Guidelines for reports on butterflies seen!
Howard Hoople
Whether on a scheduled Massachusetts Butterfly Club field trip, a walk with or without your dog, or while looking out of your own kitchen window instead of washing the dishes, sharing reports of butterflies you see in the season now underway is incredibly important! These reports help us all understand what species are flying at what time this year (and where!), and sometimes they announce when new or unusual species appear. We also make club data available to academic research, which now can effectively use this information to provide insight into long term trends.
There are two ways you can submit information on butterflies you see:
(1) The easiest way for most people is to take a few minutes and post a message on MassLep right after your outing. Specify the location, date, and a list showing the number of each species seen, and any comments (e.g. weather, temperature, other special conditions) that might be helpful. The records compiler, Mark Fairbrother, routinely reviews MassLep postings, and records information from these reports in the club database.
If you prefer this approach, here’s an example of a complete report submitted on MassLep last year by Elise Barry:
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5/21/14 - Moore State Park, Paxton
Though the action is still meager at Moore State Park, Paxton, on sunny, warm Wednesday, there were finally more species.
1 Tiger Swallowtail
1 Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Seen on lilacs just outside the park)
2 Cabbage White
1 Clouded Sulfur
1 Spring Azure
1 Pearl Crescent
1 Juvenal's Duskywing
Elise Barry
Paxton MA
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(2) Some people prefer to compile their own records at the end of the season, and send that summary directly to the club’s records compiler, Mark Fairbrother (email him at boge...@crocker.com). These records include the same information as above, although usually they’re provided in an excel spreadsheet format. This can be very effective, but for Mark to have time to get 7,000 or more records properly included into the database, we have to have these compiled records no later than December 1.
Whichever system you choose, there are some additional considerations which will make the data entry process for the compiler much, much easier:
- Be specific when reporting numbers for each species. Using descriptions like “many” or “a lot” force the compiler to make an estimate. It’s better if you provide a specific number estimate (“100” or “8”) - we understand this is often difficult, but your guess will be better than our’s!
- Multiple reports for the same field trip can be confusing for the compiler. If you’re supplementing another report, try to make it clear what is new, additional information and what is duplication.
- Some people like to report both on MassLep and in a year-end summary. If you do this, make sure you clarify which reports are included in both formats so your reports don’t get double-counted.
- Note that we’re unable at this time to include reports posted on the Massachusetts Butterflies Facebook page. Please make a copy of any Facebook report and submit it using MassLep.