Field Trip Reports
3:13 pmMontgomery Bell State Park, Dickson, TN Field Trip
The field trip to Montgomery Bell State Park had six enthusiastic adults in attendance, but as trip leader John Froeschauer admitted, the conditions were not ideal for butterflying with the clouds and windiness. There were, however, many useful discussions about caterpillar food plants and butterfly nectar plants.
The following species were seen:
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Eastern Tailed-Blue - several
Summer Azure - 4
Great Spangled Fritillary
American Lady
Common Buckeye
Red-spotted Purple - 2
Northern Pearly-eye - 2
Little Wood-Satyr - several
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Aspen Grove Park, Franklin, TN Field Trip
Eastern Tailed-Blue on White Clover
Our first field trip venture into Aspen Grove Park in Franklin on May 31 attracted several families, many little blue butterflies and two garter snakes! The park came as a surprise, even to those who live nearby and pass it often. From the road, it appears to consist of a picnic pavilion, restrooms and a modern playground surrounded by trees. However, hidden behind the trees is a flat, paved .8-mile walking trail loop, winding through small meadows, past a wetland and over Spencer Creek. Bridges offer views of the flat rock shelf of the creek bed, darters slipping in and out of the shadows, Ebony Jewelwing damselflies hiding in the leaves and crawdads (crayfish for those of more northern persuasion) scuttling to safety. The abundance on interesting creatures and the short, mostly shady walk make it a perfect place for a family outing.
Between the creek and the wetlands, it is clear this would be a poor choice for development, but it is an excellent green space and it is heartening to see such a charming area set aside in the busy Cool Springs area. The park has a nice selection of native trees - mulberry and pawpaw as well as the usual oaks, maples, tulip poplar and sycamore. Nectaring plants were somewhat limited; it will be interesting to see what blooms here later in the year and what steps are taken to introduce more native herbaceous species.
Butterfly species we found:
Eastern Tailed-Blue - Our youngest butterfliers were especially pleased to find Eastern Tailed-Blues so engrossed in nectaring on clover that they ignored VERY close inspection!
Cabbage White
Monarch
Orange Sulfur
Hackberry Emperor
American Snout
-Nancy Garden
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Shelby Bottoms Field Trip Report
The Shelby Bottoms Field Trip was held as scheduled on Saturday, May 17. Carter and Kelly Harkins were the able leaders and we had a wonderful time viewing butterflies and other natural things. We saw the following species:
Pipevine Swallowtail [9 caterpillars on pipevine]
Cabbage White
Clouded Sulphur [Female laying eggs on a purple vetch]
Red-banded Hairstreak
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Spring Azure
Monarch
Pearl Crescent
Viceroy
Zabulon Skipper [male, perching]
Here are a few photos from our trip:
Here are the Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars. They like to stay in groups until they get older.
Margaret studies her “Butterflies Through Binoculars - For Toddlers.”
Margaret’s dad & an assassin bug. He was quite cool during the whole experience.
Sarah and Barbara view a small butterfly along the greenway.
We saw a Clouded Sulphur laying eggs on vetch along the greenway. The eggs look like tiny footballs on end. See them?
An American Snout pays us a visit along his/her salt-seeking journey.
Regan baits an azure with a squishy cookie.
We see friends and visitors. Sarah & her new granddaughter, Rowan, who I think is going to like butterflies a lot.
A turtle delights everyone with his antics. (Just kidding, there weren’t any antics, but we enjoyed seeing him.)
We had 9.5 people in attendance. Best wishes Sarah & Trent expecting their first baby very soon and to Margaret who is expecting a little brother or sister this year!
Aspen Grove Park Field Trip
1:31 pmShelby Bottoms Family Walk
5:52 pmMexican Gov’t to Protect Monarchs
12:03 amInteresting Late-Season Activities
11:39 pmMember Nancy Garden at Owl’s Hill sent in these photos, and mentioned how interesting they are, considering how late in the season they have been seen. Usually, these species are spotted in September at these stages, or earlier in October at the latest. Does anyone else have any observations about our late fall this year?
(Giant Swallowtail caterpillar, taken Friday, Oct. 27, at Owl’s Hill)
(A Monarch Chrysalis taken Oct. 27 at Owl’s Hill. Nancy says, “Pretty late - we
are watching to see if it ecloses.”)
Thanks, Nancy! Great photos and observations.
“Read” Banded Hairstreak
5:36 pm(From Carter)
Spotted on the front porch last weekend, while trying to read. It stayed put for some time, long after I was ready to flip the page. I snapped 10 pictures over a 15 minute period. I realized toward the end that it wasn’t really necessary to move so slowly around it; it had become accustomed to my movements and was not skittish at all. I finally went inside to get a better camera (this was taken using my cell phone, which I keep on me) but when I returned it had flown away.
Butterfly Count at Owl’s Hill
1:05 pmHello all,
What a spring! This Dogwood Winter has killed back many plants, some of them important host or nectaring plants. In my garden, the swamp and orange milkweeds were about 4-6 inches high. I counted about 50 Monarch eggs on them before the freezes. The plants have wilted, the Monarch eggs probably will not make it. I suppose these early Monarch egg-layers will not be selected for in the upcoming generations. They gambled and lost the genetic game this time.
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Upcoming field trips and counts:
* May 5, Sat., Butterfly/Wildflower Walk at Warner Park in Nashville. 10:00 – 12:00. Register with Rita Venable or Jane Norris.
* May 19, Sat., Butterfly Day at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary. Call or contact Nancy Garden about this event.
* June 2, Sat., Butterfly/Wildflower Walk at Barfield-Crescent Park in Murfreesboro. 10:00 – 12:00. Register with Rita Venable or Jane Norris.
* June 9, Sat., Butterfly Walk at Shelby Bottoms. Register with Carter and Kelly Harkins.
* June 10, Sun., Parsons (Decatur Co.) Count, Register with Bart Jones.
* June 16, Sat., Soddy-Daisy Count. Register with Bill Haley.
* June 16, Sat., Reelfoot Lake Count. Register with Rita Venable.
* June 23, Sat., Sewanee Count. Register with David Haskell at dhaskell@sewanee.edu.
* June 30, Sat., Land Between The Lakes Count, first year count. Register with Rita Venable.
* July 7, Sat., Nashville/Owl’s Hill Count. Register with Nancy Garden.
* July 8, Sun., Meeman-Shelby Count. Register with Bart Jones.
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First NABA Regional Meeting – March 2007, Gainesville, FL
by Mary Hays
As Florida Flutterbys skip and lep to their natural rhythms some very organized bug heads are planning for the Butterfly’s future.
The Florida Regional NABA Meeting was my first adventure to a regional meeting. As a beginning butterflier and butterfly gardener, I am excited about the programs that are being developed to study and to save the existing colonies of butterflies such as the Miami Blue.
There is so much that we can teach others about butterfly conservation. If the acre(s) of habitat that provides the food, water, and shelter is destroyed, the colony of butterflies in that habitat is also destroyed. Lets let everyone know about that!
The butterflies were cooperative. The field trip leaders were enthusiastic teachers. I learned to identify the Whirlabout Skipper, observed the dark-colored Florida Viceroy, its caterpillar and chrysalis, and observed the black female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail enjoying nectar from thistle.
Through out the weekend, our Florida hosts continued to teach about conservation of habitat in addition to identification of the winged jewels.
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If you would like to receive weekly notices of butterfly sightings across the state, send in your name and email to rita@godtheartist.com.
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Look for our NABA Middle Tennessee chapter story in the next issue of Butterfly Gardener.
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Tanya Jordon of Chattanooga sent in this photo of an Eastern Tailed-blue laying an egg on white clover. Great photo, Tanya!
Bart Jones sent in this photo of a Pipevine Swallowtail nectaring on phlox at Riverwoods in Memphis. Beautiful shot, Bart!
The chapter participated in the Nashville Lawn & Garden Show by having a booth in the non-profit area. The drawing board was a hit! We gave out many brochures about gardening for butterflies, talked with folks about the best field guides to buy and instructed them on how to stay away from invasive plants. We also gave out lots of candy and good will. Many thanks to all who participated!
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Dear Tennessee Butterfly/Moth person,
The 2007 flight season is well underway. Hope you have already seen a few butterflies or moths; also hope you see many more during the remainder of the year.
Please remember that butterfly and moth lists for many Tennessee counties, as reflected at the Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) website, remain spotty; finding a first county record for many species of butterflies and moths is still easy in most counties, though considerable data have been added to the BAMONA website for TN since October 2006, mostly as a result of great effort on the part of Rita Venable. Thanks to Rita and to all who have shared butterfly data with me during the past five and half months.
This year please try to validate as many of your sightings as possible with photographs. For a list of species now documented as occurring in Tennessee, check out the BAMONA website:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
For an overview of how to validate butterfly sightings in Tennessee, please consult this page of my website:
http://iweb.tntech.edu/sstedman/TNButterflyDocumentation.htm
I hope to be able to process all new butterfly records for Tennessee within one month of receipt of the data from the observer, but I would be glad to have so much data arrive that this plan becomes difficult to achieve; please overwhelm me with your data!
I am still wrestling with the best way to go about validating county record moth sightings in Tennessee, given my own limited expertise with these critters, but if you have records of Tennessee moths, send them along, and I will find a way to get your records processed and into the database in no more than a few months from date of receipt.
Good lepping, Steve Stedman, Tennessee Coordinator, BAMONA
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Membership is UP! We now have 32 members, some local, some national.
In October, we will elect new officers. We need a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. Please thoughtfully consider your role in our chapter’s future.
Rita Venable, president
Middle Tennessee Chapter
North American Butterfly Association
Greetings everyone,
I hope you are staying warm, well-fed and happy in these post-Christmas winter days. Remember those warm days in December when we were still seeing an occasional butterfly? None have been reported so far this January, but spring is not too far away.
January Meeting
Please welcome Reagan Dale Harkins, our newest (and youngest) NABA member! Here’s a snap of Reagan and mom Kelly at our chapter meeting on Jan. 25 at REI. Dad Carter is not shown but was there also. Note our chapter logo on Reagan’s T-shirt. His room is decorated in butterfly images too.
Regan was an awesome first-timer. He posed for photos, raised his hand (sometimes both of them) when we were voting and only spoke when hungry. He listened attentively and looked at the pictures when someone read to him Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder.
At the meeting we were able to make a few decisions in addition to admiring the baby and eating brownies and cookies. Here’s what came up:
- Catherine Gain, treasurer, reports our bank balance as $518.00.
- We decided to donate a copy of Butterflies by member David Badger to a local library in honor of NABA member, Bill Manier, who died in October. Bill was a birder, butterflier and supporter of the Audubon Society, Tennessee Land Trust, Friends of South Cumberland and the Nature Conservancy. He was a charter member of our club too.
- We discussed the six-fold purpose of our club (observation, listing, photography, conservation, gardening and rearing of caterpillars for release into the wild) and how we as a group can best define and carry out those objectives.
- The club voted unanimously to focus field trips this year on outreach in the Middle Tennessee area in order to increase our membership base. [See Field Trips below]
Field Trips
Since we have decided to concentrate our field trips in the Middle Tennessee area, we have come up with a few ideas for locations. We have not set dates yet. Do you have any places that you know of near Nashville that we could visit for a field trip? Please send in your suggestions. Also, if you would like to host a field trip in your area, let us know. It does not have to be in the Middle Tennessee area if you want to host it yourself. You do not have to be an expert to lead a butterfly walk through a garden; most people are beginners and cannot identify many butterflies, but everyone has to start somewhere!
We also want to focus on better publicity for our field trips by contacting local media. Field trips, especially locally, will be family-friendly unless otherwise noted.
Possible half-day trips: Shelby Park, Warner Park (Percy & Edwin), Bicentennial Mall, Cheekwood, Centennial Park, Bison Meadow, Grassland Park, Brentwood City greenways, Owl’s Hill, Ellington Agricultural Center or Radnor Lake. If you would like us to visit your home, farm or land area, let us know.
Slightly longer trips might include: Ashland City Trail, Hidden Lake, Long Hunter, Montgomery Bell or Henry Horton State Parks, Cheatham Wildlife Management Area or Barfield Cresent Park.
2007 Fourth of July Butterfly Counts
All count dates have been set and are as follows:
June 9, 2007 Parsons/Decatur County (Bart Jones)
June 16, 2007 Tennessee River Gorge (Bill Haley)
June 16, 2007 Reelfoot Lake (Rita Venable)
June 23, 2007 Sewanee (David Coe/David Haskell)
June 23, 2007 Soddy-Daisy (Bill Haley)
June 30, 2007 Land Between The Lakes (New! Rita Venable)
July 7, 2007 Nashville/Owl’s Hill (Nancy Garden)
July 8, 2007 Memphis/Shelby County (Bart Jones)
July 14, 2007 Roan Mountain (Don Holt)
July 22, 2007 Campbell County (Allan Trently)
July 23, 2007 Putnam County West (Steve Stedman)
July 25, 2007 Putnam County East (Steve Stedman)
Aug 5, 2007 Elizabethton (Don Holt)
Nashville Lawn & Garden Show Update
There are many opportunities to help with the Lawn & Garden Show which is our biggest outreach to the community this year. Even if you cannot attend, we still need your help.
Here’s our need/wish list:
- Display background – We have stuff to put on it, but we would like something better than the blue curtain that the show provides. Last year Kelly was able to borrow a really good display frame from a friend, but that is not an option this year.
- Help in printing our club brochures with field trips and membership information at the show. This is an 8.5 x 11 inch paper, tri-folded. Also help in printing the membership forms and writing “Please credit Middle Tennessee NABA.†Our chapter gets $5 each time someone signs up because of our efforts. This form is also 8.5 x 11.
- Donations of candy for the candy give-away at the booth.
- Help in formulating an interactive display oriented towards children.
- Help in staffing the booth. You and a friend get into the show free (including lectures and displays), a $16 value.
- Times still available: Friday, March 2 [ 12:00 – 3:00 and 3:00 – 6:00 or 7:00]; Saturday, March 3 [12:00 – 3:00 and 3:00 – 6:00] and Sunday, March 4 [10:00 – 12:00, 12:00 – 3:00 or 3:00 – 5:00].
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Thanks to Steve Stedman for letting us use his KY/TN Butterfly Checklist format and suit it to our own needs. He also donated 250+ of the old checklists for us to give away. Thanks to John Froeschauer for helping with the printing of these.
The garden guide has been revamped as well with our logo on top. Thanks to John F. again for helping to get these printed.
Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be in October. We will have our traditional seed exchange.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Rita Venable, president
Middle Tennessee Chapter
North American Butterfly Association
