Don's Jersey Birding: Birding too slow? Try butterflies!
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Photo courtesy of Don Torino
By Don TorinoPhoto courtesy of Don Torino
So you’re sitting around the house, thumbing deliriously through your field guides dreaming of the day shorebirds will begin to migrate, while kettles of broad-winged hawks are dancing through your head. Well, no need to lay dormant any longer! This is the perfect time to get out and become familiar with butterflies!
From the mythical monarch butterfly to the tiny little eastern-tailed blue, butterflying can be just as challenging as birding. It is also a great way for you and the family to get out of the house on a beautiful a summer day to enjoy nature together. Butterflies are something the whole family can enjoy - from the smallest child to old guys with gray beards.
My non-nature friend said to me once, “Why would a REAL guy be interested in butterflies?” I responded quickly with, “Can you think of anything tougher than a small butterfly like a monarch making a long treacherous migration of almost 2,500 hundred miles, avoiding predators, cars, storms, insecticides and more? It makes an NFL player look like a sissy in comparison!” He just looked at me puzzled.
American Snout
Photo credit: Theresa Ciraolo
Like birding you can begin butterflying quickly. It’s as simple as just taking a walk around a nature center to see how many of the magnificent flying jewels you can find. You can also start more seriously by picking up a pair of butterfly binoculars and a butterfly field guide. A good pair of butterfly binoculars will open up a whole new world, you will see butterflies in a way that you never could do with the naked eye. Besides the large butterflies which are easy to see like the monarch, swallowtails and fritillaries, many butterflies are about a half an inch. It is next to impossible to make a positive identification on many of these tiny little species such as the skippers which are like sparrows of the butterfly world. They look alike at first glance, but with a closer look you will see their amazing variations.
A few years back, a five foot close-focus binocular revolutionized butterflying. For the first time you could really see the butterflies up-close like the way they looked in the books. Now, the standard is an 18-inch close-focus which is almost spooky to look through – it’s like carrying a portable microscope into the field! It’s hard to imagine until you actually try them out for yourself. They are not overly expensive, so you won’t break the bank at about $130.00! As far as field guides go, there are good small pocket beginners guides to choose. In my opinion, the best one is Jeff Glassberg’s, “Butterflies through Binoculars - The East.” This is the first real butterfly field guide that helped make “butterflying” something the average person could enjoy.
The other wonderful and interesting part butterflying is learning how the different habitats and plants are inter-related to all the butterflies. This adds a whole new dimension to your field trips. You will learn about the different nectar and host plants that each species is dependent upon for survival, and how they connect to their specific habitat. Butterflying is a mixture of botany, entomology, ecology and mostly funology – a passion that will never fail to keep you thinking!
Pearl Crescent
Photo credit: Bruce Harman
Photo credit: Bruce Harman
A great way to get you off on the right direction is to go out butterflying with a group. I can’t think of a more fun way then to come out to Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park in the Meadowlands on Sunday July 24th! The Meadowlands has been an under-rated butterfly hotspot for many years, and this is a great way to get introduced to the many species of butterflies in the Meadowlands. It’s a wonderful day trip for the whole family, and has been getting more popular every year. This event is a free program and open to everyone. The great folks from the New Jersey Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association will be leading field trips, Bergen County Audubon Society will have a Gardening for Butterflies table, there will be Native plant walks, a slide presentation on the Butterflies of the Meadowlands by Jim Wright and even games and prizes for the kids and more!
No more excuses! Put down your video games, hide the TV remote and get the family out to enjoy the wonderful butterflies we have right here in New Jersey!
For more information:
- Butterfly Day will be Sunday July 24th from 10 am to 3 pm. For event details, click here.
- For more info on the Meadowlands, visit: www.meadowblog.net/
- For more info on the New Jersey Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association visit: www.naba.org/chapters/nabanj/
Don Torino is the Education Chairperson for Bergen County Audubon Society.
Previous Birding Exclusives:
- Don's Jersey Birding: A Very Special Birder
- Don's Jersey Birding: The Best Field Guide
- Don's Jersey Birding: Just a Red-Winged Blackbird?
- Don's Jersey Birding: Our Local Heroes of the Environment, Part 4
- Don's Jersey Birding: Birders get down and dirty at Kearny Marsh
- Don's Jersey Birding: Getting Young People Out Birding
Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 7/20/2011 1:00 PM 
Categories: Don's Jersey Birding, Events
Tags: butterfly Birding torino Meadowlands North American Butterfly Association Bergen County Audubon Society
Categories: Don's Jersey Birding, Events
Tags: butterfly Birding torino Meadowlands North American Butterfly Association Bergen County Audubon Society
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