At Thanksgiving—and all through the year—we remain incredibly grateful for your participation in our project. In spite of the difficulties of this last year, especially, your gifts have sustained us. In fact, your encouragement, vigorous defense and financial contributions have made all the difference in the world!
Because of you, we are not only succeeding in the face of adversity but pushing onward to even greater achievements.
THANK YOU for your kindness, your generosity and your commitment to our mission, goals and purpose. We are YOUR project, your environmental education and conservation organization, your verdant home away from home, and your values brought to life.
We cannot thank you enough for your love of butterflies and the National Butterfly Center.
Sincerely,
Marianna, Max, Luciano, Nestor, Omar, Dale, Stephanie, Randi and Marcelo
TEXAS BUTTERFLY FESTIVAL RECAP
In case you missed it, the 24th Annual Texas Butterfly Festival took place here November 2 – 5. We had a wonderful time welcoming returning guests and a whole lot of new ones, with guests hailing from 22 states! Although the Rio Grande Valley had been dry leading up to the event, our scouts scoured the region and everyone adjusted so that our field trips produced a total of 107 species!
Unfortunately, the ultra-rarities and US record butterflies failed to meet the festival schedule and began showing up in the week following…These include the Manuel’s Skipper, male and female Blomfild’s Beauty, the Hammock Skipper and Marius Hairstreak.
Next year, we celebrate the 25th Annual Texas Butterfly Festival, so please SPREAD THE WORD and SAVE THE DATE. The website should be updated and open for registration come May 1, 2020.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!
A YEAR FULL OF BUTTERFLIES
Thanks to artist and member, Marijane Curry, we have a special gift for those who choose to remember the National Butterfly Center during the holidays. We have a limited quantity of her whimsical, hand-pulled, custom, wood press butterfly calendars produced in Bucharest, Romania, for the first 75 people who donate $25 or more in support of our youth scholarship programs for indigent and underserved school children in South Texas.
Simply donate here and we will mail your calendar during the first week of December. If your wish for the calendar to be mailed out as a gift, please include the name and address of the person to whom it should be sent in the INSTRUCTIONS box near the bottom of the DONATE HERE page.
At an average charge of $5/student, your gift will help elementary and middle school students from campuses that lack resources for enrichment experiences, like field education, visit and learn here from our wonderful and enthusiastic, Project WILD-certified staff.
Each month features its own artistic rendition of a butterfly that may be found in the Rio Grande Valley. We hope these make you smile and warm your heart, as they do for us!
Announcing the Wild Gardening Festival
New for everyone interested in #GoodHabitatForming, the National Butterfly Center is launching a spring festival during the peak of wildflower season throughout Texas, this April 18-21, 2020. We’ve crafted a super slate of guest speakers and workshop leaders to teach gardeners of every experience level and interest how to make great use of whatever space they have to support butterflies, birds, bee and more!
We believe everyone can make the world a better place just by getting their hands dirty, and this festival, concurrent with national Earth Day celebrations, is designed to empower people to do just that. Please check out the Wild Gardening Festival, here; share it with friends and fellow gardeners in your community, and register today!
Butterfly Bonanza to Costa Rica
The National Butterfly Center is pleased to announce the first-ever, guided Butterfly Bonanza trip to Costa Rica with in-country host, Holbrook Travel. Together, we've planned an unparalleled excursion guaranteed to delight! Please join us on this 8 day-7 night journey, June 14-21, 2020, to explore some of the highlights of this tropical paradise, from the country's arid northwest to the lush lowlands of the Caribbean, near the border to Panama.
This program is the first of it’s kind designed uniquely to cater to butterfly enthusiasts, interested in experiencing world-renowned conservation projects, such as Santa Rosa National Park, where close to 1,500 butterfly species have been identified, with one of Latin America’s premier lepidopterists, Ricardo Murillo, who will serve as your expert environmental educator.
The fee for this all-inclusive adventures is $2,895 per person (airfare excluded). Full trip details, including deposits for reservations and deadlines are available here.
SAVE THE DATE:
25th Annual Texas Butterfly Festival
We racked up over 107 species and lots of precious memories last year, so join us for this all-inclusive BUTTERFLY BONANZA!!!
Registration and details coming soon.
