or What You Can Learn by Repeated Visits of a Butterfly Site

This was a difficult summer for traveling long distances where you would need overnight lodging. As a result, I visited several butterfly sites multiple times and observed changes in the species and plants over time. My favorite this season was a location introduced to me many years ago by Dave Nunnallee who often did an early June field trip to the area: Upper Umtanum Creek outside of Ellensburg. This a is shrub steppe habitat at around 2,600 ft. elevation. The area has many species of nectar and host plants, including a variety of buckwheats.

On that first trip with Dave, we stopped at several spots along the roadside with great mudding places and many species enjoying themselves: sulphurs, nymphalids, lycaenids. That was early in my butterflying days. It seemed to me this must be what is was like traveling to Africa and seeing large numbers of butterflies along rivers and streams. Unfortunately, since that time they have begun a program of road grading. But there are still wonderful areas and species to be seen.

I made four visits over six weeks and saw additional species each time as the abundance of others decreased. On my first visit in early June I focused on roadside wet areas, seeing 18 species. Six species of blues were present including Acmon, Lupine, Boisduval’s, two Euphilotes, Greenish. There were many Western Sulphurs, but the prize was the Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur, lime-yellow, mudding with one group. This individual stood out by both size, being a bit larger, and color. Coronis Fritillaries were also present in good numbers.

On my second visit to most of the same areas, the day was cool the temperature around 60 degrees. Plus there was cloud cover from time to time. And still I had 12 species, four species of blues, some Western Sulphurs and Coronis Fritillaries being the most abundant. In addition, beautiful Blue Copper males were now on the scene in good numbers. And as a surprise, one Roadside Skipper flew out of a grassy area and began nectaring on Convolvulus arvensis (Field Bindweed) growing along the roadside. This butterfly species is uncommon for the area. Total season species are now at 20.

A warm day with high clouds greeted me on my third visit. I stopped at several spots as you drop down from the ridge. Eriogonum heracleoides was blooming abundantly throughout this particularly area. Many species were nectaring on this lush plant. I was photographing a species on one plant, and within 30 minutes six species visited it! I stayed in this area for quite a while. Coronis were flying by and chose other flowers for nectar. Female Blue Coppers were present in this area along with two new species, Behr’s Hairstreak and Halfmoon Hairstreak. Lower down Zerene Fritillary were flying. I had been waiting for this species to appear. The final two new species were the Western Branded Skipper and the dependable Cabbage White. With these five new species the season total rises to 25.

My final visit was the beginning of the second week of July. The area was beginning to show signs of drying with many plants senescing. The several species that I had seen earlier on the E. heracleoides, had now moved to Yarrow. Surprising to me, they were having a ‘Yarrow feast” in this area. I saw 10 species on this day, and only one species of blue remaining of the original six seen on my first visit. And again, there were new species: the Becker’s White seeming to favor Chaenactis douglasii (Hoary False-yarrow, or Dustymaidens) as a nectar source, and the California Hairstreak. The latter preferred thistle, and it was just emerging. So often there would be several on one bloom. These two new species bring the grand total for the site, after four visits in a variety of weather conditions, to 27.

I had only visited this area once per season in the past. Observing the changes over six weeks at Umtanum Creek was quite remarkable. There is an interdependence to be seen and appreciated in the delicate balance between plants and butterfly species.

All photos by Melanie Weiss.

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