Watching Washington Butterflies with Bob Pyle: Number Thirty Two

It has ever been a problem for lovers of Lepidoptera resident in cold climes, come wintertime: how to pass those months between the asters of autumn with their anglewings, and the first painted ladies on the dandelions of April? (Or whatever the hangers-on and harbingers are in your locale.) If one cannot find a suitable substitute activity that is topic-relevant, there is always the danger of some other enthusiasm stepping in and usurping one’s energies to the extent that it’s difficult to switch back again to butterflies come spring. So what to do to weather those months, while keeping the love of leps alive and enthusiasm keen for the next field trip?

Back when most of us were collectors, it was easier. Winter was the time to attack that horde of papered material, to relax, spread, dissect, and label specimens; to catch up on correspondence and swaps; and otherwise to curate the collection. Direct contact with butterflies, albeit lifeless, brought back the joy and excitement of the field and vastly aided the learning curve for ID of similar species. But what about the watcher? Since most butterfly watchers are also photographers, they too have their curatorial tasks stored up for the shutdown months. Sorting and labeling color slides has been replaced by sorting and labeling digital files, eliminating second-rate duplicates, and second-guessing identifications, often through sharing with friends, experts, BugGuide, and so on.

But it doesn’t stop there. The imaginative naturalist can come up with all sorts of ways to keep the love alive, and advance the learning in the meantime, so the next season will be that much more enjoyable and productive. In addition to the basic curatorial and maintenance tasks mentioned above, here is a bouquet of butterfly-friendly activities to keep your winter bright:

• Garden Prep: If you are a butterfly gardener, you’ll easily find many jobs that can occupy a hiatus between the squalls to make your premises even more welcoming come spring. And don’t forget, if you still have fertile butterfly bushes, to dead-head them as early as possible.
• Habitat Survey of the Neighborhood: This is a good time, on your local walks, to pinpoint plants, stands, and general habitats that might hold potential you didn’t notice in the full flush of seasonal bloom. Keep a map or log of these, and be sure to go back during flight-time to check to see whether your winter predictions and rainy-day recon hold up in actual springtime.
• Search for Chrysalides, Cocoons, and Other Winter Stages: This is not easy and not frequently successful. But once you gain the search image, you might have increasing success in finding swallowtail and white chrysalides, Polyphemus cocoons, admiral hibernaculi in willow tips, or other cold-season receptacles for hibernating leps. Bring these in, keeping them cold and moist, to increase survivorship and enjoy the spectacle of fresh emergers in springtime.
• Study Google Earth & Topo Maps for Potential Field Sites: There is no better time than before a cozy fireplace with the rain dripping or snow drifting outside to play with your actual paper maps and lap-tops with butterflies in mind. Google Earth is fun for this. Try to find accessible high points and passes, balds or meadows, canyons and southern expo- sures, clearings and streamsides heretofore unknown for butterfly records; make plans!
  

• Read!: There exists a plethora of wonderful butterfly and moth literature, in the library, bookshops, and online. Some of it helps to understand the creatures better, while other entries share the vicarious adventures of going afield in pursuit of our mutual amour. Now’s the time to catch up on those unread periodicals. As for books, I especially recommend Butterfly People by William Leach and The Butterfly Isles by John Barkham. I might immodestly suggest that many have found reading my book Mariposa Road to be a serviceable way of ditching the winter butterfly blues, and getting psyched up to chase them again come spring.
• Have Butterfly Dreams!: As the season wears on and the reality of butterflies goes from seeming remote to even questionable, I find that my subconscious takes over and populates my night-time visions with delicious imaginary habitats and their equally delicious denizens. These dreams never fail to include butterflies way out of their range (great records!) or new altogether. It goes without saying that reading a good dose of lep lit be- fore lights out can help to stimulate such sweet dreams.
• Work on ID Skills: While you’re at it hitting the books for pleasure and diversion, don’t forget to pore over your field guides and digital tools such as butterfliesofamerica.com to sharpen your sense of field marks prior to the coming season. This is also a great time to visit available collections to examine actual specimens for their variation.
• Write Up Your Field Trip Notes: Remember, everything you see and identify in the field has the power of becoming a part of our growing state data base, if your ID is backed up and documented in journal or other usable form. This is also a good time to extract and deposit data with BAMONA, eButterfly, iNaturalist, and especially the Northwest Lepidoptera Survey (submit records to Jon Pelham, Bob Pyle or Ann Potter).
• Study Winter Moths: Even though butterflies cease to be active in winter (except the odd hibernant tortoiseshell or comma on an unseasonably warm day), a number of species of moths remain active through the moderate Northwest excuse for winter. The introduced European Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata) comes to our lights in November; the native Operophtera bruceata more commonly in December. There are some nice winter owlets, and a handsome little maroon snouted micromoth emerges in February. And don’t forget the great masses of handsome, polymorphic Tissue Moths (Triphosa haesitata) hibernating in the battery tunnels at Fort Worden in Port Townsend.
  

• Go Where the Butterflies Are!: More and more, people in butterfly withdrawal just head out to where they can get a hit regardless of the season. Besides Central and South America and austral points even farther afield such as Vietnam and Thailand, the obvious cheaper choices include Hawaii for Kamehamehas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where Malachites and Zebras abound. It’s a wonder how a week of bright fluttering wings can pick you up from the Duwamish Doldrums or the Ellensburg Ennui.
• Get a Jump on Spring: Short of going to such lengths, you can at least hasten the season by a drive down the northern California coast, where much is abloom and a few things are already flying in late January; and may- be into the desert Southwest, especially if a superbloom is forecast, as it was last year.
• Finally, Get Ready: Make sure to prime your equipment well before the first field trip. Depending on your approach, this may mean mending your nets, cleaning or servicing binoculars, juicing up camera batteries, cards, and file systems, or whatever other equipment you might find a use for. Don’t forget the umbrella or Sou’wester for fending off the false alarm of an El Niño spring.
• …and then, just get out there!

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