Watershed Stewardship – Coldstream Creek

Posted sighting and photo to Butterflies and Moths.gov website pending verification. I have sighted a few others in the past week, so I am confident in getting others posted but also hope to collect a few more photos. The neighborhood which I held out hope for collections will not be a possibility for a few weeks as the city conducted a mosquito fog/spray which will no doubt cause havoc with other species.

This will be uploaded to the Citizen Science website later today. I have found a few monarchs in the local area but the continued wet weather has not allowed for daytime drying conditions suitable for flight. This particular specimen was found in nearby flower bed. Monarch (Danaus plexippus) is fairly common in Iowa as there are milkweed plants in some of the riparian areas near stream beds and bordering ponds.

Collection of specimens will begin this weekend. It has been continuously rainy the past few days but drying conditions should make for better collecting. I will be assembling a capture box this weekend which should attract moths during the late night hours for inspection and photographing.

A nearby clover field will be the first stop after the rains stop. Butterfly activity is plentiful in that area.

I will be collecting and identifying moths and butterflies in the local area of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I will begin the collection in my neighborhood and expand to surrounding parks, meadows and woodlands as I progress through the project. It has been a creatively rainy June thus far but warm humid weather is not far off.

As summer begins this week we will be exploring the neighborhoods of eastern Iowa to see what is new from flowers blooming to gardens beginning to explode with growth and with them come the insects and rabbits familiar to everyone.