Tag Archives: Bathrooms at the meeting place

Sumter NF Long Cane District (Edgefield, SC)

The Carolina Butterfly Society Midlands Chapter will hold butterfly walks on Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and 17, 2025, at the 123,360-acre Long Cane District of the Sumter National Forest in the Lick Fork Lake and Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve areas. Our target species are Tawny-edged Skipper and Twin-spotted Skipper, as well as other early-season butterflies. Prunella vulgaris should be blooming.

On Saturday, meet at the Lick Fork Creek parking lot on Lick Fork Creek Road, GPS coordinates 33.7298, -82.0407. There is a $3 per day self-pay parking fee for the area but this is only if you leave your car. We do not plan to start here so do not pay the fee. The fee is waived if you have the Federal “America the Beautiful” Pass as that covers Federal Recreation Areas as well as National Parks. The Sunday meeting location will be determined after the Saturday walk.

DIRECTIONS:

From I-20 get off at Exit 1 to Martintown Road (SC-230) and head north until you see the sign to turn right for Lick Fork Creek Recreation Area. If you get to the SC 23 intersection with SC 230 you have gone just a tad too far (less than 0.5 miles).
If you are coming up SC 125 from the south, take it to Martintown Road (SC-230) and head north. You will go over I-20 and then follow the directions above.
From the square in downtown Edgefield, travel south on Hwy-23 for 8.3 miles. Bear left onto Hwy-230 and travel for 0.4 miles. Turn left onto Lick Fork Lake Road (S 19-263) and travel 1.9 miles. The entrance is on the right.

There are bathrooms near the meeting area. There is no cell service in the areas we will be exploring. John Demko will lead. Either register on the CBS website (using the “Register” link above) or RSVP to John at the email address below if you plan to participate. Please bring water, lunch, binoculars, cameras and field guides. Sunscreen, bug spray, long pants and close-toed shoes are highly recommended.

Fort Macon SP, Croatan NF, Holly Shelter Game Land (NC)

This full Carolina Butterfly Society 2-day field trip will be held in eastern North Carolina where we plan on visiting three different locations. Our target butterfly species varies by location and are listed below. The leader is Harry LeGrand and possibly Lori Arent.

Saturday, April 12, 2025: Meet at Fort Macon State Park, at the Coastal Education Center parking lot at the end of East Fort Macon Rd, Atlantic Beach, NC (GPS coordinates 34.6977, -76.6787). Meet at 10:00 am. Target species is Crystal Skipper, which should be easy; not many other species are present at this time of year here; Henry’s Elfin (unlikely). Probably eat lunch at the visitor center, outside on benches. Restrooms are available inside the visitor center. (They are not available in Croatan, so best to eat and use the restroom here.)

After lunch, we will travel to several sites in Croatan National Forest, such as Millis Road in Carteret County, and then much farther north to Little Road in Craven County. Millis Road and Little Road are gravel but should be fine for about all vehicles.

Target species are Carolina Roadside-Skipper, Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper, Intricate Satyr, and Holly Azure. Little field work occurs in the forest in spring, and few flowers are blooming then, so we have little previous data here for April. Thus, expectations are low but hopes are high!

Sunday, April 13, 2025: Holly Shelter Game Land. Meet at the eastern end of the Topsail Baptist Church parking lot, closest to the entrance road to the game land, on US 17 (GPS coordinates 34.4099, -77.6571). Meet at 10:00 am. This is about 4 miles northeast of Hampstead. Note that there is another church immediately to the southwest, on the same side (north) of the highway. Obviously, don’t park there; park at the church lot at Topsail church where you can literally see the entrance road to the game land. As this is a Sunday, there likely will be some churchgoers parking in the lot closer to the church anyway.

It may well be a bit too early and “dewy”/cool to start butterflying, so be prepared to look for birds such as Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Bachman’s Sparrow, and look for wildflowers and carnivorous plants, until things warm up. We will carpool here, as the gravel/dirt roads are usually fine for most vehicles but occasionally there are sandy places or wet spots in the road.

Target species (all formerly regular but now may be difficult) are Frosted Elfin, Yucca Giant-Skipper, Reversed Roadside-Skipper, Dusky Roadside-Skipper. Other targets are Dusted Skipper, Holly Azure. It might be slightly early for Little Metalmark, which is regular by late April. We will have lunch in the field. There are no restrooms here (or in Croatan). The gate is “always” open in April but is closed from May to about Labor Day; this helps deter Venus Flytrap poaching. So, yes, we may well look for flytraps here, but they won’t be in bloom.

There are many motels in Jacksonville, which is a good midway point between these two trips. Of course, people may want lodging the day before in the Morehead City or Havelock areas, or the Wilmington area after Holly Shelter.

As stated previously, Harry LeGrand will lead. Either register on the CBS website (using the “Register” link above) or RSVP to Harry at the email address below if you plan to participate. Please bring water, lunch, binoculars, cameras and field guides. Sunscreen, bug spray, long pants and close-toed shoes are highly recommended.

Southern 8ths Farm (Chesterfield, SC)

On Saturday, March 22, 2025, there will be a joint field trip between CBS (Carolina Butterfly Society) and SCAN (South Carolina Association of Naturalists). The trip leader for both groups will be Tom Austin, President of CBS and Database Manager for SCAN, and staff from Southern 8ths Farm. Southern 8ths Farm staff will escort us throughout the property. Southern 8ths Farm is a private conservation property and the home of the Carolina Wildlands Foundation. Southern 8ths Farm is located on the SC/NC border primarily in Chesterfield County, SC with a portion of the property extending into Anson County, NC. The property sits on Thompson Creek in an ecoregional and geological boundary straddling the fall line just above the Sandhills. This unique geology has birthed a rich diversity of native plant communities and Coastal Wildlands Foundation has done extensive work to restore prairie habitat across the property. CBS is working with Southern 8ths Farm to help them create an introductory field guide on their butterfly diversity for their outreach and education programs.

Target Species include: Common Sootywing, Falcate Orangetip, Orange Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Harvester, and Southern Skipperling. CBS is working with Southern 8ths Farm to catalogue and document as many butterfly species as we can on the property. So, an emphasis for the day will be placed on adding news species to the site’s biodiversity list in addition to surveys for target species.

Learn More about Southern 8ths Farm and the Carolina Wildlands Foundation at the website listed below. A video about Thompson Creek and the geology of the region can be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/1002041941

There are restrooms on site. On-site camping is permitted. There are 10 RV pads available on site with power hook-ups (no wastewater) and the ability for on-site camping. There are two guest rooms available at Southern 8ths Farm, which can be rented for $149/night. (Contact Southern 8ths Farm directly to reserve.) The nearest hotels are 20-30 miles away in Cheraw SC, Rockingham NC, and Monroe NC.

As previously stated, Tom Austin will lead. Either register on the CBS website (using the “Register” link above) or RSVP to Tom at the email address below if you plan to participate. Please bring water, lunch, binoculars, cameras and field guides. Sunscreen, bug spray, long pants and close-toed shoes are highly recommended.

Participants will need to sign a waiver with Carolina Wildlands Foundation in order to participate.

NABA Butterfly Count (Congaree NP, Hopkins, SC)

On Saturday, September 20, 2025, the Midlands Chapter of CBS (Carolina Butterfly Society) will participate in a NABA (North American Butterfly Association) seasonal count at the 26,693-acre Congaree National Park near Columbia, South Carolina, to look for late-season butterflies. The park preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. The lush trees growing in its floodplain forest are some of the tallest in the eastern United States, forming one of the highest temperate deciduous forest canopies remaining in the world. The Congaree River flows through the park. About 15,000 acres are designated as a wilderness area. Refer to the national park website link below for additional information and maps of the property.

Meet at the Harry Hampton Visitor Center, 100 National Park Rd, Hopkins, SC 29061 (GPS coordinates 33.8298, -80.8234) where we will divide into smaller groups. Some groups will have larger areas to explore than others. Some of the trails will have roots and/or may be overgrown. You do not have to be an expert to participate and may come for a whole or half day.

There are restrooms at the visitor center but no restaurants nearby. Either register on the CBS website (using the “Register” link above) or RSVP to Theresa Yednock at the email address below if you plan to participate. Please bring water, lunch, binoculars, cameras and field guides. Sunscreen, bug spray, long pants and close-toed shoes are highly recommended.

NABA Butterfly Count (CSRV, Aiken County, SC)

On Saturday, July 12, 2025, NABA (North American Butterfly Association) will hold a butterfly count in the CSRV (Central Savannah River Valley) at the Silver Bluff Audubon Center in Jackson, South Carolina. Audubon’s Silver Bluff Sanctuary is a 3,400-acre woodland overlooking the Savannah River. Here you’ll find extensive pine forests and bottomland hardwood forests; beautiful walking trails; 50 acres of lakes and ponds; 100 acres of grassland; and all manner of birds, butterflies and wildlife. Refer to the website below for specific directions and additional information about Silver Bluff Sanctuary.

Meet at the Silver Bluff Audubon Visitor Center in Jackson, South Carolina. The GPS coordinates for the gate just outside the visitor center are 33.32451, -81.84501. The street address is 4542 Silver Bluff Road, Jackson, SC 29831. Important note: Using the street address, some GPS systems tell you that you’ve arrived one mile before you actually reach the Silver Bluff gates. At that point, Silver Bluff Road transitions from a paved road to a well-maintained sand/clay road. Continue driving for one more mile and you’ll see the gates on your right. As stated earlier, the GPS coordinates above are for the gate located just outside the visitor’s center.

The restroom at the visitor center will be accessible at the beginning of the day and at lunchtime. We will eat lunch at the picnic area by the visitor center. John Demko will lead. Either register on the CBS website (using the “Register” link above) or RSVP to John at the email address below if you plan to participate. Please bring water, lunch, binoculars, cameras and field guides. Sunscreen, bug spray, long pants and close-toed shoes are highly recommended.

Webb Wildlife Center WMA (Hampton Co., SC)

The Webb Wildlife Center, owned and operated by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, is a management and research facility designed to demonstrate multiple-use wildlife and timber management. Meet in front of the WMA offices/visitor center. The restrooms are inside the visitor center which is closed on weekends.

Directions: From Columbia take Highway 321 South to Garnett. In Garnett, the road will fork, stay right on Hwy 119, turn right onto Augusta Stagecoach Road (S-20) (Across from Garnett Post Office), cross railroad tracks, go approximately 2.6 miles to James W. Webb Wildlife Management Area Entrance on the left and follow it (1.5 miles) to the office. GPS coordinates are 32.59086, -81.31240

Alison Smith will lead. Contact her at [email protected] if you plan on participating.

CANCELLED – Post-Symposium Walk – Jordan Lake Tailrace and Deep River State Natural Area (Moncure, NC)

CANCELLED – Due to damage, flooding and road closures from hurricane Helene, the CBS Board has decided to cancel the October 5 symposium and this walk that was scheduled for Sunday, October 6.

This is a post-symposium butterfly walk but anyone is welcome whether they plan on attending the symposium or not.

We will meet at the Jordan Lake Tailrace. The address is 2060 Jordan Dam Road, Moncure, NC 27559 (or GPS coordinates 35.65231, -79.06748). We will walk around the fields and outflow area to look for butterflies. Going will be slow, with level to moderate terrain, some mowed field edges or walking through grassy fields. Be prepared for some exploring. Brian Bockhahn will lead.

Restrooms are available on the property. Please bring water, lunch, binoculars, cameras and field guides. Sunscreen, bug spray, a hat, long pants and close-toed shoes are highly recommended.

After 45 minutes or so, we’ll drive 3 miles, about 6 minutes away, to a relatively new section of Deep River State Natural Area. This area has not been visited much, so we really don’t know what to expect; most sightings will be new for the property. The trailhead is behind the Moncure Community Health Center. The address is 7228 Moncure Pittsboro Road, Moncure, NC 27559 (or GPS coordinates 35.63146, -79.09675). We will hike a series of old roads, first through a recently logged area, around an old home site and pond, then down into the rich floodplain and an old rock quarry along the Deep River. The terrain will not be level, and the trail is not maintained.

Please use the symposium registration form if you are attending the symposium and plan to participate. If you are NOT attending the symposium, you can register for this walk online at the CBS website or RSVP to Brian Bockhahn at the email address below.

Mount Mitchell SP, Commissary Road Trail (Burnsville, NC)

This will be the first field trip for the newly created Western NC Chapter!

Attendees will meet at 11:00 am at 96 Holland Street, Asheville, 28801 (GPS coordinates 35.60645, -82.55455) and carpool to the Tourist Information Center at Mount Mitchell State Park (MOMI). The drive from Asheville to MOMI takes about an hour, mostly on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Carpooling is important since parking will be tight at this building during what is expected to be peak leaf season.

Our target species is the Green Comma. This is the best time and only reliable place to find them in North Carolina. We will explore along the Commissary Road Trail, which is an easy, graveled trail that starts near the back of the Tourist Information Center. Bathrooms are available at this building.

If you’re traveling from out of town and plan on staying overnight, make your hotel reservations early, again due to the probable demand during peak leaf season. If needed, the rain date will be Sunday, September 29.

Our trip leader is Heather Rayburn, who can be reached at the email address listed below. Please either contact Heather or register on the CBS website if you plan on attending.

Southern 8ths Farm (Chesterfield, SC)

This is a full CBS field trip that will be to a new location for us in northeast South Carolina, almost to the state line with North Carolina. We will meet our host, Brad Turley, at the GPS coordinates listed below at 9:00 AM.

Southern 8ths is located in an area of convergence, where the Piedmont & Coastal Plain meet along the state line of North and South Carolina. This land is rich in American and natural history and has a history of horses being present since the late 18th century. The geophysical nature of these 1,400 acres of preserved land has encouraged the growth of rolling pastures and fields, diverse upland and bottom land hardwood forests and planted pine stands. The waters of Thompson Creek and its tributaries drop over shale bases to join the Great Pee Dee River and flow to the Atlantic. This land is home to reclaimed grass prairies full of insects and dappled sunlit woodland trails, offering respite to birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and humans. This “corridor of green” is a work-in-progress, and it is teaching us about its future role in the survival of humankind and animal-kind. Per Tom Austin, the organizer for this trip, and referring to the map below, the proposed “schedule” is as follows:

9:00 – 9:30 AM
Meet at the Learning Center (GPS coordinates 34.79584, -80.15313), located behind the horse barns at 305 Lucious Davis Road for welcome, introductions, to use restrooms and fill up on water. On the map, this is the reddish area between Points 5 and 2. The driveway entrance to the property is located at GPS Coordinates 34.79965, -80.15423 on the south side of Lucious Davis Road.

9:30 – 10:30 AM
Head out via carpool to the Fireworks East/West and Red Banks Prairies, our two most diverse Southeastern grasslands. They total over 15 acres and include a pond and some woods and should be loaded with butterflies. Folks will have plenty to explore there, and some shade if they need it. This is the cleared area around Point 1 on the map.

10:30 to 12 noon
Walk along a wooded trail through mixed upland hardwoods and pines, cross a small creek, and head to Frances’ Field, a smaller prairie with thinner, drier soils and lots of natives, and then to BJ’s Pond, a mature wooded pond with some sunnier openings. The walk is west of Point 1 to the small prairie, pond and back.

12:30 – 1:30 PM
Carpool back to cool off at the Learning Center for a brown-bag lunch-and-learn orientation / PowerPoint about Carolina Wildlands.

1:30 – 3:00 PM
If people are up for it, we could walk from the Learning Center on trails in the shadier alluvial forest along Thompson Creek, passing several managed grasslands, before heading home. This is the floodplain area west of Point 2 on the map.

Noted nectar plants: Mountain Mint, Wild Bergamot, Roughleaf Sunflower, Blazing Star, Common Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, Brazilian Vervain, Ironweeds, Maryland Golden Aster, Cottony Goldenaster, Common Yellow Thistle, Bull Thistle, Late Boneset, Blue Lobelia, Black Eyed Susan, and 7 species of Goldenrod. (I think we’ll be transitioning between the bloom times of most of these.)

I think this walk is going to be nectar driven from what I recall about the property from late fall and the season. Sounds like we’ll be looking for Vervains, Mountain-Mint, and any Sunflowers and Blazing-stars coming into bloom. Should be Ironweed and Lobelia in the wetter areas too. Hopefully there’s some Prunella around too.

It is recommended that you bring additional snacks, food, and beverages as during the walks we will be away from public facilities. Wearing sturdy walking or hiking shoes is recommended along with long sleeves and pants as we may go off trail in some locations to look for as many butterfly species as possible. It is also recommended you use a good bug spray, wear sunscreen, and carry water with you. Be sure to bring those items you may need (camera, binoculars, field guides, etc.).

The closest cities to Southern 8ths Farm that have a selection of accommodations are 1) Cheraw, SC, about a 30 minute drive and 2) Rockingham, NC, about a 40 minute drive.

Tom Austin, who can be reached at the email address listed below, made the arrangements for this field trip. Please either contact Tom or register on the CBS website if you plan on attending.

Reynolda Gardens 2024 (Winston-Salem, NC)

On Saturday, October 19, 2024, the Triad Chapter of CBS (Carolina Butterfly Society) will hold a butterfly walk at the FORMAL GARDENS area of Reynolda Gardens.

After the CBS walk through the formal gardens, attendees are welcome to stay a little longer and visit other areas of the 134-acre grounds. These other areas include two miles of scenic walking trails, wetlands, paved pathways, thick woodlands, an expansive meadow for visitors to explore and enjoy and a waterfall, located along the Reynolda Village trail. Refer to the website below for a map and additional information.

Meet at the garden entrance greenhouse at 100 Reynolda Village, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27106 (or for those who prefer GPS coordinates, 36.12564, -80.28474). Please RSVP to Barbara Cullen at the email address below if you plan to participate.