July 12, 2025 – A tale of Two Fields

It was the best of fields, it was the worst of fields. Well, something like that anyways.

I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Joint Base Cape Cod, a once bustling military base, but now an active shared base with the Army, Coast Guard, National Guard, etc. This enormous parcel of land, situated in the center of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, is an example of just how to manage land for different habitats and do it well!

Our target species for the day was the Acadian Hairstreak. In Massachusetts, this is most likely the last place that these butterflies exist. Although we found none in 2024, they are relatively predictable to be in the same location every year. Having seen none last year, we were a bit concerned about this year, but were pretty quickly rewarded in our search with one individual, and it was a beauty!

Along with this excellent find, we found several other butterfly species like Edward’s Hairstreaks, Coral Hairstreaks, Monarchs, several Skipper species, etc. The place is loaded with some great tiger beetles, bees, birds of all types, etc. We also were able to find a few Walsh’s Digger Bees. Just a bee, right? Wrong. This location, through the great environmental restoration and management is one of two (the other is on Martha’s Vineyard island in MA) locations that this bee exists, east of Michigan. They are so incredibly specific where they live! They need a location that is sandplain grassland with yellow wild indigo growing. JBCC offers the perfect habitat for them and it is no surprise that they are there.

That was the best of fields…

From there, I went on to visit Nasketucket Bay State Reservation in Mattapoisett, MA. Here I found the worst of fields.

This location once was a fantastic place to see butterflies all season long. Mismanagement of the property has allowed more non-native invasive plants to take over the “pollinator field” and all along the entire walking trail system. Finding a butterfly is like a needle in a haystack. I did manage to see one Monarch and a couple of skippers and an eastern cottontail rabbit, but not much else. I am always hopeful when I go here, but lately it is a let down. My last guided walk of the season is there on Wednesday and I don’t particularly look forward to it. Hopefully I can show people what NOT to do and teach them about butterflies more than show them butterflies.