The Butterflies of Mount Rainier

     Leaving Camano Island at eight in the morning, the last Tuesday in July, Sandra and I battled Seattle traffic.  Exiting the freeway just south of Tacoma, we drove through woods, fields and farms for an hour or so, arriving at Mount Rainier National Park at 11:30.  The line to enter the park wasn't short and we didn't actually get in until 12:15.  

Don't be confused.  the line behind us stretched for half a mile.

   Our first stop was the Longmire Ranger Station, where we hoped that a knowledgeable ranger would tell us where the butterflies were and what species  to look for.  Longmire bears the surname of Walt, my all time favorite sheriff, who takes off his boots in Absaroka County, Wyoming,  This Longmire, named for the family that homesteaded here long ago, is a large conglomeration of dusty, log cabin style buildings among which are the National Park Inn (which looks like a well worn bunkhouse), a surprising number of cabins, some of which may be for rent, and an administrative office.  There being no ranger station in sight, I chose to take my chances with the latter.

Reflection Lake, Mount Rainier

    The Administrative Office is a large log cabin, looking a bit less dusty than its neighbors.  Inside I encountered a large clean waiting room, blessed air conditioning, and the cutest little ranger you could ever hope for.  Her name was Becca and she hailed from Chicago.  If I had to guess, she had just finished her sophomore year at Northwestern.  As would become apparent, Mount Rainier National Park is staffed with a plethora of well groomed, exceptionally pleasant young adults who are there for the summer.  They work the four month tourist season and possess the minimum amount of required knowledge to get the job done.

Satyr Angelwing under glass.

    I presented our situation, where to find the butterflies, and Becca retired to look in a file cabinet in the adjacent room.  While she looked for a list of butterflies, I looked at her, sharp and petite in her National Park uniform.  After a minute or so, I suggested that she just provide me with her best guess as to where to find wildflower meadows.  She pulled out a map and we enjoyed a moment, during which she made some lines with her pink marker on a map which would guide us to that butterfly mecca and home for the night, Paradise.

   Back at the car, Sandra was ready to do some lepidopterizing.  Although a little older than Becca, Sandra also is petite and comes form Detroit, which is sort of like Chicago.  After a couple years of experience, she knows butterfly habitat when when sees it.  We made the 12 mile drive up to Paradise without seeing much in the way of butterflies or wildflower meadows. Occasional views of Mount Rainier were the star of the show.

Don't grouse about prices at the Paradise Inn,,,its worth it.

    At a bit after 1 PM the parking lot at Paradise was full and we felt lucky to find a spot.  Stepping out of the air conditioned car, we immediately noticed that it was hot.  This shouldn't have been a surprise, since the car told us the outside temperature was 82.  But here we were, a mile high, and shouldn't it be cooler?  The second thing we noticed was that we weren't feeling much like going on a hike.  My beloved was a little short of breath and I was in bigeminy.  Instead of a regular thump, thump, thump, my heart was going ka-dump, ka-dump, ka-dump. Bummer.

    We made the best of our situation by repairing to the inn, which was at least out of the sun, and provided us with a table upon which to eat our lunch and review our materials.  These latter consisted mostly of the book, Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest by Pyle and LaBar and our list taken from the photographs provided by Jeffrey Pippen.  The butterfly wizard from Duke had inspired this expedition with pictures of butterflies taken in 2004.  In a recent exchange of emails,  Jeff wished us good luck, but, as his sole experience on Rainier was in 2004, he had no specific tips.  We did have a list of the species he photographed; he pictures 19 species which you can find on his website at https://www.jeffpippen.com/butterflies/washingtonbutterflies.htm .

A Gray Jay awaits his cake on the Tatoosh Patio.

    After lunch we decided to drive down to Reflection Lake.  There, we sat quietly on a bench and took pictures of the mountain.  When we finally captured an acceptable picture of the mountain and its reflection in the alpine lake, we grabbed our nets and walked back down the lakeside trail.  Immediately we ran into a couple smaller white butterflies, netting one of them.  We got him in the wine glass and identified him as a Spring White.  He never would settle and we don't have any pictures worth showing here.  Soon after that we ran into an flying angelwing, which we missed, and then found one sitting on the forest floor.  While less sporting, it is clearly easier to net butterflies when they are sitting.

    The angelwing in the wine glass eventually settled on Sandra's hand.  We took a couple movies and some still shots through the glass.  The still photos did not turn out well, but two of the movies clearly showed that this was  a Satyr Angelwing, as demonstrated by that double  hooked white comma.  Employing all my patience, and a good deal of luck, I was able to lift the picture you see here from a screen shot of the paused video.  As the butterfly was settled, we took a chance and removed the glass in hopes of getting a picture.  Immediately a small bug hit our butterfly, breaking the spell, and he flew off.  

Myrtle Falls and Mount Rainier

   Although we did not end up with a good picture of the dorsal side of this angelwing, the picture we present here is a very good rendition of the ventral side and provides a crackerjack look at the comma.  The angelwings are difficult to tell apart, even Bob Pyle says so, and the comma, especially in the case of this species is a clear diagnostic mark.   Or in the words of the bard, "The comma is the thing, where in to catch the conscience of the king."

    The Paradise Inn was a great place to spend the evening   After the mob of tourists head down the mountain, you can really spend some quality time with Mount Rainier.  

     The next morning, I was up early to look for animals.  All the trails near the Paradise Inn are paved.  This seems like an expensive way to handle things, for there are a lot of these trails; obviously someone thinks its the best way to preserve the habitat.  On the trail, around 7:30, I spotted a Blue Grouse.  Not the most uncommon bird, but I hadn't seen one in years.  He let me approach within ten feet, but the inferior picture you see here was taken from a bit further away.  

    After my fine morning walk I had the pleasure of giving Sandra coffee in bed and accompanying her down to the Tatoosh Patio, where we enjoyed the lemon cake we had brought with us.  Mid way through a breakfast of cake and nectarines, we enjoyed feeding a few tasty morsels to the resident family of Gray Jays.

   Soon we found ourselves out on the asphalt trail.  It was still early enough that there were only a few hikers joining us and we took turns taking pictures of one another with Mount Rainier, the star of the show.  I made it as far as Myrtle Falls, where a steep flight of steps leads you to the picturesque view you see here.

Callippe Fritillary Butterfly  S. callippe 

    On the way back down, we had a long look at a small blue butterfly.  At this point we had abandoned our nets and he did not land for a photo.  Our best guess is that he was a Silvery Blue, which prefer alpine seeps.

    We were almost back to the lodge when we spotted an anglewing in one of the spruce trees, warming herself in the morning sun. Using the same technique I described earlier, I captured an image from a video and made a still photo, but I thought you might enjoy looking at the butterfly on the gently  swaying branch. so you get eight seconds of butterfly on spruce.

   The four Northwest angelwings are difficult to sort out from the dorsal image, which you see here.  Although we somehow walked away without a photo of the ventral wings, they were not cinder black, the words Bob Pyle uses to describe the Oreas Angelwing.  (The dorsal side of the rare Oreas is virtually identical to the Hoary Comma.) Additionally, the comma was not hooked.  And so will call this handsome beast a Hoary Comma, same as we netted near Bend a month ago.  Curiously, all four of these unusual butterflies might be found above Paradise on Mount Rainier.

Hydaspe Fritillary Butterfly  S. hydaspe

   Soon we were on our way down the mountain.  Having had a successful hunt at Reflection Lake we stopped there first and then headed slowly back towards the main road.  In Jeffrey Pippen's notes, he referenced a spot where he saw several species only at 3 km SW of Paradise.  I had not understood why he was so vague, but now, suddenly I got it.  

    On the side of the road was a patch of wildflowers with a few orange butterflies flitting about.  We stopped and started taking pictures.  In Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest,  Pyle and LaBar list 17 fritillary butterflies (means spots under the wing) that are basically orange dorsally with roughly the same pattern of black lines, which relate to the panels.  Many of these species might be found on Mount Rainier.  In this relatively small patch of roadside wildflowers we photographed three.  It wasn't until we got home and could really get a good look at the pictures that we could sort it all out.

Coronis Fritillary Butterfly, S. coronis

   If you take my advice and look at Jeff Pippen's page of Mount Rainier butterflies, you will find that he, a butterfly wizard in his own right, had Bob Pyle help him with his identifications.

   Watching butterflies is challenging.  Like bird watching,  it gets you out of the house and into intact habitat.  I make a comparison with identifying South American flycatchers, but they were never like this.

  I hope you are able to get out and see something special on one of these warm summer days.

jeff    

They taste even better when you eat them upside down.