aka “Salmon la Sac Vicinity”

On July 13, eleven of us, including three youngsters, had a great day, with great weather and a nice variety of butterflies (15 butterfly species and 2 moth species, listed below). The kids, with their energy and enthusiasm, were a delight and made the day special for all of us. Each caught several butterflies, unassisted, had a great time, and even understood why some of the Greenish Blue butterflies were actually brown. We spent most of our time at 3,000’ in the patches of meadow near the creek. David Droppers had originated this trip for use with his students.

When we first arrived at the meadow area, we heard rifle shots from across the creek. I went across to explore and talked with a young man camping there to let him know we were butterflying nearby. He was glad to know where we were and was quite safely shooting at a target in a direction well away from where our group would be.

Since we drove part way to our field sites on the Salmon la Sac road, our list of 2019 field trips showed this as “Salmon la Sac Vicinity.” But we actually went nowhere near Salmon la Sac itself. So, “French Cabin Creek” is a better name.

Here’s the list of species seen (Thank you Melanie Weiss):

Clodius Parnassian, Western Tiger Swallowtail, Pale Swallowtail, Purplish Copper, Mariposa Copper, Thicket Hairstreak, Westerntailed Blue, Greenish Blue (many), Great Spangled Fritillary, Coronis Fritillary, Hydaspe Fritillary, Snowberry Checkerspot, Painted Lady, Green Comma, Common Wood Nymph, Elegant Sheep Moth, Forester Moth

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