Friends Parks and Trails April 09

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Get to Know Your Inner Butterfly

by Mary Kate Woodward:

The West Kootenay area provides a variety of habitats for native butterflies. Trails created and maintained by Friends of Parks and Trails have proven to be good locations in which to find many butterfly species. Since moving to Castlegar, my husband and I have roamed trails and back roads in the area photographing the wide variety of butterfly species who live and migrate here. Some of these photographs are on our chart "Butterflies of the Kootenays". One of the photographs in my book Butterflies and Butterfly Gardening in the Pacific Northwest was taken along the Waldie Island Trail.

On Saturday, April 25, I plan to take a butterfly photography trip looking for early spring butterflies along an easy walk commencing at the gates to the Castlegar Golf Course. We will walk the dirt road to the parking area for Dove Hill. We will then choose whether to turn up the trail toward Dove Hill and continue up the hill or to walk the road to the microwave tower. On this trip we can expect to see several varieties of early butterflies including blues and elfins as well as some species that hibernate through the winter.

Day: Saturday, April 25, 2009 (weather permitting; trip cancelled if rainy or windy) Time: 11:00 a.m.
Place: Meet near gates to Castlegar Golf Course, where dirt road leaves paved road. Questions? contact Mary Kate at: MKWoodward@live.ca
Bring: good walking shoes, hat, layers of clothing, camera, with good zoom capability if possible, water, snack, tick repellent

Copies of the butterfly chart and of the butterfly gardening book will be available for anyone interested in buying either of them.

Feature butterfly: The Western Pine Elfinis a small butterfly, measuring about two and one half centimeters, or one inch, across. It is one of the early elfins that we can expect to see on this trip. It is almost always seen with its wings closed. The underwing pattern is distinctive and spectacular, resembling a mosaic or perhaps an Indian blanket. Look for the Western Pine Elfin in spring in areas where its larval host, the lodgepole pine, is found. It can often be seen puddling in the sunshine. Look for this and other early butterflies on wet ground like that found along dirt roads.