On Saturday June 10th, Long Point Basin Land Trust hosted a butterfly workshop led by local ecologist Adam Timpf. Participants learned about the various butterfly species living in Norfolk County, general identification techniques, what plants or flowers attract certain species, and about butterfly conservation and research efforts happening in Norfolk County. The lessons learned were put into practice on LPBLT’s Shirley and George Pond Nature Reserve to observe and identify the flitting-flutters of the many butterflies that inhabit the property. A total of 15 species were observed including Monarchs, Viceroys, Red Admirals, Spicebush Swallowtails, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails.

Butterflies play an important role in our ecosystem, as pollinators and in the food chain, and are an extremely valuable indicator of environmental health. Many different species of birds rely on butterflies and caterpillars for food. Monitoring and submitting butterfly observations can help determine population and range of each butterfly species. It can also help to track population changes, which can be a useful indicator of both biodiversity and environmental health.

This workshop was held as part of a series of identification workshops, which will culminate with LPBLT’s first-ever BioBlitz. It will be held on Saturday August 12, 2017 at the Shirley and George Pond Nature Reserve. This free event will focus on having expert naturalists share their species identification skills and knowledge of the local flora and fauna in Norfolk County and showing BioBlitz participants how biological inventories are done.