Mariton: Butterfly Walks

(Red-spotted Purple)

The Tuesday Morning Butterfly Walks will begin now that the Bird Walks have concluded.  Starting Tuesday, we will meet at Mariton at 9:00 a.m. and then walk up to the meadows to view butterflies.

We use binoculars instead of nets, which is safer for the butterflies.  (It also allows us to view them from the trails.)  However, binoculars that can focus on an object 7 – 10 feet away are handy.  Often a small butterfly will land just a few feet away, and it is nice to make out the field marks with the binoculars.

And it isn’t just butterflies.  We are often distracted by birds, wildflowers, and other insects.  Carole Mebus took this photo of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails “puddling” while we were birding at Lake Nockamixon.  So, you can expect to see some photos of birds and flowers coming from the butterfly walks.

Butterflies are closely linked to their food plants, so we can’t really learn about butterflies without learning a little about the plants that sustain them.