First Karner blue butterflies of the Year Emerge at Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park
On Memorial DayWeekend, the first Karner blue butterflies of the year were observed at WiltonWildlife Preserve & Park. The wildblue lupine is also in bloom, covering the meadows in a carpet of lavenderflowers. There are several trails in thePreserve & Park where you can observe the flowers and the small bluebutterflies. The most accessible are at Camp Saratoga where the trail leavesfrom parking lot #1 on Scout Road. Theother trails are Old Gick Farm and Fox which are accessed from parking areasoff of Route 50, just north of King Road.
There are many opportunitiesfor guided nature walks to look for the butterflies. These walks will take place on Wednesdaysstarting on June 5 and continuing through June 26. The walks will be offered twice a day, at11:00 am and again at 4:00 pm. The walksleave from the parking area for the Old Gick Farm on Route 50 which is justunder 4 miles past Wilton Mall. The walks should last about an hour and cover amile of gently rolling terrain. There isalso a walk scheduled on Sunday, June 9 at 1:00 pm but that walk will takeplace at Camp Saratoga and will leave from Parking Lot #1 on Scout Road. The June 9th walk is in conjunction with thefree Bluegrass for the Karner Blues concert which is scheduled to take place atCamp Saratoga on June 9th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm with the Schroon River StringBand.
The next few weekswill be ideal for seeing many of the newly emerged butterflies as they searchfor nectar and mates in the open pine/oak savannah that is their habitat in theSaratoga Sandplains. The walks will nottake place if there is rain. Pleasedress appropriately for weather and insects.
The endangered Karnerblue butterflies spend the winter as an egg, hatch into their larval stage tofeed on the wild blue lupine, and have just now emerged from their chrysalises.This first brood of adult butterflies will mate and lay eggs on the wild bluelupine. Those eggs will hatch and formthe second brood, with those butterflies appearing usually in early July.
There will also beKarner blue butterfly walks at the Annual Wildlife Festival that is scheduledfor Sunday, June 2nd at Camp Saratoga on Scout Road in Gansevoort. At the festival, there will be hourlybutterfly walks starting at 11:15. Atthe festival there will also be live raptor programs, pond exploration, naturecrafts and other hands-on activities. The festival runs from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm and is free of charge.
For moreinformation about the walk and to pre-register, please contact the Park Officeat 518-450-0321 or email info@wiltonpreserve.org. For up to date program trail and programinformation, visit the website at www.wiltonpreserve.org. The Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park is anon-profit organization that conserves ecological systems and natural settingswhile providing opportunities for environmental education and outdoorrecreation.