First Ever!

The heat index was over 100 F, but we persisted. A hardy handful of Louisiana Master Naturalists-Northeast completed the first ever official North American Butterfly Association count at Black Bay Lake NWR Saturday, July 1.

Craig Marks came all the way from Lafayette to instruct us and lead the count. Craig is the author of the definitive guide to Louisiana butterflies* and a member of NABA. He leads counts across Louisiana and in Arkansas every summer.

*This beautiful female black swallowtail was counted while nectaring on loosestrife on the prairie in front of the BBL Visitor Center.*

Royal Tyler, Shreveport, and Annette Parker, Opelousas, both experienced counters, also came to Monroe for the noteworthy occasion. We are grateful for the fun learning experience they helped provide.

Here’s the official results from the count, turned into NABA by Craig:

Species: Black Swallowtail 2, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 4, Cloudless Sulphur 4, Little Yellow 1, Gulf Fritillary 1, Variegated Fritillary 5, Pearl Crescent 27, Question Mark 5, Red Admiral 11, Common Buckeye 4, Red-spotted Purple 3, Viceroy 9, Gemmed Satyr 8, Carolina Satyr 5, Monarch 2, Silver-spotted Skipper 1, Horace’s Duskywing 2, Least Skipper 1, Fiery Skipper 7. Unidentified: dark grass skipper 1. Total: 20 species, 103 individuals.

Field Notes: The day chosen was very hot and humid. Because of that heat and the lack of butterfly activity, the count was stopped at 2:30. Although the habitat looks proper for significantly more species than were actually counted, the high heat clearly was a major factor in the low numbers recorded. Our plan is to do the next count in mid-August and then in early June to hopefully better explore what species are present here.

*This tiny least skipper was a first for me, and the only one counted that day!*

As you can see from Craig’s field notes, we plan to repeat this count at least two more times over the next two years, once in August and again in early June. The habitat at BBLNWR is right for a much higher numbers of species and individuals.

So keep your eye on this space! We’ll announce the next time here and we hope you will join us.

*Butterflies of Louisiana, by Craig Marks. Available from LSU Press and from Amazon.com.