Category Archives: butterflies

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 →

Posted in butterflies, common buckeye, eastern tailed-blue, gray hairstreak, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

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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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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Butterfly Church–Butterfly Big Year Update #8

Posted on June 18, 2022 by the roused bear

I went to my Butterfly Church yesterday. It is a special place where I usually can find that feeling of peace that I don’t often have in my life. I chase butterflies there, but I also take a folding chair … Continue reading →

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The Butterfly Big Year has Started

Posted on April 21, 2022 by the roused bear

Birders sometimes do something called a “big year.” During a calendar year, they try to see and identify as many of the bird species in a particular area as they can. A few butterfliers have done something similar, most famously … Continue reading →

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How to find Henry’s Elfin In Iowa

Posted on April 5, 2022 by the roused bear

Spring is here, and with it are all the wonderful things like spring wildflowers, birds and frogs calling, and early butterflies. Many of Iowa’s butterflies are pretty common, and you will run across them even if you are not looking … Continue reading →

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More Insects

Posted on July 27, 2021 by the roused bear

Summer allows me to get out, sometimes for just a few minutes a day and sometimes for much longer. The critters that are out are not too rare, but can be quite spectacular never the less. These cabbage white butterflies … Continue reading →

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Another Day in the Prairie

Posted on July 5, 2021 by the roused bear

I went to Medora Prairie this morning, and did what I do–wandered around with a camera trying to find butterflies. And I found some. One of the first butterflies I saw was this coral hairstreak. It was a first-of-the year … Continue reading →

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I Love Milkweed!

Posted on June 19, 2021 by the roused bear

We have sixteen species of milkweed here in Iowa. Some are quite rare and are a special treat to find. Common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca is not rare, and is found in a lot of our degraded habitats. It often grows … Continue reading →

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