2nd Wildflower Species for 2015

3" tall Douglasia in flower 

Pictured is Douglasia (Douglasia montana), a cushion plant of the Phlox family. It blooms early in the spring season. "Cushion" plants usually grow in alpine sites where wind and poor soil challenges plants; natural selection response is short structure. In this case, there's no need to scale a mountain to see this in action, simply go to Missoula Waterworks Hill (http://goo.gl/tN6bcj).  Accessed by foot up an initial somewhat steep slope. Because of this foothill orientation it is exposed to sunshine early in spring; so it is also great spot for other early wildflowers. I finally had blooming plants on my third try (March 22).

Below is a short mp4 (shot with Nexus 7 tablet) of this site on March 2 (note windy wintry conditions :-) The plants grow on the left side of the trail...looks very barren for this video:

Butterfly and Wildflower Action Picks Up

Noted a blog posting from Northwest Butterflies alerting folks as to Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) migrating into Washington. Sure enough found a couple by accident at Blue Mountain (Missoula, MT) nectaring on Heartleaf Arnica (Arnica cordifolia). Also using this 50 yard linear patch of flowers were Green Comma (Polygonia faunus) and Western Pine Elfin (Callophrys eryphon). Earlier, a Sulphur blew by me without stopping along with another species of Elfin. And yes the wildflower show is kicking in...really enjoying the stands of color from Shooting Stars and Glacier Lilies :-)

Painted Lady

Green Comma

Western Pine Elfin

Shooting Stars

Glacier Lily

Finding Early Season Butterflies

Several landscape features, independent of each other and many times overlooked by us, are very attractive for early spring gatherings of butterflies. They are poop, moist soil and tree sap. For overwintering adult butterfly species of the comma and tortoiseshell groups poop, moist soil and sap are all that is available for food. Yes, these organics are food of sorts. That's right, find these "microhabitats" within the broader habitat types of forest, grassland and prairie and you dramatically increase your chances of observing butterflies.

"Puddling" is the term describing butterfly activity at moist soil areas; essentially butterflies are taking in sodium and proteins. Jan Beck, Eva Muehlenberg and Konrad Fiedler (Mud-puddling behavior in tropical butterflies:in search of proteins or minerals? [Oecologia (1999) 119:140-148]) found that male butterflies do take in proteins in addition to sodium (needed for muscle activity) when puddling. Additionally, these substances are attached to the male spermatophore, considered a "nuptial gift", that in reality increases reproductive success!

Crescents on Moist Soil

Fritillary on Poop

Sap Wells

Exploring and the 1st Butterflies for 2014

Sixty One degrees Fahrenheit and partly sunny today; first warm day (wahoo!!!) this spring. To celebrate I took a wildlife watching trip to Bass Creek NRA to find birds, butterflies, lichen, moss, wildflower (in no particular order though I strongly felt some butterflies could be on the wing). My objectives: a) to use my cameras and  b) be an explorer because " everything is interesting" (check out this great book, How To Be An Explorer of the World by Keri Smith).

Arrived to find much snow still on the ground (immediate photo below) in shaded areas, but south facing slopes had large patches of exposed ground. Advanced up the trail and found my special spot, yep where several trees have "sap wells" (2nd photo below) a magnet for early season leps. No sap and no butterflies (lone Steller's Jay [Cyanocitta stelleri "sheking" up a storm]), so I retreated to the sunny slopes near the trailhead. Within a couple of minutes spied two Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) on "scat" (bottom photo). Great find for me, 15 days ahead of last years first-of-year sighings.  Working slope further flushed a Comma, likely a Green. Finished off my exploration with photos of 3 different mosses, may take quite a while to identify (rookie status).  It was great fun...try it for yourself :-) 

Bass Creek NRA landscape

Sap Wells

Mourning Cloak on Scat

March Butterfly Emergence...4 Species Day



Milbert's Tortoiseshell

Stopped in at Kootenai Creek for a possible look see at the Canyon Wren. No wren, but did find four species of butterfly somewhat easily along a short distance of the trail. No wonder as it reached the lower 60's for temps with sunny skies...great day to be outside. Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis), Compton Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis vaualbum) and Milbert's Tortoiseshell (Aglais milberti) were flying and perching close enough for photographs:


Compton Tortoiseshell

Hoary Comma

Mourning Cloak