CHICO — Chaye Vail donned a butterfly-covered bucket hat and butterfly-covered socks at the 18th annual Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve Butterfly Count.
“I kind of like butterflies,” Vail, an environmental scientist for California State Parks, said with a smile.
Twenty people, the largest group yet, gathered early Saturday morning at the reserve to count butterflies and provide scientists with important data on butterfly populations. For 17 of the participants, this was their first time attending.
Vail came with her friend Cassie Corridoni, who is also an environmental scientist for the California State Parks. Corridoni said she is “trying to become more interested” in butterflies.
Fellow participant Anne Ferry came to the event with her friends and said she doesn’t have a favorite butterfly.
“I just like nature and being outdoors all year round,” Ferry said.
Ecological Reserves outdoor education coordinator Jon Aull led the event. Participants divided up into three different groups based on location and how long each group would be staying. Each group had a leader well versed in identifying butterflies.
Aull listed two ways to spot butterflies: one, while they are in motion in the air, and two, while they are stopping to get nectar.
To get up close and personal with the butterflies, to better identify them, some participants grabbed large swooping butterfly nets.
Each group had a scribe, who documented each butterfly seen by the group.
Chico State students Etta Stewart and Ryan Suchomel heard about the count from their ecology class professor.
Stewart, an environmental science major, came “to meet a lot of really cool people … and contribute to important data.”
Stewart and Suchomel were both participating for their first time.
“It’s hard to pass up an opportunity to be outside all day and look at really cool insects,” Suchomel said.
Identification
Jared Geiser, director of the Altacal Audubon Society, said his favorite butterfly is the monarch.
“It’s the classic butterfly that everyone knows but nobody wants to care about,” Geiser said. “I guess people care about them, but like, we’re not protecting their habitat.”
Geiser emphasized the importance of planting milkweed to help the monarchs. He said it is important to plant bunches of milkweed, not just single plants.
Geiser flipped through a book on butterflies and pointed out how many butterflies look very similar, making them hard to identify.
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A few minutes into the search, Aull netted a northern checkerspot butterfly. Aull gently bagged the butterfly temporarily in a plastic bag to get a good look at it. He identified it by the small white stripes on its abdomen and said if the white stripes were spots, it would have been a different kind of butterfly that looks very similar.
After participants ooed and awwed at the winged creature, Aull put the butterfly on his finger, encouraging it to take flight. Yet the butterfly lingered for a few minutes.
“I’ve had butterflies hang out with me for an hour or so,” Aull said.
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