Hal today posted a photo of a successful field experience. The 9 folks pictured at that pick-up truck, 5 years or so ago all looked pleased, whether they were beaming their smiles at the camera, or ‘posing’ for that same camera. Hal wrote that several had moved out of the area, and one had passed away since. That triggered a not so happy memory for me.

There just aren’t enough folks interested in ‘Nature.’ Me? It seems that as folks leave us, always  too soon, the numbers of people interested in butterflies, orchids, grasses, bees, birds, snakes, turtles trees . . . never seems to increase. Fortunate we are if there are as many knowledgeable as there was 5 years before.

This Wood Nymph butterfly fascinated me, for that single not-so large ‘eye on its right forewing and those 3 tiny ‘eyes’ differ alot from the Wood Nymph butterflies I’ve seen these decades. Why was I at Clay Pond Refuge in Frewsburg, New York? Barbara Ann Case A”H ( or OBM) took me there, and I found butterflies alot, nearly all fresh, active and representative of northeastern USA wetland butterflies.

As Hal noted that his friend is no longer alive, Barbara Ann passed away just months ago, and her expert knowledge and love of field experience now registers as a great loss, with it seems, risk that no one will present themselves to fill the magical void that she has left. Her husband Sig passed just months after Barbara did, and their home will be sold, and the native, ancient orchids on their acreage, what will become of it?

Jeff