Earth Day 2024 was celebrated in the Methow Valley April 27 sponsored by Methow Recycles and hosted at the John Doran Ranch in Twisp Washington. Cheryl Bellin and Jim Rauh represented the Washington Butterfly Association and appreciatively, John Kolts, a bumble expert and contributor to the Washington Bee Atlas, joined us at the event to jointly support native pollinators. Similar to last year, many children and adults came by. Live butterflies visible in the rearing cage and the WA native bee poster synergized interest across both bees and butterflies. Host and nectar plants to incorporate into home landscapes was of high interest as was the local butterfly species flight period and a bumble bee identification chart. Several individuals were interested in a butterfly walk or field trip, forthcoming, and a restoration specialist inquired about support for conducting butterfly surveys to document changes pre and post wildfire restoration efforts.

I was excited to be repeating the tabling event in 2024. Even more so after getting an email from a 2023 Earth Day attendee, Christy Stebbins, on April 2, 2024. Her question was if this butterfly in her yard was the “one” we talked about at their Methow River property last summer, looking at it from a butterfly perspective. Indeed, the butterfly she photographed was a Compton Tortoise- shell; right on her back doorstep. Her comment “Kind of hard to photograph when it lands on your sleeve”. If only and here’s to next year.

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