Sighting by sighting, photo by photo, line by line, I have enjoyed listing butterflies Brenda and I have seen for the past nine years’ worth of our roaming about Cascadian landscapes. The small discipline of making notes during or after each field day has developed into a useful if informal database to which I can refer when our group considers field trip options, or raises questions about butterfly study areas. Now and then, WBA scientific advisors have hailed my reports with feedback that a new county record has been made. The records are still coming in, and I am but one of a pretty large group of area naturalists reporting them. Please join me! Indeed: I’m here today to plug for you all to join me in listing every butterfly you see, as best you can.

Elsewhere in this issue, Bob Pyle will be speaking to you about a special sort of listing practice, the Big Year. This more arduous form of listing has drawn comic or even warning sorts of responses: consider the recent movie on birders, “The Big Year”. Or, the book, Life List, in which a brilliant and avid birder meets her demise in the field after a series of harrowing adventures that might have discouraged anyone else from continuing on. My hope is that you all will feel free to avail yourselves to every nook and cranny of Washington state’s wealth of wild lands to find the rarest of species for your growing life lists, but not neglect the humble yet very helpful task of routine listing.

Whether you intend to enlarge your life list, enjoy a big year, or even press forward to finding some of the rarities that our own state offers, your work can be significant by simply listing your sightings. I only have anecdotal information now to document how drastically butterfly populations around my area in Spokane are declining. Long time resident naturalists tell me that Monarchs used to be common here, but no longer are today, but there is no formal local data to support this yet. Silver-spotted Skippers once were abundant in lawns here, according to my friend, Wade Schwartz: he grew up here, and has been watching Spokane butterflies for decades. The Silver-spots are uncommon now. We each have the wherewithal to follow such trends on a more scientific scale with our capacity for quick species identification, good photos and good records!… Although we do not yet have a way to catalog the data in one central place, it could be done, and we each can help. For an inspiring look at one man’s effort leading research in such an area, visit Arthur Shapiro’s website on California butterflies , to see how well he has documented some subtle changes in species localities and diversity over the past 30 years. A recent BBC article available online reports that from such data, Europeans have seen a 75 % decline in many airborne insects, including butterflies, a huge concern at the eco- system level. We can do our part with local action to support a global recognition of this vital conservation issue! Happy butterflying, and happy listing. And to Bob Pyle, from all of WBA, may you enjoy the biggest of Big Years. May checkerspots and hairstreaks flutter over your roads and trails.

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