CBA Field Trips

[Clay Taylor]

All -

    The problem with CBA Field Trips being concentrated in the New Haven
County area has been around since the first days of the CBA - we have tried
scheduling field trips in every CT county, but the ones that consistently
draw more participants are the ones in New Haven County.   I have led field
trips to places in Hartford County, New London County, and even Middlesex
County where anywhere from two (2) to zero (0) people showed up.   It might
have been the date, the location, or some other factor beyond our
recognition, but the successful field trips are the ones that get
re-scheduled, and that means the New Haven County ones.

    Tom Harrington and I were recently discussing the number of Summer
Butterfly Counts in CT that have been dropped in recent years due either to
low participation or a lack of time on the part of the compiler.   We agreed
that it would be a good idea to:
1) Put together the complete list of 2004 CT SBCs early, so Diane can get
publicity out well ahead of the event(s) to newspapers and the other media
and hopefully attract lots of volunteers
2) Schedule CBA Field Trips as part of a scheduled Summer Butterfly Count
(this probably means mostly on weekends) - this would also serve to cover
other counties besides New Haven.
3) Look for other parts of the state that have no SBCs in hopes of starting
new ones and jump-starting a CBA membership base.

    Tom also said that there was some discussion about holding a Count at
Flaherty Field Trial area in 2004 as a CBA 10th Anniversary event.  The
count circle could probably also cover Northwest Park in Windsor, as well as
other pretty good spots in the Hartford area.

Sounds good to me,

Clay Taylor
Moodus
ctaylor at att.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Diane Adams" <ButterflyPR at comcast.net>
To: "CT LEPS" <CTLEPS-L at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 5:11 PM
Subject: a new book and an invitation


>
> I just finished reading "An Obsession with Butterflies:  Our long
> Love Affair with a Singular Insect" by Sharman Apt Russell.  It
> touched on a variety of topics--stories of early butterfly collectors,
> moths, descriptions of various butterflies' mating habits,
> conservation...  I recommend it!
>
> As your CBA publicity person, it has come to my attention that parts
> of the state are feeling a bit left out by the lack of events in their
> areas.  I can't be everywhere, but I would like to extend an invitation
> to those in the lower Fairfield County area.  I would like to invite
> people to my mother's house in Westport, Saturday August 9 at 11
> AM.  We can drink iced tea, check out my mother's butterfly bushes,
> and talk about butterflies.  I'd especially like to get  some
> suggestions for possible future field trips.
>
> If you are interested, please get in touch with me!   I will not be
> posting directions to the whole list-serve, only to those who think
> they would like to be there.  Also, there is limited parking, and my
> mother would like to know how many people to expect.
>
> Hope to meet some of you soon!
> Diane Adams
> (Chester)
>
>