Last week our family spent four days at Black Butte Ranch. In addition to Sandra and myself, this included our two grandsons and their parents. And by no means can I exclude Ridley, their eleven month old Irish-Golden Puppy. We saw lots of butterflies and I have lots of material that should keep you amused for a week or two.
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| Two Lepidopterists at Tumalo Falls |
In this first installment, however, I'm going to talk about the end of that vacation and our one day in Bend. Following a hectic cleaning, loading, replete with hugs, we set sail in the Bot-mobile for Tumalo Falls.
Its a scenic hours drive from Sisters to the falls, less than that if you are coming from Bend. As waterfalls go, its a good one and being positioned close to the tourist mecca that Bend has become, it is an exceedingly popular attraction. Twenty uphill minutes from Bend, one enters the National Forest, crosses a one lane bridge, and then drives about five miles on a dusty gravel road to arrive at the falls. We did so on a Sunday in late June, arriving around 10 AM.
I had thought that this might be early enough to avoid the crowd, but there were cars parked on the road for at least half a mile before the final ascent to the small falls parking area. Luckily, as we arrived, someone pulled out and we were able to park right by the falls. In three previous visits we had not been so lucky.
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| California tortoiseshell, Tumalo Falls June 2024 |
Immediately we saw medium sized butterflies fluttering about. One was silly enough to flutter against a sign and fell easy prey to my net. After stuffing him in the Kimmy bag (named for the delightful Mrs. Hillis, who gave us our first insulated bag when she moved to St George, Utah, taking her husband with her) Sandra and I took the short walk to the falls lookout. We took turns with our fellow tourists taking pictures of the falls and one another. In addition to making new friends, it provides you with a glimpse at two aging lepidopterists in the field.
We walked up the path towards the falls, along with many tourists, some on bikes and the rest shepherding a dog or two. While many of the latter cleaned up after their pooch, enough did not that there were regular doggy deposits. As my first lep mentor, Daniel Rubinoff, noted, butterflies like stinky stuff. And indeed, these deposits created foci for butterfly activity. At one, I got what I was sure would be a good photo of the California Tortoiseshell taken point blank range and netted a second.
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| Catatonic Tortoiseshells A Memorial Day Centerpiece |
Soon it was time to head back down and we parked at our favorite spot on Tumalo Creek, about a mile from the bridge. This had proved to be a hot spot for butterflies in the past. On this day we worked the forest and the banks of the small river for about an hour. We added an Anise Swallowtail to the list, which was thin gruel, indeed.
And so by 1:30 we were checked into our hotel. Desiring cooperative subjects, I placed the butterflies between two iced beverage bottles and we retired for a short nap. An hour later we rallied and set up our stage for butterfly photography. Sandra retrieved the first of our subjects and placed her on a stick we had brought along from Black Butte. She placed the first butterfly on the platform and it fell over like a poorly balanced poker chip. The second had a spark of life and listed at about 60 degrees.
At this point it seemed like we running a butterfly morgue, but over fifteen minutes they both righted themselves and we were able to get lateral pictures, proving them to be female California
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| A ventriloquist act with butterflies? We've already got the stick. |
Tortoiseshells.
Before the day completely got away from us we took a quick drive out to the Inn at 7th Mountain. My thought was that if butterflies were coming to the flowering shrubs around the lodge at black Butte this might be the same on the slopes of Mt Bachelor. On arrival we saw an Indra Swallowtail on the wing and a Western Tiger Swallowtail nectaring on a rhododendron. I thought we were in business. Sadly this was not the case. I located the pool, with many plantings attracting a plethora of bees, (hence verifying the presence of nectar) but no butterflies.
Back at the Holiday Inn the tortoiseshells were as we had left them and I thought that if they didn't revive I might take them home and spray them with something to create a permanent display. During 60 Minutes they came to and started fluttering against the window, earning them a reprieve.
But now all I have is a stick with no butterflies.
jeff
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