Author keeps lookout for butterfly sites.Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard As a 9-year-old, Neil Bjorklund wandered with his father in a wildflower wildflower Any flowering plant that grows without intentional human aid. Wildflowers are the source of all cultivated garden varieties of flowers. A wildflower growing where it is unwanted is considered a weed. meadow high on Steens Mountain Steens Mountain is a large fault-block mountain in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in Harney County, it rises from an elevation of about 4,200 ft (0 m) , spellbound by the hundreds of orange-and-black winged Milbert's Tortoiseshell tortoiseshell, horny, translucent, mottled plates covering the carapace of the tropical hawksbill turtle. The plates, too thin for most purposes in their original form, are usually built up in layers that are molded or compressed after the surfaces have been butterflies he found there. It was the beginning of a lifelong interest in lepidoptera that inspired Bjorklund to write "Finding Lane County Butterflies," a 100-page guide for when and where to observe the 80 butterfly species found in Lane County. The new book, soon to be available in local bookstores, is a companion volume to "Pocket Guide to Butterflies of Lane County," a field guide produced by Marta Makurushka, a member of the Eugene-Springfield chapter of the North American Butterfly Association The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) was created in 1992 by Jeffrey Glassberg who currently resides as the association's president. The NABA was formed in order to promote awareness of butterfly conservation and the benefits of butterfly gardening, observation, . Proceeds from both guides go to the nonprofit group. Growing interest in nature observation is creating a boom in butterflying, or "lepping," says Bjorklund, who is president of the local NABA NABA North American Butterfly Association NABA National Association of Black Accountants NABA National Adult Baseball Association NABA North American Bullriding Association NABA North American Broadcasters Association NABA Namibian Biotechnology Alliance chapter. More than 40 people attend the chapter's meetings and a couple hundred are on the mailing list. "People in general are getting more interested in watching nature," Bjorklund says. "It's a very natural shift from watching birds. I know a lot of bird watchers who are very avid butterfly watchers." But the hobby goes well beyond entertainment, connecting butterfly watchers to the worlds of songbirds and wildflowers. Lepping leads to a greater understanding of larger ecological systems, Bjorklund says. "Butterfly larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. are the favorite food of the millions of songbirds migrating northward from the tropics tropics, also called tropical zone or torrid zone, all the land and water of the earth situated between the Tropic of Cancer at lat. 23 1-2°N and the Tropic of Capricorn at lat. 23 1-2°S. ," he says. "Butterflies are indicator species for the health of a habitat because they have this relationship with these native plants. Where you have a healthy and diverse butterfly population you know how healthy and diverse the vegetation is. It's a great teaching tool to understand these ecological relationships." Bjorklund spent nearly three years compiling information for the Lane County guide and currently is engrossed en·gross tr.v. en·grossed, en·gross·ing, en·gross·es 1. To occupy exclusively; absorb: A great novel engrosses the reader. See Synonyms at monopolize. 2. in a four-year project to document butterfly sites statewide. Exposing more people to the sites risks damage to the butterflies. But by revealing more sites, Bjorklund hopes to lighten the impact on the best-known and most-accessible sites. In any case, Bjorklund advises watchers to abstain from collecting plants or butterflies at the sites. "The ethic we're trying to encourage people to have is, certainly, do no harm," he says. "Don't collect plants unless you have the necessary permits. Know what (butterflies) you are collecting. Don't do it for trophies. Coordinate with other collectors. Collect in a sustainable manner." Bjorklund, who does not collect butterflies, says collectors should give back by educating others, volunteering to restore habitat and contributing to groups such as the NABA. "Right now, only a few spots in Lane County are known as butterfly `hot spots hot spots acute moist dermatitis. ,' so those few sites get a lot of visits. By increasing the number of good butterfly sites that people know about, it is my hope to spread the visits across more sites and avoid heavy traffic at any one of them," Bjorklund says. The 33 Lane County sites identified in the new guide should keep the lepping public busy for some time, he says. "Statewide, I've identified over 200 sites and I'm learning about more all the time," he says. "I'll aim for the same effect in the statewide book." BUTTERFLIES OF LANE COUNTY The Eugene-Springfield chapter of the North American Butterfly Association benefits from sales of two field guides, including a new one: "Finding Lane County Butterflies." What: The new field guide lists places and times to go to observe various butterfly species in Lane County. It's a companion to "Pocket Guide to Butterflies of Lane County." Where: Available beginning this week at The Book Mark, Down To Earth, University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. Bookstore in Eugene; The Bookmine in Cottage Grove. Information: www.naba.org/chapters/nabaes/index.html - Local chapter, North American Butterfly Association CAPTION(S): Enthusiasts often can capture the Nelson's hairstreak hairstreak Any butterfly in the subfamily Theclinae (family Lycaenidae), sometimes known as gossamer-winged butterflies. Adults are delicate and have a 0.75–1.5-in. (18–38-mm) wingspan. on film. |
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