Newspaper Page Text
June 29, 2011
aEeporter
PAGE 3B
Monroe County Outdoors
Where are all the butterflies?
BY TERRY W. JOHNSON
T lwo words best char
acterize the 18th
Annual Piedmont
National Wildlife
Refuge/Rum Creek
Wildlife Manage
ment Area 4th of
July Butterfly count
- heat and drought.
The 2011 count
was held on June
21. While those
taking part in
this year’s survey
are veterans of
scores of counts,
none could
remember par
ticipating in a count
plagued by worse heat or
drier conditions. On count
day temperatures soared
well above 100°F. The
wind was so hot it seemed
like it was coming from a
blast furnace. In addition,
much of the count circle
had received well less than
an inch of rain from the
month and a half leading
up to survey.
It was so dry that grass
literally crunched beneath
your feet. Flowers were
literally nonexistent in
most places. In fact, if it
wasn’t for the nectar found
in the blossoms adorning
provided buttonbushes
growing along the edges of
lakes, streams and in wet
areas and scattered patch
es of tall verbena plants
growing along roadsides, it
would have been next to
impossible to find butter
flies.
Going into the count,
everyone knew that but
terfly numbers would be
down; we just didn’t know
how low they would go. As
it turned out, only 495
butterflies representing 46
species were tallied. In
comparison, the 2010 the
count effort yielded 1887
butterflies and 61 species.
This year’s tally repre
sents 74% fewer butter
flies and 25% less species.
Once again this
year, the most
often seen butter
fly was the Pearl
Crescent (199).
Rounding out the
list of the top ten
most abundant
butterflies were
the Common
Buckeye (76),
Fiery Skipper
(68), Carolina
Satyr (48), Sleepy Orange
(38), Byssus Skipper (33),
Red-banded Hairstreak
(20), Eastern Tailed-Blue
(19), Silver-spotted
Skipper (17) and Horace’s
Dusky wing (14).
It is interesting to note
that 12 (26%) of the
species found on the 2011
list were represented by
only a single butterfly.
According to count coor
dinator Dr. Jerry Payne,
the vast majority of the
blame for the scarcity of
butterflies is linked direct
ly to the drought. When it
is this dry, many flowers
don’t bloom. In addition,
those that do flower typi
cally produce less nectar
than they would under
normal conditions. A lack
of flower causes real prob
lems for those butterflies
that feed on nectar.
Drought also affects both
butterfly caterpillars and
chrysalises. When plants
wither and dry or turn
brown, caterpillar food
supplies are depleted. On
top of that, many butter
flies don’t emerge from
their chrysalis when
things are extremely dry.
This situation is not
unique to Middle Georgia.
For example, the drought
has so depleted butterflies
populations in North
Carolina’s Coastal Plain,
this year’s 4th of July
Butterfly Count has been
cancelled. Volunteers did
n’t want to be afield in
desert-like conditions
when finding butterflies
would be extremely diffi
cult.
The heat causes more
problems for the surveyors
than the butter-
flies.
Volunteer’s
dosed them
selves with sun
screen and
drank lots of
water to stave
off sunburn and
dehydration.
On the other
hand, most but
terflies are most
active when
temperatures
soar into the 80
and 90s.
On the sur
face, the 2011 count
appears to be a less than
successful. However, when
you remember that these
counts are designed to
monitor the impact of both
weather and habitat
changes on butterfly popu
lations, it was far from a
disaster. With that in
mind, the 2011 count was
every bit as important as
the 2010 count. If you
recall, the 2010 Piedmont
NWR/Rum Creek WMA
4th of July Count yielded
more species than had
ever been recorded on a
4th of July Count in the
State of Georgia. If noth
ing else, it documented the
severe impact that the
drought of 2011 is having
on butterfly populations.
This is critical to under
standing fluctuations in
butterfly populations.
Counts also play a key role
in understanding the rise
and fall of bird popula
tions. Since both adult
butterflies and their cater
pillars are tremendously
important food sources for
scores of native birds,
when butterflies are
scarce, birds have a diffi
cult time feeding both
Pearl Crescent
their young and them
selves. This can, in turn,
result in a drop in bird
numbers.
At any rate, in the short
term, it is apparent that
the drought has robbed us
the pleasure of watching
butterflies as they flutter
through our yards and
across the Monroe County
countryside during the lat
ter stages of spring. If, you
are like me, you hope that
the rain that has fallen
since the count mark an
end of the drought and the
return of these Flying
Flowers.
E-mail Terry Johnson at
TJWoodDuck@aol.com
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LANFORD, SMITH
& KAPILOFF
IS OPENING AN A NEW LAW
Oil ICE IN FOILSYTHI
CHARLES "CHUCK" LANFORD
■ Elder Law
■ Wills
*Tms!s
* Probate
■ Estate Planning
Nursing Home
Medical Law.
C£Ll 478-954-6778 ■ MACON OFFICE: 478-471-9992
CHARLES ’CHUCK’ LvNFGRD WILL BE MEETING WITH CLIENTS AT
199 E. Mas n St. • Forsyth
(Jim Cole's aid office by the rsHfoad tracks)
THIS f AG E is A PAID BUSINESS ADVERTISEMENT
Lanford opens new
Forsyth law office
L anford, Smith and
Kapiloff was creat
ed in 1991 to serv
ice the legal needs
of middle Geor
gians. Charles Lanford, Jr. is a
resident of Monroe County
and has been practicing law
for 25 years. He has been in
volved in many different legal
fields from criminal practice to
domestic relations.
However, his main
emphasis is estate plan
ning, preparation of wills,
trusts, probate and elder
law. Elder law is the laws
and regulations pertaining
to older Georgians in
preparing their estate
needs (such as nursing
home law) and advance
medical directives (living
wills and
health
care pow
ers of
attorney).
All
Georgians
should
have
wills, liv
ing wills
and
health care powers of
attorney.
During the months of
June and July, Lanford
is offering wills for $95
and powers of attorney
for $75 per document.
This is half of what he
normally charges.
Lanford, Smith and
Kapiloff also helps
injured Georgians with
their needs. David Smith
and Lanford are both
very experienced in per
sonal injury and wrong
ful death claims. Smith
has many jury verdicts
and settlements totaling
several millions of dol
lars. For the months of
June and July, the law
firm is doing injury and
death claims for only 30
percent of the recovered
proceeds if settled, and 35
per
cent if
litiga
tion is
filed
or the
case
goes
to
trial.
Lanford, Smith and
Kapiloff s
Forsyth Office
199 East Main St., Forsyth
(478) 992-5753
Macon Office
3590 Vineville Ave, Macon
Paula Kapiloff is an
expert at domestic rela
tions (divorce and family
Charles “Chuck” Lanford, Jr.
law) and can help persons
with these areas of the
law.
Lanford, Smith and
Kapiloff s Forsyth office is
located at 199 East Main
St. (former representative
Jim Cole's old office) by
the railroad tracks and is
open on Fridays from 9
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The
Forsyth office can be
reached at (478) 992-5753,
and the Macon office can
be reached at (478) 471-
9992. The attorneys can
see persons at any time
during the week at either
office by appointment.
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