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”
Tag Archives: Lethe anthedon
Cedar County Bonanza
Recently Steve Spomer (UNL) came in contact with an amazing moth enthusiast in Cedar County. It turns out that Eric Strehlow had a childhood interest in insects that was rekindled around 15 years ago. Since that time he has been hugely successful in developing and refining bait traps to attract moths in the oak woodlandsContinue reading “Cedar County Bonanza”
2021 Niobrara Valley Preserve Butterfly Count
On July 1 eight intrepid observers took advantage of perfect weather to participate in the Niobrara Valley Preserve’s annual butterfly count. They found 254 total butterflies belonging to 36 species. The Great Spangled Fritillary was the most common butterfly with 65 tallied. Four Nebraska Natural Heritage Program Tier 1 (globally most at risk of extinction)Continue reading “2021 Niobrara Valley Preserve Butterfly Count”
William Lewis Carpenter – Nebraska’s First Lepidopterist
While perhaps not the first lepidopterist, the earliest known listing of butterflies in Nebraska comes from W. L. Carpenter way back in 1880. Mr. Carpenter was born in Dunkirk New York in 1844 and served first in the US Navy and later the Army during the Civil War. After the war the Army reassigned himContinue reading “William Lewis Carpenter – Nebraska’s First Lepidopterist”
2020 – A look back (Season Summary)
Every year I compile a Season Summary to submit to the Lepidopterists’ Society highlighting new county/state records for butterflies, new moth species for the state and anything other interesting finds. I’ll briefly summarize what I reported this year. 2020 turned out to be a pretty good year diversity wise. Roughly a dozen observers recorded 113Continue reading “2020 – A look back (Season Summary)”
It Takes a Village – Six New Species
Lest anyone be confused the “Big Year” is not a solo effort. That was never more apparent than yesterday (July 1) when Jonathan Nikkila (hooray – you get pictures), my wife Jen and I went to Fontenelle Forest, Kinter’s Ford SWMA, Four Mile Creek SWMA and Table Rock SWMA. We started at Fontenelle Forest whereContinue reading “It Takes a Village – Six New Species”