Author Archives: the roused bear

About the roused bear

Nature photographer from central Iowa.

Butterfly Big Year AAR

Posted on November 3, 2022 by the roused bear

The butterfly big year is over. Here is my After Action Report. This is what I did, what went right, what went wrong, and what I would do different if I wanted to do it again. My goal was to … Continue reading →

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Chasing the Elusive Red Admiral–Big Year Update #16

Posted on September 24, 2022 by the roused bear

With summer ending I wanted to make one last trip. This time, rather than visiting some new location I thought I would visit a couple of sites I had been to before. I planned to visit the Barkhausen-Cache River Wetlands … Continue reading →

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Big Year Update #15: Two Safeties and a Field Goal

Posted on September 6, 2022 by the roused bear

My butterfly big year is not over yet, but it will be sometime soon. I may or may not do another trip–I haven’t decided yet. My big year is starting to feel in some ways like Saturday’s football game between … Continue reading →

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A Little Butterfly for the Big Year–Update #14

Posted on August 17, 2022 by the roused bear

I decided to take another trip to Missouri for a very special butterfly. When I started the butterfly big year in April, I went to Cassville, MO and Roaring River State Park where I photographed my first butterflies of the … Continue reading →

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Hiding in Plain Sight–Big Year Update 13

Posted on August 4, 2022 by the roused bear

One of the things I have found surprising about my butterfly big year is the difficulty I have had finding and photographing some normally common species. I got quick glimpses of a red admiral on a couple of occasions, but … Continue reading →

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Chasing Butterflies at Home–Big Year Update 12

Posted on July 28, 2022 by the roused bear

I have been trying to add to my butterfly list by visiting places near home, and it has been a little frustrating. I did get a Peck’ skipper: This was in the soft mud along the Des Moines River, north … Continue reading →

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Nebraska–It’s Not For Everyone. Big Year Update 11

Posted on July 19, 2022 by the roused bear

On the trip home from Bugshot Montana I wanted to spend some time in Nebraska looking for butterflies. I picked an area called Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and planned to stay in a hotel that was about 25 miles … Continue reading →

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Bugshot Montana

Posted on July 16, 2022 by the roused bear

Montana is outside of the range for my butterfly big year, so any butterflies I found at Bugshot Montana don’t count. Bugshot workshops are conducted at different venues–they have one or two domestic and one international workshop per year. There … Continue reading →

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South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana–Big Year Update 10

Posted on July 13, 2022 by the roused bear

I signed up for an event/workshop called Bugshot Montana, which was held from July 7 to July 10. Bugshot workshops are close-up photography workshops where participants learn all kinds of techniques for taking pictures of tiny critters. I will post … Continue reading →

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Minnesota Butterflies–Butterfly Big Year Update #9

Posted on June 24, 2022 by the roused bear

Sax-Zim Bog looked like a promising butterfly area when I was surfing through the web for a good place to go in Minnesota. (Slap). Did I mention that there are mosquitos in Minnesota (Slap)? When you get in the shade … Continue reading →

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