If you’ve never seen an endangered species up close, now’s your chance.
Karner blue butterflies can be seen flitting through the Albany Pine Bush Preserve through the middle of July. Though their population has been on the decline for 50 years, the butterflies are indigenous to the area and are once again thriving in their natural habitat through a recovery program and partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game and the Alton Farnsworth Middle School.
“This is a very exciting, and very limited chance to see this federally endangered butterfly,” said Pine Bush Discovery Center Director Jeffrey Folmer. “One question visitors often ask is, ‘Where can I see the Karner blues?’”
The butterflies are small and difficult to spot and it takes a sharp eye to pick out the light blue creatures with orange or red spots on the wings. They’ll also only be flying through the Pine Bush for a limited time because of their short lifespan. On a hike through the barren, sandy dunes of the preserve on Friday, July 6, the hot, dry, coastal weather was perfect for Karner blue spotting and they could be seen hovering above clusters of tiny white flowers on Jersey Tea plants.
Erin Kinal, education program director at the Pine Bush, told a group of hikers they were lucky to have caught a glimpse of the “poster child of the Albany Pine Bush.” Flying amidst the Karner blues and easier to spot were cabbage white butterflies, the dainty cream colored insects that are the most common butterfly in New York State.
“This is one of the best places to come look at butterflies because we have a high diversity of species,” said Kinal. “You can see the most common and most rare butterflies in the same day.”
The Pine Bush’s Karner blues started out in New Hampshire at a rearing center as part of a captive breeding program. They travel to the Pine Bush Preserve when they reach the chrysalis stage, and they’re housed in the Discovery Center until an adult butterfly emerges. Then, they’re released into the Pine Bush in the hopes they’ll reproduce on their own and build up colonies.
“We don’t want to have to do this forever. The idea is to reestablish those populations, get their numbers up,” said Kinal.
About 600 Karner blues have been released into the Pine Bush Preserve so far this year.
Eddie Wren, a retired police officer from England, recently moved to Latham. Back across the pond, nature and photography were his hobbies to escape from the hectic world of law enforcement, and he’s found a new favorite stomping ground in the Pine Bush Preserve.
“I’ve been here a few times … simply because I like wildlife and nature and I like photographing them,” said Wren. “When I read that there was a tour that would actually teach me what I’ve been photographing for the past few weeks, it was too good an opportunity to miss.”
Toting a large camera, Wren’s keen eye picked out a pair of Karner blues mating, as well as a Hairstreak butterfly and dragonflies. Happy to kneel in the dusty path to get a good shot and unbothered by the sweltering noon heat, he was in his element.
“I like to have pastimes that get me away from the crowd and get out into nature and forget all the pressures, so it’s not so much the Karner blue that strikes me — that’s a bonus — but all of the butterflies, the dragonflies, the bird life, the flowers and trees; the whole shooting match,” said Wren.
Everything Kinal shared about the Pine Bush Preserve, like that it was a “relic of an ice age” and that hikers were walking along what used to be the bottom of a lake, Wren soaked up. He said besides the serenity of nature, he appreciates its place in everyday life.
“It’s the big picture that matters. … The number of extinctions we’ve been having around the world over the past few decades I find absolutely terrifying,” said Wren. “If we don’t get our act in order then we ourselves will suffer as a result.”
That’s why he’s become a fast supporter of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve.
“It’s programs like this; if this whole preserve is here just because of the Karner blue, and I’m not suggesting it is, but if it were here just because of them, then thank you Karner blue, because they’re protecting a huge number of species,” said Wren.
Visitors can hike the Pine Bush on their own but there will be a guided Karner blue tour on Saturday and Sunday, July 14 and 15, from 11 a.m. to noon. On Thursday, July 19, a science lecture will explore the Karner blue recovery effort from 7 to 8 p.m.
The Albany Pine Bush Preserve is located at 195 New Karner Road in Albany. For more information, visit www.AlbanyPineBush.org or call 456-0655.
