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Annual Butterfly Count
Each year we survey butterflies in the Rochester area to document their populations. (Scroll down to see photos from our 2023 count.) Our goal is to locate as many butterflies as possible during our official one day count. If you're an adult interested in butterflies you can help with this Citizen Science project. All participants need to be prepared for the weather and able to walk a mile or more on and off trails. Having close-focusing binoculars and/or a digital camera is also very helpful for identifying the butterflies.
We have several territories to check out, with Chester Woods being the biggest as it has excellent habitat. Novice volunteers are paired with an experienced team leader. If you're interested in participating, email editor@ZumbroValleyAudubon.org. Be sure to include your name & phone number so we can contact you to discuss participation options.
In 2024 our 26th Annual Count will be held Saturday, July 13.
See stats from 2023 and previous year's counts (Open Document Format )
Official Tally Sheet for our counts: Butterfly Count Tally Sheet (pdf)
Learn more about butterflies:
North American Butterfly Association
Wisconsin Butterflies
Butterflies of North America
Common Butterflies of Southeast Minnesota (PDF download)
Our 2023 Annual Butterfly Count was held Saturday, July 22
It was an excellent day (at least weather-wise) for our 25th Annual Butterfly Count in the Rochester area. Temps ranged from the 70s - mid 80s and it was sunny with a light breeze. Later in the day we got some much needed rain (and even some hail in spots), but we finished the count well before that happened.
We surveyed Chester Woods, Quarry Hill, Willow Creek, Essex Park and several smaller areas where we've had success in the past. Unfortunately the extreme drought conditions this summer may have affected our count. Butterfly numbers were very low nearly everywhere we searched. Many flowering plants that should be blooming had already gone to seed. Our volunteers did their best to search out every butterfly they could find and all combined we totaled 26 species and 451 individuals. For comparison, last year we found 32 species and 713 individuals.
Monarch numbers were quite low again this year - we only found 48. This is the 2nd year in a row that we've found fewer than 50 Monarch on count day. Hairstreaks are never abundant here, but this year we didn't find a single one of the 4 species normally found in our area. No Painted or American Ladies, only 4 Eastern Commas and very few Skippers were located. Cabbage Whites, Clouded Sulphurs, Summer Azures, Common Wood Nymphs and Great Spangled Fritillaries were seen in good numbers so that is hopeful. Every year is different and all we can do is hope for and end to the drought and better conditions next year.
We couldn't do this without our volunteers. Many thanks to Sandy Hokanson, Joel Dunnette, Anna Lovrien, Ruthann Yaeger, Jerry Pruett, Jim Peterson, Greg Munson, Peggy Menzel, John Weiss, Patty & John Trnka, Steve Dietz, Rose Braus, Bob Jessen, Greta G, Roberta Bumann, Joyce & Terry Grier, Sara Locher, Sue Wieseler and Eric Matteson. Also thanks to Chester Woods Park for the use of a Gator to get back to some of the remote areas of the park.
Here's what we found:
Black Swallowtail 9
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 13
Cabbage White 107
Clouded Sulphur 45
Orange Sulphur 11
American Copper 5
Gray Copper 1
Eastern Tailed Blue 6
Spring/Summer Azure 78
Great Spangled Fritillary 49
Aphrodite Fritillary 1
Pearl Crescent 6
Northern Crescent 10
Eastern Comma 4
Mourning Cloak 1
Red Admiral 6
Common Buckeye 1
Viceroy 4
Hackberry Emperor 1
Northern Pearly Eye 4
Eyed Brown 2
Little Wood Satyr 3
Common Wood Nymph 21
Monarch 48
Silver Spotted Skipper 2
Fiery Skipper 1
Unidentified Coppers 4
Unidentified Skippers 4
Unidentified Crescents 4
If you want to help butterflies, please consider creating a native plant garden in your backyard and refrain from using pesticides which kill all insects.
Photos contributed by: Sandy Hokanson, John Trnka, Terry Grier, Jerry Pruett, John Weiss
It was an excellent day (at least weather-wise) for our 25th Annual Butterfly Count in the Rochester area. Temps ranged from the 70s - mid 80s and it was sunny with a light breeze. Later in the day we got some much needed rain (and even some hail in spots), but we finished the count well before that happened.
We surveyed Chester Woods, Quarry Hill, Willow Creek, Essex Park and several smaller areas where we've had success in the past. Unfortunately the extreme drought conditions this summer may have affected our count. Butterfly numbers were very low nearly everywhere we searched. Many flowering plants that should be blooming had already gone to seed. Our volunteers did their best to search out every butterfly they could find and all combined we totaled 26 species and 451 individuals. For comparison, last year we found 32 species and 713 individuals.
Monarch numbers were quite low again this year - we only found 48. This is the 2nd year in a row that we've found fewer than 50 Monarch on count day. Hairstreaks are never abundant here, but this year we didn't find a single one of the 4 species normally found in our area. No Painted or American Ladies, only 4 Eastern Commas and very few Skippers were located. Cabbage Whites, Clouded Sulphurs, Summer Azures, Common Wood Nymphs and Great Spangled Fritillaries were seen in good numbers so that is hopeful. Every year is different and all we can do is hope for and end to the drought and better conditions next year.
We couldn't do this without our volunteers. Many thanks to Sandy Hokanson, Joel Dunnette, Anna Lovrien, Ruthann Yaeger, Jerry Pruett, Jim Peterson, Greg Munson, Peggy Menzel, John Weiss, Patty & John Trnka, Steve Dietz, Rose Braus, Bob Jessen, Greta G, Roberta Bumann, Joyce & Terry Grier, Sara Locher, Sue Wieseler and Eric Matteson. Also thanks to Chester Woods Park for the use of a Gator to get back to some of the remote areas of the park.
Here's what we found:
Black Swallowtail 9
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 13
Cabbage White 107
Clouded Sulphur 45
Orange Sulphur 11
American Copper 5
Gray Copper 1
Eastern Tailed Blue 6
Spring/Summer Azure 78
Great Spangled Fritillary 49
Aphrodite Fritillary 1
Pearl Crescent 6
Northern Crescent 10
Eastern Comma 4
Mourning Cloak 1
Red Admiral 6
Common Buckeye 1
Viceroy 4
Hackberry Emperor 1
Northern Pearly Eye 4
Eyed Brown 2
Little Wood Satyr 3
Common Wood Nymph 21
Monarch 48
Silver Spotted Skipper 2
Fiery Skipper 1
Unidentified Coppers 4
Unidentified Skippers 4
Unidentified Crescents 4
If you want to help butterflies, please consider creating a native plant garden in your backyard and refrain from using pesticides which kill all insects.
Photos contributed by: Sandy Hokanson, John Trnka, Terry Grier, Jerry Pruett, John Weiss
Our 2022 Annual Butterfly Count was held Sunday, July 24
Our 24th Annual Butterfly Survey encountered some challenges. First we had to reschedule as stormy (very stormy!) weather on the original date of July 23rd meant we couldn't count that day. Then one counter had to bow out due to a sprained ankle, and another couple contracted covid (mild cases, thankfully - and one of them was able to count fully masked and isolated from others). Finally, yet another counter became dehydrated and couldn't finish their territory. But our remaining counters rallied and headed out with clip boards in hand.
Temps were in the 70s, the sun was out and we enjoyed a cool northerly breeze - a nice change from the hot humid weather the previous week. We identified 30 species with a total of 460 individuals. (To compare, last year we found 32 species and 713 individuals - so this year's number are on the low side.) Over the past 24 years we've cumulatively found 68 species in our little corner of SE Minnesota, but never more than 42 in a single year (2007).
Monarchs were scarce this year with only 45 seen. On average we find 110 monarchs each year, though in 2018 we found 313. Numbers were low for many species. But Viceroys, Clouded Sulphurs, Northern Pearly Eyes, Eastern Tailed Blues and Azures all had count numbers close to average. Some great news - Terry Grier found a new species for our count this year - a Common Checkered Skipper - which isn't very common in our area (or maybe we just haven't been looking in the right places!
We found the following species:
Black Swallowtail - 4
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 3
Cabbage White - 86
Clouded Sulphur - 51
Orange Sulphur - 7
American Copper - 5
Coral Hairstreak - 1
Edwards Hairstreak - 2
Eastern Tailed Blue - 39
Spring/Summer Azure - 40
Great Spangled Fritillary- 16
Meadow Fritillary - 3
Pearl Crescent - 2
Northern Crescent - 21
Question Mark - 2
Eastern Comma - 5
American Lady - 2
Painted Lady - 2
Red Admiral - 6
Buckeye - 9
Viceroy - 14
Northern Pearly Eye - 21
Eyed Brown - 6
Common Wood Nymph - 43
Monarch -45
Silver Spotted Skipper - 2
Peck's Skipper - 1
Dun Skipper - 1
Delaware Skipper - 1
Common Checkered Skipper - 1
We'd like to thank Chester Woods Park for the use of a Gator to get to some of the remote areas of the park. Thanks also to our Citizen Science volunteers including: Anna Lovrien, Ruthann Yeager, Terry Grier, Sarah Locher, John Weiss, Joel Dunnette, Peggy Menzel, Sue Wieseler, Steve Dietz, Rosemary Braus & Sandy Hokanson.
Photos by Sandy Hokanson, Terry Grier, Sara Locher, John Weiss
Our 24th Annual Butterfly Survey encountered some challenges. First we had to reschedule as stormy (very stormy!) weather on the original date of July 23rd meant we couldn't count that day. Then one counter had to bow out due to a sprained ankle, and another couple contracted covid (mild cases, thankfully - and one of them was able to count fully masked and isolated from others). Finally, yet another counter became dehydrated and couldn't finish their territory. But our remaining counters rallied and headed out with clip boards in hand.
Temps were in the 70s, the sun was out and we enjoyed a cool northerly breeze - a nice change from the hot humid weather the previous week. We identified 30 species with a total of 460 individuals. (To compare, last year we found 32 species and 713 individuals - so this year's number are on the low side.) Over the past 24 years we've cumulatively found 68 species in our little corner of SE Minnesota, but never more than 42 in a single year (2007).
Monarchs were scarce this year with only 45 seen. On average we find 110 monarchs each year, though in 2018 we found 313. Numbers were low for many species. But Viceroys, Clouded Sulphurs, Northern Pearly Eyes, Eastern Tailed Blues and Azures all had count numbers close to average. Some great news - Terry Grier found a new species for our count this year - a Common Checkered Skipper - which isn't very common in our area (or maybe we just haven't been looking in the right places!
We found the following species:
Black Swallowtail - 4
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 3
Cabbage White - 86
Clouded Sulphur - 51
Orange Sulphur - 7
American Copper - 5
Coral Hairstreak - 1
Edwards Hairstreak - 2
Eastern Tailed Blue - 39
Spring/Summer Azure - 40
Great Spangled Fritillary- 16
Meadow Fritillary - 3
Pearl Crescent - 2
Northern Crescent - 21
Question Mark - 2
Eastern Comma - 5
American Lady - 2
Painted Lady - 2
Red Admiral - 6
Buckeye - 9
Viceroy - 14
Northern Pearly Eye - 21
Eyed Brown - 6
Common Wood Nymph - 43
Monarch -45
Silver Spotted Skipper - 2
Peck's Skipper - 1
Dun Skipper - 1
Delaware Skipper - 1
Common Checkered Skipper - 1
We'd like to thank Chester Woods Park for the use of a Gator to get to some of the remote areas of the park. Thanks also to our Citizen Science volunteers including: Anna Lovrien, Ruthann Yeager, Terry Grier, Sarah Locher, John Weiss, Joel Dunnette, Peggy Menzel, Sue Wieseler, Steve Dietz, Rosemary Braus & Sandy Hokanson.
Photos by Sandy Hokanson, Terry Grier, Sara Locher, John Weiss