Date: January 6, 2009
Contact: Linda Friar, 305-242-7714
Everglades National Park is home to over 90 species of butterflies. These beautiful and fascinating insects will be shown in a macro photography exhibit, courtesy of the Miami Blue Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, January 1 through January 31. In addition to captivating photographs, the lives of butterflies will be described, and visitors will learn about finding butterflies, observing them, and attracting them to one’s own garden. The exhibit also underscores the importance of butterfly conservation; like all other wildlife, butterflies face threats from development, habitat loss, and climate change.
The exhibit features the work of NABA member photographers Jamie Bernard, Lisa Blackwelder, Ron Nuehring, Bill Perry, Hank Poor, Laura Schrier Coe, and Mickey Wheeler, of Miami-Dade County, Michelle Wisniewski and Jim Spencer of Monroe County, Linda Cooper of Haines City and Holly Salvato of Vero Beach. The exhibit was designed by the Miami Blue Chapter of NABA in collaboration with the Interpretive Section of Everglades National Park and lepidopterist Mark Salvato with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The project was made possible in part by a grant from the South Florida National Parks Trust.
The public is invited to attend an opening reception for the exhibit on Saturday, January 10, starting at 1:00 PM. On that afternoon, members of NABA will be available in the native plant garden adjacent to the Coe Center to help visitors identify native plants that are attractive to butterflies. Participating photographers will be available to answer your questions about butterfly photography. At 2:00 PM, a program on the Butterflies of Everglades National Park will be presented by Everglades National Park Superintendent, Dan Kimball, and the Miami Blue Chapter of NABA. Also, on January 10, at the reception, a new, revised Butterfly List for Everglades National Park will be introduced. The former list, compiled in 1980 and long overdue for an update, has been updated courtesy of Mark Salvato, park scientists and naturalists, and the Miami Blue Chapter of NABA.
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