Category Archives: Uncategorized

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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