Conversations with Critters
Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals. And sleuthing for more species at Baskett Slough NWR...
Today Critters, we are back on location location location at Baskett Slough NWR for further species specific sleuthing. Previously! We focused on Turkey Vultures, Cathartes aura, with their soaring size and six foot wing span and their social roosting.
However. A critter much smaller and much more endangered has also come to our attention. Please, stay tuned and welcome welcome our Core Community Critters Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo in excellent butterflies are free furever critter conversation. Take it away!
Heidi: Hello, Friends! Welcome to our Furever Friday Post! Last week, we tuned into the incredible Turkey Vultures who have been received with a great deal of natural appreciation from you, our Dear Gentle Critters and Dear Gentle Readers.
Jasper: Thank you, Everyone. Thank you very much for your appreciation of these incredible Critter Raptors who are so highly high flying, so very social, and furthermore function as cleaners of the environment. The end.
Chris: Greetings, One and All! And thank you Jasper for that conversation opener. The end again.
Jasper: You’re welcome!
Jojo: Speaking of being welcome, I would like to proceed by saying that everyone is welcome here and I luvluvluv you furever and ever. Furthermore. Life is in such Springtime abundance at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge that our conversation cannot be contained merely and solely to one species. The end again, too.
Jasper: Well said, Jojo.
Chris: Ditto, Jojo.
Jojo: Thank you, Jasper and Chris. However. The Critter of Conversation today is also a flyer.
Jasper: Incredible.
Chris: Impressive.
Jojo: Yes. However. The Fender’s Blue Butterfly is very very small. Whereas and Furthermore, the Turkey Vulture is very very large.
Jasper: Thank you for the comparison, Jojo.
Chris: Thank you for the clarification, Jojo.
Jojo: Of course of course. Now. I’d like to give a special thanks to our friend
for extra sleuthing after our Turkey Vulture Post last Friday and bringing this very very small and very very beautiful blue butterfly at Baskett Slough NWR to our attention.Jasper: Definitely. The end.
Chris: Absolutely. Full stop.
Jojo: Yes. Cuz, Fender’s Blue Butterfly, Icaricia icarioides fenderi is endemic to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. They live in grassland habitats of prairie and oak savannah. Furthermore. Their host plant for reproduction and growth is the lupine, especially the Kincaid’s lupine which is as threatened a species as the Blue Butterfly.
Chris: The Blue Butterfly and the Kincaid’s lupine need each other.
Jojo: Correct, Chris. In fact. The Blue Butterfly was thought to be extinct in 1937, but was rediscovered in 1989. Due to the conservation efforts on both public and private lands, both the lupine and the butterfly are in recovery.
Jasper: That makes me feel better, Jojo.
Chris: Ditto.
Jojo: Critters, let’s share a photo of Fender’s Blue Butterfly on the flower of a Kincaid’s lupine for the edification and enjoyment of our Readers furever and ever:
Jojo: For the sake of scale and comparison, Critters, the Blue Butterfly has a wingspan of approx one inch and the Turkey Vulture has a wingspan of approx six feet. The end.
Jasper: Jojo, that is a dramatic difference and we all know how much I like drama. The end.
Chris: It’s a lot to take in all at once. I’m finding myself in need of my next nap on the Couch. The end.
Jojo: First and foremost and to bring this conversation full circle, Jasper and Chris, I would like to thank you for helping to explore this incredible blue butterfly critter who is of the utmost endemic importance to the local environment.
Jasper: You’re welcome.
Chris: You’re welcome.
Jojo: Before we go, thank you to Everyone for being here with us today and if you have a favorite local butterfly who has taken wing to fly and thrive, please let us know in the comments below. And remember. I luvluvluv you.
Jasper: So Critters, stay safe and have fun out there!
Chris: We’ll see you next week for Detective Tuesday and Chapter 19 of The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat! Cuz. It’s almost but not quite the end of the story.
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Poetry with Pets
A one inch wingspan
Blue butterfly on lupine
Endemic species
By Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo
Thank you for reading luvluvluv Jasper Kitten, Chris, and Jojo
Critters! Catch up on all of the mystery and adventure with The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat! Book Number 2!
Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap.7🐾Chap. 8🐾Chap. 9🐾Chap. 10🐾Chap. 11🐾Chap. 12🐾Chap. 13🐾Chap. 14🐾Chap. 15🐾Chap. 16🐾Chap. 17🐾Chap. 18
Furthermore!
The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelope! The Complete Book Number 1!
Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap. 7🐾Chap. 8🐾Chap. 9🐾Chap. 10🐾Chap. 11🐾Chap. 12🐾Chap. 13🐾Chap.14🐾Chap. 15🐾Chap. 16🐾Chap. 17🐾Chap. 18🐾Chap. 19🐾Chap. 20
(Coming soon to IngramSpark, too!)
The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelope
What a beautiful butterfly, Heidi! The shades of blue on the Fender's Blue Butterfly are surreal. That's amazing too that the Fender's has made a comeback. Lovely haiku and thank you for sharing.
Gorgeous butterfly! I wish we had these here in California where I live! Although we have many yellow ones and white ones and orange ones. I rarely see a blue one. Thank you for sharing this today! 🦋💙