Beginners are welcome on all field trips! Experienced members will share their butterfly knowledge and expertise with all field trip participants. Children accompanied by a responsible adult are welcome on SEABA field trips. A donation of $5 per person to benefit SEABA will be appreciated. Carpooling from the meeting place is encouraged and it is kind to share gas expenses. If high clearance vehicles are required for a trip, it will be noted in individual trip descriptions. Dress for the field with sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen, and insect repellent. Bring your own water, snacks, and lunch. Close-focusing binoculars, cameras, and field guides will be helpful aids for butterfly observation and identification. Trips usually end by mid-afternoon unless noted differently in individual trip descriptions.
1. Collecting or netting is NOT allowed on SEABA field trips.
2. Pets, with the exception of service animals, are NOT allowed on SEABA field trips.
3. All field trip participants are required to sign SEABA's Release and Assumption of Risk form at the beginning of the trip. The form may be viewed at SEABA Release.
4. Please arrive a few minutes prior to the meeting time posted for trips to facilitate paperwork and introductions to other trip participants.
5. Field trips may be cancelled or rescheduled on short notice due to changing weather or road conditions. Please check the website for updates prior to the Field Trip.
Our Southeastern Arizona Butterfly Checklist can be downloaded here. Please note that the SEABA checklist is copyrighted.
Local NABA Butterfly Counts are listed at NABA Counts
Field trips organized by the Central Arizona Butterfly Association are listed at their website: CAzBA.
Meet at 9am at Canoa Ranch parking lot Historic Canoa Ranch | Pima County, AZ We'll walk around the pond and wetland enjoying Fall weather and a wonderful nature area. Restrooms available. Maximum 6 people. Please contact the field trip leader to sign up.
Photo: Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) © Gerry Wolfe
Meet at 9am at Canoa Ranch parking lot Historic Canoa Ranch | Pima County, AZ We'll walk around the pond and wetland enjoying Fall weather and a wonderful nature area. Restrooms available. Maximum 6 people. Please contact the field trip leader to sign up.
Empress Leilia (Asterocampa leilia) © Gerry Wolfe
Cindy will be happy to guide you to the “hot spots” on grounds for butterflies. She will be wearing her ASDM docent uniform with her name tag. Other docents who love butterflies will be available to you in many of the areas with spring wildflowers.
The trip will cover approximately 1.5 miles on cement paths and flat dirt paths on Museum grounds. After the trip, if you stay for lunch the museum has a cafeteria. If you bring a sack lunch, there are picnic grounds just... more
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, there will not be a group walking together. You will be on your own for the most part, but we will be happy to guide you to the “hot spots” on grounds for butterflies. Sue, Libby and I will be wearing our ASDM docent uniforms with our name tags. We will have other tasks, but will switch out to be available to you as needed.
The trip will cover approximately 1.5 miles on cement paths and flat dirt paths on Museum grounds. After the trip, if... more
This will be an easy stroll on paved and good gravel/dirt pathways on the Museum grounds. Spring wildflowers should be beginning to bloom, and hopefully we will find a good number of early spring butterfly species, such as Desert Marble and Orangetips.
Happily, this trip has been reschedulled!!!!
Bill was a dedicated butterflyer and committed SEABA member. He and Mary, his spouse, led many SEABA field trips, the last of which was to the Harshaw Creek Rabbitbrush area in October 2016. We will visit that locality on this trip, as well as others, depending on time and weather. We’re pleased to lead this trip in Bill’s memory.
Type of terrain: Mostly level with some brushy... more
Although it has been relatively dry so far in the area this year, the Seep Willows (Bacchris salicifolia) should in full bloom and loaded with butterflies! We will visit two Patagonia gardens and then carpool to the seep willows in the creek bed along Harshaw Creek Road. Join us for a day filled with butterflies so intent on nectaring that you can photograph them with a bad cell phone!
Type of terrain: Mostly level with some brushy areas and uneven rocky... more
As you are aware the NABA Patagonia butterfly count will be held on Tuesday, August 6. For those of you that would like to butterfly in that area and can’t make the count or just want to brush up on their local butterfly ID skills, Fred Heath is leading a SEABA field trip on Saturday, August 3 covering some of the Patagonia butterfly hot spots. We will meet at the butterfly garden in Patagonia at 8:00AM. The butterfly garden is located on McKeown Ave right across from Red Mountain Foods... more
Please arrive at the meeting place a little early so we can arrange carpools to go up the mountain.
Type of terrain: Walking on a primitive, rocky trail. There will be some stepping up and down on and over large rocks. Rough in some areas, flat in others. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes! Long pants are recommended. We will spend the majority of our time walking on the trail away from our vehicles, so be prepared to carry lunch and enough water for a few hours.... more
This is an easy stroll through a local botanical park in the NW Tucson area. We hope to see multiple spring species of butterflies including Queens and Monarchs, Oranges and Sulphurs, Blues, Fritillaries, Pipevine Swallowtails. Tohono Chul has many Host plants that we'll be seeing as well.
Type of terrain: Trail is very smooth and mostly paved.
Photo: Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
Trip description: This is a great time to join other butterfly enthusiasts for a few hours enjoying the outdoors. We will drive to a very beautiful canyon that runs east to west (providing a good butterfly flight path) in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains. On trips at this time of year in the past years SEABA members have identified over 30 species in Box Canyon. Come and join us to hopefully see some interesting species before the real heat of late spring... more
Spring at Pena Blanca Lake is a very pretty time to visit. We will be looking for butterflies as we walk around the north and west sides of Pena Blanca Lake. We will park at three different locations on the lake and walk for periods of time at each stop. Our last stop will be at the launch ramp facility at the end of the paved road. From there, we will walk south along the west shore of the lake towards the dam. On past trips in the spring we have identified 30 or more species,... more
This is a very beautiful trail in the NW Tucson area. However, the first half mile is quite rocky and rugged, traversing multiple hills on the way to the canyon. This a very early trip, but the bladderpods are already blooming in the Tucson mountains, and the London Rocket mustards are out in the Tucson neighborhoods. We hope to see some early spring species of butterflies including Oranges, Blues, Checkered Whites, and maybe Sara Orangetips and Desert Marbles. The trail has some rough... more
Please arrive in time to sign the waiver form and take care of other matters so we can depart for Patagonia promptly at 8:00 a.m.
Bill was a dedicated butterflyer and committed SEABA member. He and Mary, his spouse, led many SEABA field trips, the last of which was to the Harshaw Creek Rabbitbrush area in October 2016. We will visit that locality on this trip, as well as others, depending on time and weather. I’m pleased to lead this trip in Bill’s memory.
Roads are... more
Trip Description:
If you want to visit one of the premier canyons in SE Arizona, this is it! Although it is a long drive (approximately 1.5 hours from the 1st meeting place), most years it is quite productive and at the very least extremely scenic. We don’t know what’s blooming now or what species we might see, but it’s always possible that some strays may have flown in from the south.
We will be walking for approximately 1.0 - 1.5 miles down the... more
Please join us for an early fall outing in one of the most beautiful canyons in SE Arizona, which is full of a variety of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. Dragons and damsels may include Forktails, Firetails, Rubyspots, Bluets and Dancers. Some of the butterfly species that we may find are: Swallowtails, Blues, Sulphurs, Admirals, Checkerspots, Sisters, Frittilaries, Metalmarks and a variety of Skippers, including the Huachuca Giant-Skipper. We may even get to see some... more
Although it has been dry so far in the area this year, the Seep Willows (Bacchris salicifolia) should in full bloom and loaded with butterflies! We will visit the seep willows in the creek bed along Harshaw Creek Road and end our day at the two Patagonia gardens. Join us for a day filled with butterflies so intent on nectaring that you can photograph them with a bad cell phone!
Type of terrain: Mostly level with some brushy areas and uneven rocky... more
This will be a relatively easy walk over a dirt trail and through the Ventana Canyon Resort to their butterfly garden.
Photo: Summer form Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe)
We will make several brief stops on the way up the Catalina Highway. We will stop at Molino Basin for Pipevine Swallowtails and other small bugs, if the desert honeysuckle is blooming. Our next stop will be Gordon Hirabayashi. If the stream is flowing, we will walk to the blooming Seep Willow in the wash. After this we will go up to Chihuahua Pines picnic area to see what is out. We may walk through General Hitchcock campground to look for Red Satyrs, Silver Spotted Skippers and other... more
The Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead Parking Lot has room for only ten cars, so carpooling from Fry’s is a good idea. There is one portable toilet in the lot. We will walk north along Davidson Canyon for about 0.4 miles to Cienega Creek, then walk upstream, mostly east. The walking is not too difficult and will crisscross the stream on some primitive trails, occasionally through bushes. Long pants and good hiking shoes are recommended. We will spend the majority of our time walking in the canyon... more
This is a great time to join other butterfly enthusiasts for a few hours enjoying the outdoors. We will drive to a very beautiful canyon that runs east to west (providing a good butterfly flight path) in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains. On trips at this time of year in the past years SEABA members have identified over 30 species in Box Canyon. Come and join us to hopefully see some interesting species before the real heat of late spring arrives.
Type of... more
Spring at Pena Blanca Lake is a very pretty time to visit. We will be looking for butterflies as we walk around the north and west sides of Pena Blanca Lake. We will park at three different locations on the lake and walk for periods of time at each stop. Our last stop will be at the launch ramp facility at the end of the paved road. From there, we will walk south along the west shore of the lake towards the dam. On past trips in the spring we have identified 30 or more species,... more
We’ll walk along the Arizona Trail and a sandy wash, approximately 1.5-2 mi. round trip. Rhus trilobata (Skunk Bush) is blooming but Manzanitas are largely through blooming. We’ll be looking for Brown Elfins, AZ Hairstreaks, Juniper Hairstreaks, Sara Orangetips, and possibly Spring Whites, as well as other species.
Type of terrain: Much of the walking will be along the rocky, sandy Arizona Trail. We’ll also spend time along the main wash, which is dry and sandy. ... more
This is a very beautiful trail in the northwest Tucson area where many wonderful vistas can be seen as we hike this interesting trail. We hope to see multiple spring species of butterflies including Emperors, Oranges, Blues, Checkerspots, Desert Marble and Sara Orangetips.
Type of terrain: This trip includes a lot of uneven rocky trail, especially the first 3/4 mile. The trail has some rough areas; trekking poles may be helpful
Our first stop will be the Desert Meadows Community Garden in Green Valley, then up to Proctor Road & maybe higher, depending on temperatures/weather. We will check Madera Canyon for early season butterflies.
Bring lunch, snacks, water, binoculars, personal items.
We hope the spring like weather has brought out the Manzanita blooms and several species of butterflies. We are very fortunate here in S. E. Arizona to have Brown Elfins occasionally found in and around the Manzanita during their spring brood. Please join us on the hunt for Brown Elfin and other species found in the spring which may include Blues, Queens, Sulfurs, Oranges and others. Last year we found only one Brown Elfin but it was a very chilly and wet day so we hope to find several this... more
Desert Museum entrance fees or membership required for entrance onto the grounds.
Keep an eye on the weather and CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR POSSIBLE WEATHER-RELATED CANCELLATION OF THIS FIELD TRIP.
Bring lunch, snacks, water, binoculars, personal items. Approximate stop time: 2pm.
We will explore this beautiful canyon and hope for a Chiricahua White fallout at the top. If the timing is right, there could be dozens of them of both sexes. Bring cameras, batteries, lunch, snacks, water, sun protection and personal items. Approximate return time to the bakery 2:30pm, Fry’s in Tucson 4pm.
The rabbitbrush field trip Sunday October 29 in memory of Bill Adams. Bill and Mary did a fabulous job as trip leaders. The last trip they led was to the rabbitbrush on Harshaw Creek October 29, 2016 – one year to the day from when this year’s trip will be. Bill was a dedicated butterflyer, a committed SEABA member, a successful businessman, and a gentleman. He used his extensive business experience to help guide SEABA. We’re fortunate to have had Bill as a member.
This annual fun... more
We’ll stop at Molino Basin, Chihuahua Pine and Willow Canyon for colorful flowers, foliage and butterflies.
On Sunday October 8th, 13 SEABA members and friends met at Garden Canyon in the Huachuca mountains to find butterflies. We succeeded in finding our target species, the Pine White. Weather was sunny and warm, and although the nectar sources were drying out, there were sufficient nectar and water sources to allow the group to identify 32 species. Thanks to Fred Heath and Jim Brock for your excellent help in spotting and identifying butterflies.
We will look for Rita Blues at Gordon Hirabayashi, with stops at other areas depending on nectar sources. Bring lunch, snacks, water, sun protection, binoculars, cameras, and personal items.
If you want to visit one of the premier canyons in SE Arizona, this is it! We will carpool from both meeting places. Although it is a long drive (approximately 1.5 hours from the 1st meeting place), most years it is quite productive and at the very least extremely scenic. We don’t know what’s blooming now or what species we might see, but it’salways possible that some strays may have blown in during the monsoons.
We will be walking for approximately 1.0 - 1.5 miles down the... more
Join Fred as he scouts some of the areas which he will cover on the NABA Patagonia Count two days later. As you know, this NABA count is almost always in the top three counts for species, and is known for recording many of the uncommon skippers unique to SE AZ. Don’t worry if you have skipper-phobia, there are lots of other gaudy butterflies to be found!
Trip description:
1) Day 1: Sunday, July 30th – 7:30AM - meet in Willcox, AZ on the restaurant side of the Travel Center of America Truckstop. Drive via NM78 over the Big Lue Mountains into New Mexico and then north to Alpine via US180. Various stops for butterflies along the way. Overnight in Springerville. Several motels are available in the Springerville area.
2) Day 2: Monday, July 31st – This day we will need to carpool into no more than... more
Trip description:
CANCELLED!!!!!
We will carpool from the meeting place to the higher elevations along the Mt. Lemmon highway in search of mid-summer butterflies, ending somewhere around Summerhaven or Mt. Bigelow. Actual stops will depend upon what is blooming and the availability of parking, since the Mt. Lemmon highway will undoubtedly be very busy this weekend.
We’ll meet at 7:30am at McDonald’s/Safeway parking lot at Tanque Verde & Catalina Highway to carpool up the mountains to about 7000’ elevation to look for Colorado Hairstreaks, Thicket Hairstreaks, AZ Hairstreaks and other beauties. Plan on all day in the field or leave when you need to.
We will Ping-Pong up the Catalina Highway making quick stops along the way to our main goal of finding Black Checkerspot. Meeting time and place will be shared with the first five people to contact the leader and register for a spot on this trip. Plan on 5-6 hours in the field with no stop for lunch (leader has to work later in afternoon). Bring snacks, water, etc.
Black Checkerspot photo by Larry Fellows
At Catalina State Park We will wander around the Sutherland Trail and various wet streambed areas. We will finish by 2pm.
Trip description: This is a great time to join your fellow butterfly enthusiasts for a few hours enjoying the outdoors. We will go to a very beautiful canyon that runs east to west (providing a good butterfly flight path) in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains. On recent trips in the past few weeks various SEABA members have identified over 30 species in Box Canyon. Come and join us to hopefully see some interesting species before the real heat of late spring... more
Trip description: Spring at Pena Blanca Lake is a very pretty time to visit. We will be looking for butterflies as we walk around the north and west sides of Pena Blanca Lake. We will park at three different locations on the lake and walk for periods of time at each stop. Our last stop will be at the launch ramp facility at the end of the paved road. From there, we will walk south along the west shore of the lake towards the dam. Past trips have identified various Sulphurs,... more
Trip Description: We’ll walk along the Arizona Trail and a sandy wash, approximately 1.5-2 mi. round trip. Rhus trilobata (Skunk Bush) is blooming but Manzanitas are largely through blooming. We’ll be looking for Brown Elfins, AZ Hairstreaks, Juniper Hairstreaks, Sara Orangetips, and possibly Spring Whites, as well as other species.
Type of terrain: Much of the walking will be along the rocky, sandy Arizona Trail. We’ll also spend... more
We will walk approximately 2.5 miles on rocky trails and paved road from the parking area to Cholla Wash, Esperero Trail to Rattlesnake Trail, down to the paved road, and back to our cars by 1pm.
Spring wildflowers are blooming, Rattlesnake Creek is flowing, and Streaky Skippers are flying. Numbers and species of butterflies are increasing daily. This will be an early scouting trip for the upcoming Sabino Canyon Spring Butterfly Count set for March 26.
This is a very beautiful trail in the northwest Tucson area where many wonderful vistas can be seen as we hike this interesting trail. We hope to see multiple spring species of butterflies including Emperors, Oranges, Blues, Checkerspots, Desert Marble and Sara Orangetips.
Type of terrain: Trail has some rough areas; trekking poles may be helpful.
We'll walk along the Arizona Trail and a sandy wash, approximately 1.5-2 mi. round trip. Manzanita and Rhus trilobata should both be blooming. We'll be looking for Brown Elfins, AZ Hairstreaks, Juniper Hairstreaks, Sara Orangetips, and possibly Spring Whites, along with other more common species.
Type of terrain: Much of the walking will be along the rocky, sandy Arizona Trail. We'll also spend time along the main wash, which will likely have quite a bit of water in... more
We will walk in on a wonderful trail near the Southern AZ Rescue Association. The Sabino Canyon main parking area gets very congested and it is difficult to find parking at that time of the morning. This meeting place is much easier for parking, plus the parking pass is not required, for those who don’t have one. We will enjoy the fragrance of desert mistletoe blooms along the way while searching for butterflies nectaring at this wildflower and others. We will look for early Spring flyers... more
We’ll walk the paved campground road, approximately 1.5 mi. round trip. Weather permitting we’ll search for early season flyers such as Sara Orangetips and Brown Elfins.
Type of terrain: Most of the walking will be along the paved road. Those who are able may choose to walk along the hillsides adjacent to the road, where there are no trails but only rocky grassy terrain.
This annual fun and exciting SEABA trip generally produces many species in a small and easily accessible area. The Rabbitbrush is now blooming in Harshaw Creek. We expect a fun day and multiple species of butterflies such as all three Ladies, various Skippers, Monarchs, Queens, Gulf Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary, Common and Tropical Buckeye and many other species including the possibility of one or two tropical strays. Last weekend on a scouting trip 40 species were seen.
We will... more
If you want to visit one of the premier canyons in SE Arizona, this is it! Although it is a long drive (approximately 1.5 hours from the 1st meeting place), most years it is quite productive and at the very least extremely scenic. We will be walking for approximately 1.0 - 1.5 miles down the canyon alonside the streambed. There is permanent flowing water in the canyon, beautiful rock formations, and high canyon walls to stimulate your senses. We will be looking for many species of... more
Meeting Places and Time: 8:00 AM in the McDonald’s parking lot located on Continental Rd. off I-19 in order to carpool down to Box Canyon or meet at 8:30AM at the Box Canyon bridge (8.0 miles west of AZ Hwy 83 on Greaterville road which becomes Box Canyon Road. Note that the last 4.7 miles are on a dirt road passable to passenger cars. Please arrive a few minutes early in order to sign the SEABA waiver form and to run... more
Hundreds of butterflies performed gracefully at Sabino Canyon for the Butterfly Happiness Field Trip. Participants wandered through Sonoran desert scrub vegetation with flowering paperflower, milkweed, desert cassia, marina and other wildflowers doing well with decent monsoon rains. Sleepy Orange was observed egg-laying, and eggs of Cloudless Sulphur and caterpillars of both species were observed
The Group met trip leader Cindy Bethard at 8:20 AM at White Rock Campround near Peña Blanca Lake and searched the inflow wash and Thumb Rock cove areas for butterflies on a sunny, calm, and warm morning. Fifty-one species of butterflies were seen, including 3 unusual species sightings, which are highlighted in bold. Not all of the attendees saw all of the species. Other notable sightings were a Black Witch moth (Ascalapha odorata) and numerous very small Red-spotted Toads (... more
Monsoon clouds and cool weather set in just before noon, so the trip ended shortly after lunch. 21 species were identified by the group on the trip
The National Park Service and Sky Island Alliance are working to develop pollinator gardens at Tumacacori National Historical Park. They would like to better understand the species of insect pollinators that currently occur at the park. SEABA, other pollinator experts including persons from the U of A, Desert Museum and Alianza Mariposa Monarcha, as well as general nature enthusiasts were invited to participate in this dawn to after dark inventory. Five SEABA members met met At Tumacacori... more
The group met trip leader Fred Heath in Patagonia, AZ at 8:00 AM and made several stops along Harshaw Creek Road and gardens in Patagonia. Although we found a decent number of 36 species (list below), the number of individuals seemed somewhat low in general. Our most exciting discoveries were not butterflies, but a Black-tailed Rattlesnake found 1.5 feet up on a grass tussock and some Mexican Long-tongued Bats, one of which hung out in the open from a mesquite leaf allowing photographs. A... more
Sixty-eight species were found during the count on a partly cloudy and windy morning by the participants. Two species were new to the count, listed in bold type:
The group assembled in Willcox, AZ at 8:00 AM and made several stops on Mt. Graham between Wet Canyon and Hospital Flat. 46 species were identified by the group on the trip.
Twelve participants butterflied from Payson to Flagstaff, and then in the mountains surrounding Flagstaff.
We had a pleasant and liesurely trip to Madera Canyon. We saw more butterflies at Proctor than further up the canyon, but the trails were peaceful and quiet as soon as we got a few hundred yards from the parking lot. Although we did not see many species of butterflies, there were many wonderful opportunities to view other wildlife. We got great looks at a male varied bunting taking a bath in the stream not far from the Proctor parking lot. A few minutes later, we watched 5 white-tailed deer... more
The sixth annual NABA Spring Sabino Canyon/Santa Catalina Mtns butterfly count was held April 3, with 10 groups of butterfliers covering a range of habitats from Sonoran Desert lowland to mixed conifers, The weather was perfect with temperatures ranging from about 50 degrees to 80 degrees F. Winds were light. Although a wet El Nino winter was anticipated, we actually have had a very dry and warm winter, so many of our spring fliers were done for the year. A total of 61 species were found.... more
The weather was partly cloudy and slightly cool, with occasional breakouts of sunshine. Winds were light. We didn't see any butterflies until we got within 1/4 mile of the stream bed. Most butterflies seen were singles, although we did see three Sara Orangetips and multiple Empress Leilias. We hiked somewhat beyond the usual lunch spot, then came back and followed the stream bed for a while between the last two stream crossings.
On a cool and blustery day, we searched in vain for Brown Elfin (Callophrys augustinus) in the manzanitas at Molino Basin Campground on the Catalina Highway.
On a cool, sunny, and blustery day, a few hardy participants went in search of very early season butterflies along the paved tram trail in Sabino Canyon.
On a beautiful, sunny fall day, the group spent a short time in the gardens in Patagonia, made a quick search for butterflies along Red Mountain Road, and then spent the rest of the trip amidst the rabbitbrush in full bloom in Harshaw Creek Wash. Highlights of the day's sightings are in bold type.
On a special guided trip into Brown Canyon, we followed the creek and trail up to the arch in Brown Canyon. Brown Canyon is closed to the public unless accompanied by a Buenos Aires USFWS employee or Volunteer Guide. It was a lovely fall day in the canyon. Unusual butterflies seen are listed in bold type.
SEABA members joined Gail Morris of Monarchwatch.org in forays off the official boardwalk to tag migrating monarch butterflies. Although only a few monarchs were found and tagged, a good time was had by all who showed to help with this important endeavor. in addition to the Monarchs, 20 other species of butterflies were seen.
If you want to visit one of the premier canyons in SE Arizona, this is it! Although it is a long drive (approximately 1.5 hours from the 1st meeting place), most years it is quite productive and at the very least extremely scenic. We will be walking for approximately 1.0 - 1.5 miles down the canyon alonside the streambed. There is permanent flowing water in the canyon, beautiful rock formations, and high canyon walls to stimulate your senses. We will be looking for many species of... more
On a lovely fall day, we explored the trails and Madera Creek between Proctor trailhead and Madera Picnic Area and ended the trip with lunch and exploring the creek bed at the Mt. Wrightson Picnic Area at the end of the road.
The group broke up into small teams of 2-4 people and surveyed a number of canyons in the Santa Rita Mountains, including, Box, Florida, Madera, Montosa, and Gardner. The Santa Rita Mtns Fall count had 5 high species national counts, with Chiracahua White and Red-bordered Satyr being unique to the nation.
