Dave Hallock, Eldora.  This spring has been as fickle as any for weather. What appeared to be a trajectory straight into summer was brought back to reality by a whopping storm filled with moisture-laden snow. Yes, we needed the moisture, particularly in the foothills.

An ecological highlight of April was a major migration of Painted Lady butterflies that came through the area in the middle of the month. These orange, black and white colored butterflies migrate from the deserts of the Southwest and Mexico. A migration of this magnitude is often triggered by strong winter rains in the deserts, which occurred this year. People reported large numbers of them migrating through Boulder County, including the Nederland area. I missed the migration here as I was in central Arizona - where the same migration occurred.

In mid-April of 2005 we were witness to one of the largest Painted Lady migrations ever recorded. I remember taking a walk north of Nederland one late April afternoon and noticed a continual stream of them all in flight heading north. There were hundreds, no, maybe thousands, some dropping down to the ground for a short time and then taking off again. Some stayed around our area and were seen throughout the summer, which will likely occur this year.

During the first part of May it appeared that nature was hurrying up. Aspen leafed out a few weeks earlier than normal (if there is a normal). Local botanist Diane Brown has several decades of records of when plants first bloom and most were on the early side, including candytuft, spring beauty, whiskbroom parsley, larkspur, leafy cinquefoil, and prairie smoke. The emergence of local butterfly species was also on the early side, some by three weeks.

Then the snowstorm hit, starting the night of May 17. It was a moisture-packed storm. Boulder naturalist Steve Jones recorded 4.15 inches of precipitation (snow plus rain) in a 24-hour period, the second highest 24-hour amount he has recorded in over 40 years of records (the highest occurring in September of 2013, which was over 8 inches - the big flood).

The benchmark snowstorm for our era occurred on April 14 and 15, 1921. A total of 95 inches of snow was recorded at Silver Lake in the City of Boulder Watershed. This storm set the North American record for snow in a twenty-four hour period: 76 inches fell on April 14.

The late archeologist Jim Benedict studied how periods of increased upslope storm activity may have affected early inhabitants of the Front Range high country and their game animals over the past 3,000 years. He found a correlation between incidents of low levels of human use of the high country, based on radiocarbon dates from prehistoric campsites and game-drive systems, with periods of high amounts of persistent snow (covering the ground for up to 40 weeks of the year in alpine areas), as indicated by lichen snowkill. He speculated that these periods saw greater amounts of spring snowstorms, combined with colder temperatures. One of the consequences of the greater snow cover was a major die off of elk, bighorn sheep, and mule deer, which in turn made the area less attractive to prehistoric people for periods of time until the game numbers recovered.

There are written accounts documenting a spring snowstorm that resulted in mass game die offs on the Front Range. It occurred in 1844. Accounts from trappers, traders, and Native Americans provide some testament to the event. Ceran St. Vrain reported over 11 feet of snow south of Colorado Springs. Almost six feet of snow fell near Denver, and Native American tradition, possibly referring to this event, placed the snow at “two ponies deep.” Accounts of mass die offs of bison, elk, deer, and antelope along the Front Range were numerous. Herds of buffalo and antelope walked round and round in the deep snow until they died.

I was expecting the recent snow to delay the migration of elk from their winter grounds along Magnolia Road to their transitional spring range - places like Arapaho Ranch and Tolland Ranch. But on the Saturday morning right after the storm, as I was driving past Nederland High School, elk were observed on the south-facing slopes of Park Hill on Arapaho Ranch. Driving further east past the High School and water treatment plant, there were numerous elk tracks in the snow on both sides of the road indicating where they had crossed. Why would they move higher in elevation right after the storm? Possibly to get to the south-facing slopes on the Arapaho Ranch, which cleared of snow before many other parts of the Nederland area. Their view of the landscape and what they value is likely much different from ours.

While the lower and central mountains melted fast, the tundra and krummholz are still full of snow. It is likely that nesting birds of the highest elevations will have low productivity this year. Some may decide to nest lower, provided there is suitable habitat. I keep hearing lots of White-crowned Sparrows around Nederland and Eldora; they normally nest in the stunted trees of the krummholz, but can also nest in willow shrub wetlands.

Following are some of the June nature happenings in the Nederland area. The last of the migrating birds will arrive in early June, these being Swainson’s Thrush, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Western Wood-pewee, and Black Swift. While hiking up the trail to Arapaho Pass, take a look over to the water fall on the opposite hillside that comes out of Diamond Lake; a small colony of black swifts nests behind the falls. You may see the swifts hunting for insects above the valley. Clark’s nutcrackers will already have young-on-the-wing, flying around in boisterous flocks.

Elk are calving. In late June and into July they will move up into the Indian Peaks. Moose generally calve in late May and early June. Short-tailed weasels (ermine) give birth in May, June and July. Pine squirrels are born from mid-May through mid-July. Marmot young emerge from their dens beginning in late June.

Butterflies can make a strong showing. Look for orange-tips, small white butterflies with bright orange tips, patrolling up and down canyons. Large swallowtails begin emerging, the beautiful tiger swallowtails generally found around willows and aspen. Common ringlets, common alpines and chryxus arctics are seen flitting in meadows. Parnassians, large white butterflies with black and orange spots who stay low to the ground, also emerge in meadows in June, often tied to the blooming of their host plant, stonecrop.

Common meadow flowers for June include larkspur, golden banner, wallflower, and mountain parsley.

Plants blooming on the tundra are found in areas uprooted and disturbed by pocket gophers, including mertensia, sky pilot, wallflower, alpine lily, and old-man-of-the-mountain. Pine trees produce lots of pollen throughout June: aaachoo!