The Tamarack Pine – Sphagnum Moss Allenberg Bog was beautiful and eerie. Yes, I saw it as eerie! In a sparsely populated part of western New York State, there were Amish farms found here and there in the surrounding land, but little more. The bog is owned by the Buffalo [New York] Audubon Society, and they keep the bog unbothered by making it very difficult to hike to, to locate.

I made that 3/4 miles give or take hike with Barbara Ann Case, the haphazard blazes on trail trees causing us to lose our way often. She passed weeks ago, and I now understand how callous the Buffalo Audubon Society was, for I now realize how she struggled on that not easy hike to the bog, despite her earlier attempts to get their help in insuring that our hike would be reasonable. A seasoned Orchid expert and I surely should have been helped by the BASociety, our intention noble, our skills real and our love for the Bog, deep.

Finally at the bog, look what we met! A Northern Pearly-Eye butterfly, warming its wings in the early morning sun of June, those scrumptious eyes resplendent, each ringed in tasty light orange. My oh my oh my.

A fresh Pearly-Eye butterfly seen with full dorsal wing extension, at a Tamarack Pine bog! Yes, I’ve used quite a few !’s here, but they tell the awe! we felt in this magical, age-less place.

Jeff

NB, I continue to miss Barbara Ann, her kindness, her knowledge of Orchids and Monarchs, and the incredible destinations that she shared.