PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson Land Trust Natural History Society will begin its 2015 season of evening programming at 7 p.m. Monday with a presentation by Robert Michael Pyle, award-winning nature writer, poet and butterfly expert.
“Butterflies of the Rain Forest and Rain Shadow” will be at the Cotton Building, 607 Water St.
The presentation is free and open to the public, though a $5 donation will help pay the costs for this and future programs.
Using photos to illustrate, Pyle — who has studied butterflies for decades — will discuss how particular species adapt to temperature and rainfall and interact with their companion plants.
Pyle will introduce the audience to many of the butterflies in the local region, both those adapted to the wet western greenwood and species that thrive east of the Cascades, where the rainfall drops off.
He also will discuss how changing climate is already altering the diversity and numbers of Northwest butterflies.
The Natural History Society is an offshoot organization of the Jefferson Land Trust.
It was founded in 2012 to foster exploration, appreciation, understanding and conservation of the diverse natural environments of the Olympic Peninsula and beyond.
For more information, contact Noreen Parks at 360-379-4007 or noreen.parks@gmail.com.
