Sandra and I just returned from a quick excursion to the Deschutes River and Timberline Lodge. We met some wonderful people, saw some great butterflies and ate too much at breakfast. It was a perfect trip.
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| The Deschutes River rushes through the Oregon Desert |
Our route took us to the Dalles on the Columbia River. From there we turned south and ascended a steep passage through rolling green wheat fields, arriving in Dufur before 9 AM. There we stopped at the ranger station representing the Mount Hood National Forest, hoping to get some inside information on the roads, especially the one leading west where I planned on driving by Camp Baldwin, my Boy Scout camp from five decades in the past.
In the office there was a lady of approximately our age and a young gentleman we took to be her grandson. Given the progress, or lack there of, the young gentleman ( he looked to be about 10) was remarkably patient and well behaved. The lady was Caucasian and the youth looked to be two thirds Warm Springs Indian. Across the desk was a plump lady, probably not a ranger as she lacked a spiffy uniform and a hat, who was doing her best to prevent the lady on our side of the barricade from procuring a wood cutting permit.
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| Oregon Swallowtail, white abdomen, yellow dusting, eccentric spot. |
After a few minutes of obfuscation, the officious secretary went in the adjacent room to look for yet another means in which she could prevent the applicant from legally cutting firewood. As it appeared that she was never coming back, we made friends with the gray haired granny. I asked her, "Back in 1968 did you happen to be a cute young thing and attend a dance thrown for the horny young counselors at Camp Baldwin?" Actually we asked if she thought the route past Camp Baldwin was a good way, on this warm sunny day at the start of the Memorial Day Weekend, to get to Mount Hood.
No, she said, that road was still closed do to snow. Ordinarily it would be open by now, but we just had so much snow last winter.
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| Sagebrush Checkerspot, Deschutes River, May 2023 |
Well, all thoughts of peri-pubescent dance parties in the mess hall went out the window and we moved on to Plan B. What about the BLM road on the far side of Sherar's Bridge? She wasn't sure about the condition of the road, but she did acknowledge that the road to the south would take us to Maupin, where the was indeed another bridge across the Deschutes and a nearby road that would take us to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. She added that the road was not just on BLM land but that there was private property and Indian land interspersed.
We bid the nice lady and her patient grandson good luck with the firewood and headed south. On a signpost just out of town we saw a meadowlark, no longer a common bird. Fifteen miles down a steep canyon, we made the turn onto Sherar's Bridge Highway. The road passed through dry, rocky ranch land. We saw a sparrowhawk hunting in the field to our right and, after a bit, a covey of quail ran across the road. Soon we passed under a railroad bridge and into the canyon of the Deschutes, where we were greeted by a wildly rushing river and signs telling us we were on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, day use fees must be payed.
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| Sagebrush Checkerspot, ventral Deschutes, May 2023 |
Obviously, we were in the middle of nowhere, and the question is, "Why?" As you know from last year, we have made internet friends with Caitlin LaBar, co-author of the book Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest. Last year she was kind enough to direct us to Peterson Prairie on the Washington side, where we saw a fantastic display of fritillaries. A couple weeks ago I wrote to Caitlin, saying we were going to Mount Hood and did she have some advice for sites there. She responded by giving us tantalizing details of her recent trip to the Deschutes:
Today I drove down to the BLM Rec site along the Deschutes north of
Sherars Bridge and hit the jackpot: 15 species! Lost count of Anise
Swallowtails (over 60), at least 3 Oregon Swallowtails mixed in, a
handful of Indra, several Silvery and Acmon blues, couple Gray
Hairstreaks, two Echo Azures (first I've ever seen there), and some
brand new Northern Checkerspots just popping out, along with a few
Sheridan's Green Elfins and few other random things. The swallowtails
were mostly on the sand beaches at various boat launches and day use
sites, and the checkerspots and greenies were on an old road grade trail
that is kind of hard to spot along the road ...
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| Coronis Fritillary, an oblique view, Deschutes River, May 2023 |
We crossed Sherar's Bridge, leaving the Native American's behind, and turned north onto the BLM road. This was an excellent gravel road winding through a spectacular desert canyon. We stopped for some pictures and I heard a Rock Wren chuttering from the cliffs above. We passed one boat launch, where there was no sandy beach and a mile or so further down the canyon, we stopped at a second boat launch. Armed with our net, camera and binocs, we made our way towards the beach and immediately saw an orange butterfly. Ten steps further and I saw several butterflies on the beach.
The most obvious butterfly was what I took for an Anise Swallowtail. We got this excellent picture along with a lousy shot in the lateral position. It took our debriefing with Caitlin to point out that this is an Oregon Swallowtail. The body is basically white with three narrow black stripes, there is yellow dusting on the cell and the black spot inside the orange is eccentric, touching the edge. In the anise that black spot is right in the middle, like a bullseye.
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| Echo Azure, ventral surface, Washougal River May 2023 |
Blue butterflies were all around. A few years ago, I was unaware of these small blue insects. But if you really pay attention, you see them frequently. They are small and the males all have a blue dorsum. There are many species, at least a half dozen in our area. The trick is to find one in what I call the resting position, with the wings folded up, and get a good look, a really good look at those ventral surfaces. Such accuracy is required that a photo is a big help. Or, if you are lucky, you can see see a female, which are diagnostically colored but, in our experience, seldom seen.
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| Boisduval's Blue, Descutes river May 2023 |
A few weeks ago near Dougan Falls, Sandra and I found the Echo Azure. As above, Caitlin saw it here on the Deschutes three weeks ago, as well.
In my case, I created my own little puddle party environment by urinating in the dust where these little buggers were fluttering in profusion. And it worked! To paraphrase the Big Lebowski, "Every time someone micturates in the dust do I have to identify a little blue butterfly?" Above, you can see the picture, taken by The Dude, of the little blue Echo Azure at his leisure in the moist dust.
Back on the Deschutes, it took a while, but I finally got one good picture of the ventral surface of these blues. And here it is. Boisduval's Blue. No piddling required.
As you may recall, Boisduval was the a big schmoo in the museum in Paris during the age of discovery. He sent Pierre Lorquin all over the world and described and named the specimens that Pierre sent back. Pierre Lorquin is my hero, but this particular butterfly (not especially uncommon) is named for the boss.
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| A good look at the ventral surfaces of Boisduval's Blue! |
There were many checkerspots, and they were all the same. Like the "anise" they were warming on the sand and some were puddling, sucking up nutrients from the wet sand. We got many fine shots including many dorsal and just one lateral / ventral shot you see here. These turned out to be Sagebrush Checkerspots, a second life butterfly for the Snorkel Kids.
Another butterfly we saw in profusion was a medium sized fritillary. It was this orange frit that had first attracted my attention as we got away from the car. We got many good looks and a couple good photos, but these are difficult butterflies. And so I solicited Caitlin's opinion. I had thought it was Zerene, but she said that it was the similar Coronis. Among other things, it is too early in the season for Zerene. Caitlin tells us that she has not seen frits on the Deschutes, so this one represents a small feather for our cap. I'm giving you an oblique view so you can see both dorsal and ventral surfaces.
The last butterfly we saw at this location was a single buffy individual. As you can see, I got a pretty good picture. The butterfly was quite plain, but just enough markings to declare it an Ochre Ringlet. (Caitlin's ID, so you can take it to the bank) Usually found in grassy habitats, it seems a bit out of place in the desert. But of course, there are grasses growing near the river and apparently that is enough.
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| A small wasp with a thread waist, yellow feet and a red abdomen. |
These were the last new butterflies that we were able to photograph. We drove down the Deschutes another couple miles and investigated a couple camp grounds with sandy banks, but no lepidoptera. We then drove back to the productive boat launch and backed into the shade of a shrub, where we ate lunch in the car with the AC going. There were a few butterflies flopping around on the sandy boat launch, but nothing new. Behind the car, though, was a shrub in which a number of small, thin waisted wasps with yellow feet and long red abdomens were plying their trade. I was nervous to get too close and the camera never focused perfectly on one of the active little bugs. Here is my best picture.
Perhaps someone will know what this is. In the meantime, butterfly season is upon us and we're back in business.
jeff
Sorry if some of the photos are out of order. to try to fix this might cause an editorial dilemma of unspeakable dimensions. Thanks for understanding.
Follow up on the wasps. Daniel Rubinoff says::
