On July 10th ten individuals gathered at the Niobrara Valley Preserve to conduct the 35th consecutive annual butterfly count. Participants included Neil Dankert, Jonathan and Bennett Nikkila, Jen Corman (NE G&P), and Jojo Morelli, Krystal Church, Sanketh Menon, Kevin Meyer, Paul Stofferahn and Chris Helzer, all of the Nature Conservancy. This year’s count was heldContinue reading “Niobrara Valley Preserve 35th annual butterfly count”
Category Archives: Butterfly Hunting Trips
Blaine County Records
Last Sunday (July 9) myself, Jonathan and Bennett Nikkila drove to the Niobrara Valley Preserve to do the annual butterfly count the next day. On the way we stopped at the North Loup River just north of Brewster in Blaine County to stretch our legs and check out some wet highway ditches that have beenContinue reading “Blaine County Records”
Invasion of the California Tortoiseshells
How to follow up with the first Mulberry Wing Skipper photographed in Nebraska? Colin Croft was kind enough to share his experience from July 11. With a relatively milder day forecast for Monday July 11th, I headed off north into SiouxCounty from Scottsbluff/Gering to check up on my little quarter section of pasture about15 milesContinue reading “Invasion of the California Tortoiseshells”
Nebraska’s Rarest Butterfly – Mulberry Wing Skipper Photographed
Back in 2001 I was prowling Boone County’s back roads looking for county records. I had already had some success in Nance County along the Loup River south of Fullerton but Boone County was proving to be more difficult. Then I happened upon a marsh on Beaver Valley Road west of Petersburg. It was aContinue reading “Nebraska’s Rarest Butterfly – Mulberry Wing Skipper Photographed”
Niobrara Valley Preserve 2022 Butterfly Count
On July 6 seven intrepid observers set out on the Niobrara Valley Preserve’s 34th annual butterfly count. Conditions were incredibly dry (perhaps accounting for the lower overall numbers observed) but we were able to record 28 species and 161 individual butterflies. These totals fell roughly in line with averages for the last 10 years (26.8Continue reading “Niobrara Valley Preserve 2022 Butterfly Count”
Western Nebraska: Good for family & butterflies
By Jonathan Nikkila Putting to use all the tips, tricks and ID help Neil Dankert has given me over the years, I spent a day during our family vacation to the Pine Ridge last week to hunt for Western Nebraska butterfly species. My family was staying at Ft. Robinson State Park, a great place forContinue reading “Western Nebraska: Good for family & butterflies”
Godspeed AEJZ927 et al
Thursday afternoon (9/16) we went looking for Monarch butterflies to tag during their migration to Mexico. Waiting for them to find our asters in the yard had not proven to be a winning strategy so we went to a patch of alfalfa where they had been numerous in the past. The weather was warm enoughContinue reading “Godspeed AEJZ927 et al”
Alfalfa Rules/Six New County Records
This past weekend Jennifer, I and the dog made a road trip to fill in a few gaps in the maps while the weather was still nice. We traveled to the Norfolk area with the number one goal of finding a Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice) in Boone County, the lone remaining county where it hadContinue reading “Alfalfa Rules/Six New County Records”
Painted Crescents by the Dozens!
This past Saturday (August 14) Jon Nikkila and I drove the back roads of the loess hills south of North Platte in search of Baird’s Swallowtails. We found none which, unless there is a late discovery makes this the second consecutive year without a Baird’s sighting. During our travels we decided to check out WapitiContinue reading “Painted Crescents by the Dozens!”
Two More County Records
Monday, after a weekend visit to Keller State Recreation Area northeast of Ainsworth, Pat and Diane Miller, Jen and I road tripped to Boyd County to check out the local butterfly fauna. We made our way to Hull Lake SWMA, near a highway but still off the beaten path. Butterflies were not abundant but weContinue reading “Two More County Records”