The WBA Conference in the Blue Mountains (in the lower right hand comer of our state) was a triumph! Sixty-two souls participated, roughly double last year’s number. Our new logo and T-shirts were everywhere applauded. The weather Saturday turned fine. Even Sunday’s overcast cold couldn’t put a damper on this intrepid group. Here’s why not:

The high point was having Bob and Thea Pyle with us in the field Sunday. So any possible criminal chatges against those higher-ups who were responsible for Sunday’s weather were nipped in the bud by an absolutely perfect solution to the challenge of structuring the day’s chilly outing:

Have just one huge line-up of vehicles (fourteen of them!). Put a walkie-talkie radio in each vehicle. Then–and here’s the beauty patt-put oneof those walkie-talkie radios in the hands of Bob Pyle. So on the road Bob could comment on flora and fauna as we passed and we could all listen in. Everybody got to butterfly with Bob. And there’s more!

When we stopped, folks from the entite caravan had the opportunity to gather ’round Bob, or our other stat butterfliers, as we r0atned through the beautiful mountain territory. At one point I listened in on a twenty-minute lecturette by Bob as a dozen or so young and old “students” queried him on all kinds of flora and fauna matters. He is at his very best in that kind of setting, gracious and kind and witty, displaying an astonishing amount of information on every plant or leaf or creature that was thrust at him for comment.

At one point I presumed to get into the discussion briefly myself. The subject was a beautiful butterfly which Bob was identifying for us:

Pyle: (Ever ready to teach us the Latin names): “This is Boloria epithore, the Western Meadow Fritillary.”

O’Connell (Scrambling with Idie Ulsh’s help to find the butterfly in Jeffrey Glassberg’s brand new field guide on Western butterflies): “Jeffrey calls it the Pacific Fritillaty.”

Pyle: “Ah, yes. Names! This butterfly has been called the Western Meadow Fritillary for a century. It’s the perfect name since it is so much like the Meadow Fritillaty which occurs farther east. Why call it the Pacific Fritillary? I think we should retain a few of these old names where they are uniquely right.”

O’Connell (Ever ready to defend his fellow neophytes): “That makes it hard for beginners.”

Pyle: “True. And we should help the beginners wherever we can. In our Cascadia butterfly guide we’re putting A.KA. (also known as) after every butterfly name that is known widely by other names. This one will appear as ‘Western Meadow Fritillary (AKA Pacific Fritillary.)’”

Just so. We had a grand conference!

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