Greetings Once Again to my Fellow Lepidopterans!

Each year it seems as though our Spring weather is getting more cantankerous. Of course we all expect that spring time weather will be quite variable with spring showers, blustery days, intermixed with glorious warm sunny days. But this year our weather patterns kept it cold, rainy, even snowy all through March and most of April. I saw a few of our hardy, overwintering butterflies (Green Commas, Satyriun faunus) in my local case, out for a small sun break and then it

snapped right back to cold and rainy. The flowers and plants pushed up and were ready to burst into life and then forced to wait in semi-dormancy. And suddenly the last week of April, it was as though someone threw a switch and it got warm, bordering on hot.

The weather was grand and butterflies ended their diapause rather abruptly. The end of April saw Julia’s Orange Tips, Propertius Duskywings and Anise Swallowtails suddenly all flying together. In some years this burst of life occurred at the end of March or the first week of April; so, late, but perhaps all the much more appreciated.

As with the butterflies, so too is it the same with butterfly enthusiasts of all types. People are trying to determine what pollinator-friendly flowers to plant in empty yard borders, others are taking to the woods, the hills, the meadows and their favorite places to catch a glimpse of their favorite fliers. As you go about your spring rituals, paying homage to nature, please do not forget about your fellow humans as well.

It would be a great time to get involved with WBA; there are opportunities to interact with nature and other nature lov- ers. Consider serving on the WBA Board as some of our members need to step off the Board for a variety of reasons. To those retiring Board members, we thank you for your service and dedication over the years.

The current Board has left us in great shape financially. We have a solid group of dedicated field trip leaders. I hear people say that they would like to help but they do not know enough about butterflies to sit on the Board. Nor do I. As wonderful as they are, the butterflies do not really notice if you are a novice or an expert. Being on the Board is more about caring about people, than knowing the butterflies. So get involved, meet some great people and have a blast doing so.

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