James unless otherwise noted.