Southborough Open Land Foundation offers butterfly walk

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By Sue Wambolt, Contributing Writer

Southborough Open Land Foundation offers butterfly walk
The Southborough Open Land Foundation will be hosting a butterfly walk Sunday, July 15. (Photo/Sue Wambolt)

Southborough – The Southborough Open Land Foundation (SOLF) invites the public to join husband and wife team, Barbara Volke and Stephen Moore, president of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club, for a butterfly walk at the Elaine and Philip Beals Preserve Sunday, July 15 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event marks the second butterfly walk hosted by the SOLF.

Visitors will have the opportunity to spot a variety of butterflies, or “dancing flowers”; among them, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Viceroys, Monarch, Long-Dash Skipper or Appalachian Brown butterflies.

Sally Watters is the president of SOLF.

“Butterflies serve several purposes. They pollinate plants. They are not as efficient pollinators as bees, but they do serve to pollinate plants. They especially are drawn to colorful flowers,” Watters said.?”A Girl Scout troop has done a “butterfly planting” of native plants known to attract butterflies near the kiosk at Beals Preserve. The goal is to attract a wider variety of butterflies.?Butterflies also provide a source of food for birds. And, they are beautiful to look at.”

Volke and Moore joined the Massachusetts Butterfly Club in 2001 at which time they turned their focus to the 720 species of butterflies in North America. To date, Moore has spotted 500 different butterflies. Through their walks and talks, they hope to promote the preservation of meadows and butterfly gardens, habitats that provide butterflies with the plants they need for home and food.

Parking is available at the triangle area of Main St. (Rte 30) and Northborough Road.?From there, visitors will walk together to the Beals Preserve, looking for butterflies along the way. The group will meet up with anyone wishing to meet at the Beals Preserve Kiosk at 11:15 a.m.

The walk is free, open to all and will be canceled in the event of rain.

For more information about the Massachusetts Butterfly Club, visit www.massbutterflies.org.

For information about the walk and the Southborough Open Land Foundation visit www.solf.org

 

 

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