rare’s Butterfly Count

Monitoring season is once again underway at rare, and you can help out by participating in the annual Butterfly Count happening on Saturday, July 15 (Sunday, July 16 if Saturday is rained out).

The Butterfly Count is an annual community science event happening throughout North America where cities, towns, conservation authorities and grassroots organizations head out into nature and identify and count the butterflies they see. These numbers are gathered into a census that helps determine the health of butterflies and months across the continent.

People interested in participating in rare’s Butterfly Count should gather at our Lamb’s Inn headquarters at 1679 Blair Road at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 15. We will split into smaller groups for surveying in the morning, we’ll reconvene for lunch (not provided) and to discuss the highlights, and then head out again in the afternoon for a final survey, ending at 3 p.m. We recommend participants bring their own lunch, a sunhat, water bottle and sunscreen. Long pants and appropriate hiking shoes are also recommended. Participants must arrive on time to take part, but are able to leave throughout the day if they aren’t able to stay the full six hours.

There is a fee of $3 per participant, which covers the costs of publishing our findings in the National Butterfly Association’s International Census Report. To register your attendance, please visit: https://raresites.org/events/2023-butterfly-count/