Baseline's Field Guide
You may wonder why we care so much about bees and butterflies at Baseline. We have a radical vision that people and pollinators can not only coexist, but thrive together in an urban environment. In fact, it’s our intention to have more pollinators — and a greater variety of them — living here when Baseline is complete than when we first broke ground.
What is a pollinator district?
Bees, butterflies, and other small animals that pollinate plants are struggling to survive, which has an impact on our food sources.
In response to these challenges, Baseline’s developer, Realberry (formerly known as McWhinney), partnered with the Butterfly Pavilion to co-create Colorado’s first pollinator district — a community committed to conserving and improving habitat for pollinators in all aspects of development and operation.
You can learn about the 5 key elements of a pollinator district and how they are incorporated at Baseline by reading Why bees & butterflies matter at Baseline.
Hunt for Baseline's pollinators
Butterfly Pavilion evaluates Baseline’s progress each summer by documenting the health of our local pollinator populations — and you can help .
Pollinator BioBlitz
The Pollinator BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species of pollinators as possible within Baseline. For this project, we are including bees, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, and hummingbirds.
Your task is to collect photos of these tiny powerhouses throughout Baseline, including parks and streetscapes.
To participate, download the iNaturalist app on your smartphone or tablet (inaturalist.org and available through Google Play and the Apple store), then join the Baseline Pollinators project. Using iNaturalist is as easy as taking a photo with your smartphone. Use these tutorials to learn how to use the app.
If you are not able to use iNaturalist, you can still participate. Send your pollinator photos to Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion horticulture director, at ayarger@butterflies.org. If possible, please note where and when you took the photo. Thanks for helping us learn more about pollinators at Baseline.
Who lives at Baseline?
When surveying first began in 2019, there were only 11 pollinators at Baseline — and none of them were bees.
In 2022, the survey was repeated. Pollinators from 18 families were discovered, including 8 species of bees. (To learn more about that survey, read If You Plant It They Will Come.)
In 2025, they counted over 3,800 pollinators at Baseline, from 27 different families, including 16 species of bees. In fact, the Western Honey Bee accounted for 80% of the pollinators found at Baseline. That’s remarkable progress in just 6 years. Imagine what the numbers will be in 20, 30 or 50 years?
Below are a few of the flower lovers Baseline residents have helped identify. Click on an image to learn more about each one. We’ll add more images and pollinator bios each year. Watch for them in the B-line, our community newsletter, and in our Facebook group.
To help attract more pollinators and create pollinator gardens in your own yard, see our design guidelines. The plants included on the approved lists were specifically chosen to provide food, shelter and nurseries for a variety of local bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators.
White Cabbage Butterfly
Hunt's Bumble Bee
Two-Tailed Swallowtail
Drone Fly
Striped Sweat Bee
Mourning Cloak Butterfly
Colorado Soldier Beetle
Mining Bee
Leafcutter Bee
Painted Lady Butterfly
Digger Bee
Spider Wasp
