Summary of the 2019 CVC Butterfly Blitz

As the organizers of the 2019 CVC Butterfly Blitz, @lindseyjennings, @lchung and myself would like to say a great big THANK YOU to all of you for participating! Whether you contributed one butterfly sighting or 100, you were an important part of our project.

Here’s a quick summary of what we found this year:

• Between June 22 and August 24, there were 1,157 observations of 57 different butterfly species added to our iNaturalist project
• We saw a 600% increase in the number of butterfly observations submitted to iNaturalist in the Credit River Watershed for 2019 compared to 2018; this is significantly higher than the average increase of 68% in observations in other taxonomic groups in the watershed over the same time period
• For 44 of the 57 butterfly species observed, we increased the number of observations on iNaturalist by 50% or more; for example, Common Wood Nymph had 5 records in the watershed before 2019 and 33 records from 2019
• We added the first observations on iNaturalist in the watershed for five butterfly species (Dion Skipper, Crossline Skipper, Mulberry Wing, Acadian Hairstreak, Giant Swallowtail)
• We observed a provincially rare butterfly species (Black Dash) and one species that hadn’t been reported from the watershed in 20 years (Dion Skipper)
• In our one-day butterfly count on June 29th, 18 people recorded 476 butterflies from 26 species at nine sites in the upper watershed; the data from this count was submitted to the North American Butterfly Association
• Throughout the summer, six people completed 33 timed surveys and recorded 1118 butterflies from 44 species; these data were submitted to eButterfly

All together, we collected over 2500 records of 57 butterfly species in the Credit River Watershed – a wonderful amount of data on an under-surveyed group. As we repeat the Butterfly Blitz over time, the data will help us track trends and provide insights to help protect and restore wildlife habitat in the Credit River Watershed.

For more summaries of the Butterfly Blitz, check out our CVC blog post here: https://cvc.ca/conversations/butterfly-blitz-whats-in-our-watershed/ and the presentation we gave at the August 24th wrap up event here: https://bit.ly/2m5ThJq

If you’re interested in learning more about the Butterfly Blitz or would like to know how to get involved next year, contact Lindsey Jennings: lindsey.jennings@cvc.ca, 905-670-1615 ext. 445.

Posted on September 20, 2019 02:01 PM by lltimms lltimms

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