Beginning Friday September 4th and continuing into Saturday September 5th, 2026, Friends of Black Bayou will be hosting a butterfly workshop alongside Craig Marks, our state Lepidopterist.
The workshop will be divided into two days; one being a classroom portion dedicated to learning, and the other dedicated to field studies and the butterfly count.
Friday's classroom portion will happen from 4-7 p.m. at the Conservation Learning center, while Saturday's counting will start at 9 a.m. at the Visitors' Center and lasting until approximately 3 p.m., stopping for a lunch break.
Costs for the workshop are $25 per individual and $35 for families, while the butterfly count by itself is $3 per individual.
Meanwhile, the Annual Photo Contest 2026 has already begun and will be continuing until October, where the photo submissions will need to be completed by October 1, 2026.
There are three divisions: adult-professional, adult-amateur, and youth. Categories include arthropods, birds, fungi, herps and fish, landscape, macro/micro, mammals, people on the refuge, and plants.
Photos can be taken at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, or if you'd prefer somewhere else, they can also be shot at D'Arbonne, Upper Ouachita, Handy Brake, and Tensas River National Wildlife Refuges are also available. Photos must be taken at one of these refuges.
The winners of the contest will be announced on October 17, 2026 at the Friends of Black Bayou Annual Fall Celebration. The Fall Celebration is held at 480 Richland Place in Monroe with fun activities like canoeing, birdhouse building, face-painting, and much more.
For more information on the butterfly workshop, visit louisianamasternaturalist.com. To see more about the 2026 photo contest, visit friendsofblackbayou.org.
