Boston Flora

Tag: Massachusetts Butterfly Club

  • Saturday, October 8, 6:30 pm – Butterflies of Honduras, Online

    The Massachusetts Butterfly Club is celebrating its 30th year, and its 2022 Fall meeting will be held virtually on October 8 at 6:30 pm on Zoom. The meeting is free but registration is required.

    The Club is excited to host Robert Gallardo to speak on “Butterflies of Honduras”. Robert is building a nature reserve and working on a complete guide to Honduran butterflies, and has made several discoveries of new species in the process. We hope you will join us to learn about tropical butterflies and conservation efforts in Honduras. For more information, click here.

    The meeting will also feature photographs by members and announcement of the officer election results.

    To register for the meeting, visit https://bit.ly/MBCFall22.

    courtesy iNaturalist

  • Thursdays, July 29 – August 12, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, and Saturdays, August 7 & 14, 9:00 am – 11:00 am – Butterfly Institute: Introduction to Butterflies

    This 3-week hybrid course led by members of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club (3 online lectures, 2 field experiences) will introduce you to the diversity, ecology, and life history of our beautiful New England butterflies, along with management tools to help them. This Tower Hill Botanic Garden course is designed for the butterfly enthusiast who wants to dig deeper, and for those who would like to further their appreciation of the natural world around them. This program consists of five classes. When registering, please make sure all five classes are selected.

    General Outline (For a full breakdown click this link)
    Week 1:  Introduction to New England Butterflies: Diversity, Anatomy, Field Identification
    Week 2:  Butterflies in the Wild: Ecology and Behavior
    Week 3: Butterfly Conservation: Creating Habitat through Gardens  

    Bill Benner is a life-long East Coast gardener who has been planting for wildlife and pollinators in western Massachusetts since 2004.  His gardens are particularly focused on butterflies and hummingbirds, with both nectar and host plants, and a strong emphasis on natives.  He is eager to share his enthusiasm for pollinator gardening with others, and he has lectured and taught on butterflies and gardening for the Native Plant Trust, the Hitchcock Center, and a number of garden centers, garden clubs, and conservation groups.  He is a past president of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club, and currently serves as the editor of its publication, Massachusetts Butterflies.

    Martha Gach is current president of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club and Conservation Coordinator and Regional Education Manager with Mass Audubon, based at Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary and Conservation Center in Worcester. She also teaches at Worcester State University. An ecologist and evolutionary biologist, Martha designed the Broad Meadow Brook campus landscape to support butterflies and pollinators, but also birds and wildlife, and was featured on “Ask This Old House”  for a segment on butterfly gardens.. She coordinates the annual Butterfly Festival at Broad Meadow Brook and serves on her town’s Conservation Commission, advocating for native plantings.

    Dave Small is president of the 250-member Athol Bird and Nature Club and Director of the Millers River Environmental Center. Dave shares his passion for Birds, Butterflies, Dragonflies and most recently moths through workshops, lectures and field trips around New England.  Dave volunteers for several non-profits including Millers River Watershed Council, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, Mass Watershed Coalition, and Mass Audubon’s Important Bird Area Technical Advisory Committee, National Moth Week Science Advisory Board, and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program Advisory Committee. Working for the Commonwealth of Mass for 35 years, Dave served as Assistant Regional Director at the DCR Quabbin Reservoir in Central Massachusetts retiring in 2013.

    $150 Member Adult, $175 Adult(Registration includes admission to the Garden on field session days) To register, click HERE

  • Thursday, April 22, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Introduction to Butterfly Watching Webinar

    Join Athol Bird and Nature Club president Dave Small on Thursday, April 22 Eastern Daylight Savings Time, to learn about the life cycle, Identification terminology, best equipment to bring (binoculars and camera) and the families of butterflies you can encounter here in the North Quabbin. Be ready as temperature warm and butterflies begin to emerge, any days that are sunny and 60 degrees will bring out butterflies. This webinar is co-hosted by Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust. And special thanks to the Massachusetts Butterfly Club. Use the link below to sign up. 

    https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_40iChhrNS16cHe7R5_k0AA

  • Saturday, August 18, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Butterfly Walk

    Tower Hill’s gardens and meadows provide bountiful food and shelter for a variety of butterflies in both their adult and larval forms. Join Dawn Vesey of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club on August 18 from 10 – noon to learn more about these beautiful insects and how you can attract them to your own gardens. Perhaps you’ll see a Red-spotted Admiral (below) or a Silver-spotted Skipper, among the many butterflies large and small that make their home at Tower Hill. Please bring close focus binoculars if you have them. Limited to 15; pre-registration required at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—butterfly-walk. $5 for Tower Hill members, $20 for nonmembers.

    Amateur naturalist and photographer, a member of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club (and past Vice President of Eastern Mass), Dawn can often be found searching for and photographing butterflies in the woods and meadows of Tower Hill.

    Image result for red spotted admiral butterfly photos

  • Saturday, July 2, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Summer Butterfly Count

    Saturday, July 2, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Summer Butterfly Count

    On Saturday, July 2 from 9 – noon, join The Trustees and the North American Butterfly Association for an annual summer butterfly count at Appleton Farms, in Hamilton and Ipswich, Massachusetts. Appleton’s wet meadows and farm fields provide important habitat for many common and uncommon butterfly species. Trustees Ecology Program Director Russ Hopping and Massachusetts Butterfly Club President Howard Hoople will orient the group with an Introduction to butterflies before setting out for the count. Participants should wear long pants, sunscreen and proper clothing to be walking through fields of tall grass. Bring a lunch. Free for Trustees members, $3 for nonmembers.  Pre-registration is required by emailing bzschau@thetrustees.org

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  • Saturdays, October 3 and October 10, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Celebrate Royalston 250th

    As part of the town of Royalston’s 250th celebration, the Royalston Open Space and Recreation Committee and the Athol Bird and Nature Club are cosponsoring Saturday walks this fall to five outdoor gems, each from 10 a.m. to noon. The first walk is to the top of Mount Tully along part of the Tully Trail on October 3, led by Carl Kamp, past president of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club and an avid naturalist and photographer. Meet at the Tully Lake Campground parking lot on Doane Hill Rd. Next, explore a section of the New England Trail (formerly called the M&M Trail) on October 10, led by Paul Montero, Royalston’s representative to the NET. A professional land surveyor, Montero will also demonstrate compass use. Meet at the Royalston Falls trailhead on Rte. 32 (Newton Cemetery). Other dates and venues will be announced. All the walks are weather permitting. If in doubt, call Paul Montero at 978-249-5879 by 9 a.m. on any walk morning. Royalston Falls is pictured below.

  • Butterflies of Massachusetts Website

    Our gardening friend Kim Smith sent an interesting link to us, which we now share with you, a new resource—the Butterflies of Massachusetts website, www.butterfliesofmassachusetts.net. Created by Sharon Stichter, Butterflies of Massachusetts “offers a comprehensive review of the current status of butterflies in the state. It is designed as a resource for all those interested in these charismatic insects, including butterfly enthusiasts, conservationists, biologists, land managers, and wildlife professionals.”  Ecologically speaking, the Appalachian Mountains and Atlantic coastal plain are largely self-contained, allowing unrestricted north-south movement of individual butterflies and migratory populations. The information found on the new Butterflies of Massachusetts website represents many years of data compiled by Sharon Stichter and the Massachusetts Butterfly Club.  Below is a common checkered-skipper.