Upcoming events
The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy will be conducting its sixth Spring Butterfly Count on Saturday April 1, and is looking for volunteers. Please email Doug Jensen at the Preserve for more information: assistantcitizenscience@mcdowellsonoran.org
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On a butterfly trip to this area in the same month 6 years ago, we recorded 28 species of butterflies, including the amazing Yucca Giant-Skipper. We will also pay attention to the wildflowers, with checklist provided. Detailed directions to meeting place will be given at time of reservation.
Difficulty: moderate (no real trails, rocky creek bed).
As usual wear good hiking shoes and a hat and bring binoculars, water and snacks/lunch.
Limited to 20 people
A donation of $5 per person to benefit CAzBA will be appreciated.
Register and reserve your spot here (copy-and-paste): link t.b.a.
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On Saturday May 20, we will hike a part of the AZ Highline trail in pursuit of colorful butterflies. As the temperature rises, the flowers start to bloom higher and higher in elevation. Butterflies follow this nectar flow “up the trail” and June is a great time to check it out. Nectar plants like Penstemon, Kaibab Pussytoes, Canada Violets, Fleabane and Dandelion are blooming. Other species of butterflies like to mud puddle at one of the three seeps we will visit. Yet others, like Arizona Sister and Satyr Comma, are mostly found perched on trees. (Moon-marked Skipper pictured)
Please wear sturdy shoes and a hat, bring water, snacks and a sack lunch. A pair of close focusing binoculars will be handy too. The trail is moderately steep in places, but we will take our time. Trip leader: Marceline VandeWater
Limit 15 participants
A donation of $5 per person to benefit CAzBA will be appreciated.
Register and reserve your spot here: link t.b.a.
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We will host a trip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum on Saturday, June 17, to see what is flying about. A recent trip found many queens and swallowtails around the blooming tenaza trees. Some skippers, sulphurs, blues, and other species were found, as well as some nice dragonflies at the lake.
We will begin our walk at 7:30 AM at the visitor center. It will be getting warm quickly, so we want to head out early and promptly. Knowing our group, we'll probably stop for anything that flies, crawls, slithers, hops, or runs across our path. BTA is always a great place to see birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles.
We invite anyone who visits BTA that morning to join us -- so we may have some newbies with questions. That's the way most of us began!
Please advised that admission to BTA is $15 for non-members. We will not ask for a donation to CAZBA this time.
So we can plan, please register for this this event on Ticketleap. Link t.b.a.
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On Saturday July 15th, Marianne Jensen and Laura Miller will be leading a walk at Aspen Corner off Snowbowl Road in Flagstaff. This is always a rewarding place to look for butterflies as you have a few environments including, Aspen stands, meadows and a tank. If you like to photograph other arthropods, there are always lots of interesting species.
*Butterflies: we will look for higher elevation species like Northwestern (Atlantis) Fritillary, Western Tiger Swallowtail, Pine White (pictured), Boisduval's Blue, Melissa Blue, Arachne Checkerspot, Weidemeyer's Admiral, Hoary Comma, Garita Skipperling, Taxiles Skipper, Snow's Skipper...
*Beautiful Day flying Moths: Police Car Moth (*Gnophaela vermiculata*), Ctenucha Moth (Ctenucha virginica), and Red Lichen Moth (Lycomorpha fulgens)
*Interesting Flies: Robber Fly, Orange Tachinid Fly and Yellow-belted Tachinid Fly
Detailed directions on where to meet will be given at time of reservation through Ticketleap: cazba.ticketleap.com/cazba---aspen-corner-fieldtrip/
Wear sturdy footwear and dress in layers. We will not be hiking long distances, but the footing can be poor and we will be at high elevations. As always, bring a wide-brimmed hat, water, and lunch. We are into the start of the monsoon season, so be prepared for this. If the clouds and rain come early, we may have to eat lunch in the car.
A $5 donation per person to benefit CAzBA will be appreciated.
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Recent events
Join us Saturday, March 18, in a search for butterflies along the Apache Trail. Some of the locations we hope to visit are First Water Creek, Tortilla Creek, Mesquite Flat, and the Fish Creek Hill Viewpoint. We have not hosted a butterflying trip into these areas before so it will be interesting to see what we find. A recent trip to the area turned up Small Checkered Skipper and Arizona Powdered Skipper in addition to many of the butterflies typical of the upper Sonoran Desert in the spring.
As usual wear good hiking shoes and a hat and bring binoculars, water and snacks/lunch. A donation of $5 per person to benefit CAzBA will be appreciated.
Detailed directions will be given at time of reservation through Ticketleap.
Register and reserve your spot here: cazba.ticketleap.com/cazba--fieldtripfrom1stwaterroad/
(Sagebrush Checkerspot pictured)
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Join the Central Arizona Butterfly Association (CAzBA) Saturday, Feb 18th, from 2 pm to 4 pm for a presentation by Lynne Nemeth, Executive Director, Boyce Thompson Arboretum.
The southwestern US is disproportionately affected by climate change and long-term drought. Boyce Thompson Arboretum Executive Director Lynne Nemeth will present a talk about the ecological challenges facing Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the Sonoran Desert as development and climate change continue to impact our desert plants and wildlife.
Location is Papago Buttes Church of the Brethren, 2450 N. 64th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85257 (On the NW corner of Oak and 64th St. (about a mile north of the Desert Botanical Garden).
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Meeting with guest speaker Carianne Funicelli, founder of Strategic Habitat Enhancements (www.strategichabitats.com), with a presentation on Creating Site-specific Native Plant Palettes for Pollinator Conservation
Carianne will share her approach to building native plant palettes to meet different objectives. Using a bloom calendar approach, it is possible to look at a group of species all at once to predict collective bloom patterns throughout the year. This is a great tool for identifying potential bloom gaps and species to fill them, as well as a basis for phenological monitoring to hone the palette over time.
We will be selling field guides, jewelry, our 2023 CAzBA calendar and some butterfly related art on our "book table". There will definitely be time to socialize with drinks and munchies provided.
Location is Papago Buttes Church of the Brethren, 2450 N. 64th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85257 (On the NW corner of Oak and 64th St. (about a mile north of the Desert Botanical Garden).
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At this meeting we will evaluate our efforts, fieldtrips and meetings of the past year. We also will talk about the upcoming election of the board and membership related issues. Members and non-members will be able to show-off their most beautiful, interesting, cutest photos of butterflies, moths or caterpillars in a photo presentation. More details to come!
We will be selling field guides, jewelry, our 2023 CAzBA calendar and some butterfly related art on our "book table". We will also trade plant cuttings and seeds, and do our yearly raffle. There will definitely be time to socialize with drinks and munchies provided.
Meeting will be held 2-4 pm, at Papago Buttes Church of the Brethren, 2450 N. 64th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85257 (On the NW corner of Oak and 64th St. (This is about a mile north of the Desert Botanical Garden)
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We are looking forward to our October meeting and hearing all about the amazing results of the recent butterfly counts in Central Arizona.
At this meeting of the Central Arizona Butterfly Association led by our president, Ron Rutowski, we will review the results of the three butterfly counts that were done in Central Arizona in 2022. The results will be compared to previous years and we will explore the causes of year-to-year in the number of species and individuals recorded.
There will be plenty of time for questions. You may even bring some identification challenges on a memory stick if you'd like. This will provide an opportunity for us to learn from each other, while taste testing Laura's savory homemade cookies and lemonade.
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