Sue Anderson, leader of the annual Ochoco Butterfly Count, gathers the participants into a pre-count circle and gives the ten of us volunteers, including Juba the dog (named after the Juba skipper), a morning pep talk prior to all of us heading out in the Ochoco National Forest where this count, sponsored by the Lane County Butterfly Club (a member chapter of the North American Butterfly Association), will happen.
“This is the 36th annual butterfly count and as citizen scientists we need this survey to help plan for what’s coming up,” says Anderson. We understand her message well considering the current dysfunctional status of the current administration, and that the future for butterflies is very murky. “We may now be the leaders.”
Anderson passes out copies of an article from the journal Science, which focused on a comprehensive assessment by numerous scientists highlighting the decline of butterfly populations in the United States. Even the charismatic monarch butterfly isn’t immune from impacts and was proposed for listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last December under the Threatened and Endangered Species Act.
So, with a sense of urgency, the group splits up to cover more ground and our band heads towards Big Summit Prairie with numerous stops along the way.
Our first stop is in a small meadow near the old Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Mill Creek. The skies are overcast and the temperature is a bit below 60 F, not exactly ideal butterflying weather. Close to this meadow, a group of boondockers watch this morning gaggle of teenagers and adults swishing nets through the tall grass trying to stir up some butterfly action. We find just a few butterflies such as field crescents and Boisduval’s blue before we depart.
At our next few stops, the sun has melted away the clouds and the butterflies have become more active. It’s a good thing we’ve got several teens and young adults in the group, as the stops require some scrambling up steep banks or running after butterflies that Anderson points out. We add western sulphur, snowberry checkerspot, western tiger swallowtail, more field crescents, and others. Some are identified by sight, while others are netted then in the hand by Anderson and Amanda Egertson, the Deschutes Land Trust’s stewardship director, for identification.
At another stop by the Lookout Mountain trailhead, we searched a nearby meadow that turns up purplish copper, greenish blue, spreadwing skipper, and others. It’s difficult to follow exactly which butterflies have been seen, but Anderson keeps track of the species and numbers while Egertson provides some identification tips on the harder-to-identify species. She points out the “liver-colored spots” on the underside wings of the Edith’s copper, a small butterfly that we find nectaring on the wildflower parsnipflower buckwheat.
Anderson adds a good mnemonic to help identify the satyr anglewing, a larger species of butterfly with a very ragged and uneven edge to the wings that gets netted at one stop. “The white mark on the underside of the satyr’s hind wing looks like a telephone, so remember the phrase, ‘What did he say to her’ as a way to help identify this species,'” said Anderson.
Butterflies are amazing creatures, having evolved over 100 million years ago. Though their flight and physical appearance makes them seem fragile, these are resilient creatures. They’ve survived the mass extinction of dinosaurs, but are now in decline mainly due to human impacts and alteration of habitats. The Science article rings as a warning bell. The time to conserve habitat and minimize pesticide use is still upon us, and the survival of species such as the monarch butterfly depends upon our call to action.
Eventually, we meet up with the other group at the Crooked River Bridge on the east end of Big Summit Prairie. Everyone is tired; it’s been a long day zig-zagging after butterflies in these mountain meadows. Though I don’t know what the totals are, I’m guessing that we observed over 35 species of butterflies on this 36th annual butterfly chase across the Ochocos. A good day was had by all.
This article appears in Source Weekly July 3, 2025.
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