Greetings from the snowbound Inland Northwest! It will be a while before I begin to see any Lepidoptera in my snow covered Spokane butterfly garden. We take heart in the fact that this was not the case across the state in January. In Issaquah, our friend, Darcie Curley, had a Red Admiral land on her knee and even remain long enough for a photo on January 21st! This fascinating record has grabbed the attention of our local lepidopterist community, and may even be included in Bob Pyle’s new field guide. Congratulations to Darcie, for helping us celebrate citizen science! David James tells us that the “Admirable”, Vanessa atalanta, seems to have recently developed a hardiness to overwinter in the adult stage of its life cycle, a phenomenon observed previously in Britain, but never so clearly here in Washington.

Please stay tuned: there will be a number of exciting developments coming to WBA in the coming season. Regarding citizen science, we expect to offer assistance to Ann Potter and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife by tracking populations of five different scarce butterfly species, ranging from the Monarch to the Silver-bordered Fritillary to the Yuma Skipper. We expect soon to announce a training weekend for this important volunteer work. It will be offered free of charge in early May in the Spokane area, and will consist of one day of class time followed by field experience the next. Weather permitting, we’ll head out with our newfound skills for Juniper Dunes to search for the Juniper Hairstreak.

We will also be looking to survey species at several Department of Natural Resources sites where butterfly populations have yet to be monitored. WBA members and friends may join board member Melanie Weiss on her weekly surveys of the Naches Loop Trail to inventory butterflies and plant phenology for the National Park Service. Please see our website for details or find her contact info at the end of this newsletter. Dr. David James will be working with Yakima area conservation groups on restoring Moxee Bog as a habitat for the Silver Bordered Fritillary. And as a helpful conservation reminder for all pollinators, Spokane area volunteers will be invited to assist in developing a butterfly garden in the Manito Park area of Spokane. Last but not least, please check out our website for several upcoming convenient enhancements and additions, including capacity to renew your membership online.

We look forward to starting up field trips again with perhaps some early scabland visits to locations like Schnebly Coulee, near Vantage, or Fishtrap Lake in Lincoln County. Others will be scheduled for some of your favorite locations. If you are interested in leading a trip yourself at any point in the season, please get in touch with us through contact information in this newsletter or at our website!

Members in our remote locations who tuned in to the webcast of David Jennings’ presentation on bumblebees this week can be assured that we will continue developing our webcasting services, and will be offering more webcasts in the future. We apologize that the fine photography and diagrams that David had intended to show were not visible in the webcast, but this material will be available online at our website. The technical challenges attending that broadcast will be resolved.

Here’s hoping for warming weather with the lengthening days, and the optimal balance of spring sun and rain for a terrific flight of Northwest butterflies in 2017. Good hunting!

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