Rick Borchelt
@rickborchelt.bsky.social
Science and natural history writer, field naturalist, garden and botany enthusiast. The Three B's: Birds, butterflies, and botany are key interests. Support citizen and community science!
New azure butterfly species named in tribute to slain Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...
October 25, 2025 at 6:24 PM
New azure butterfly species named in tribute to slain Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...
While the prevailing wisdom is that butterfly populations are in steep decline worldwide, a century and a half of observations in Indonesia found -- short term trends notwithstanding -- no overall declines in butterfly species richness on Sulawesi royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
October 17, 2025 at 4:19 PM
While the prevailing wisdom is that butterfly populations are in steep decline worldwide, a century and a half of observations in Indonesia found -- short term trends notwithstanding -- no overall declines in butterfly species richness on Sulawesi royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
One of the new (to me!) butterfly species I was able to observe on my recent Arizona trip, this one from Cave Creek Canyon. Ares Metalmark, Apodemia ares,
October 2, 2025 at 6:45 PM
One of the new (to me!) butterfly species I was able to observe on my recent Arizona trip, this one from Cave Creek Canyon. Ares Metalmark, Apodemia ares,
How rare butterflies show impacts of climate change on South Florida www.miamiherald.com/news/local/e...
September 30, 2025 at 8:37 PM
How rare butterflies show impacts of climate change on South Florida www.miamiherald.com/news/local/e...
New Study: Cold Winters Stop Species from Moving Northward Due to Climate Change www.idw-online.de/-DRTzAA
August 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
New Study: Cold Winters Stop Species from Moving Northward Due to Climate Change www.idw-online.de/-DRTzAA
Red-banded Hairstreak is Vermont's 120th confirmed butterfly species for the state's lep fauna val.vtecostudies.org/newsfeed/new...
August 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Red-banded Hairstreak is Vermont's 120th confirmed butterfly species for the state's lep fauna val.vtecostudies.org/newsfeed/new...
A rather steamy trip to the National Arboretum yesterday yielded this red-banded hairstreak “tail/rubbing” to distract predators with this “false head” complete w faux antennae
July 25, 2025 at 10:35 PM
A rather steamy trip to the National Arboretum yesterday yielded this red-banded hairstreak “tail/rubbing” to distract predators with this “false head” complete w faux antennae
Experts stunned after record-breaking surge in rare butterfly sightings: 'None of us want summer 2025 to ever end' <https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/purple-emperor-butterfly-population-uk/>
July 24, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Experts stunned after record-breaking surge in rare butterfly sightings: 'None of us want summer 2025 to ever end' <https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/purple-emperor-butterfly-population-uk/>
Dozens of Delaware Skippers (an S3 Vulnerable species in the State) today at MD’s Eastern Neck NWR
June 21, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Dozens of Delaware Skippers (an S3 Vulnerable species in the State) today at MD’s Eastern Neck NWR
A new report, co-authored by Washington State University conservation biologist Cheryl Schultz, provides a roadmap for recovering butterfly populations across the U.S. xerces.org/publications...
June 17, 2025 at 8:26 PM
A new report, co-authored by Washington State University conservation biologist Cheryl Schultz, provides a roadmap for recovering butterfly populations across the U.S. xerces.org/publications...
Eurasian Comma watching the tourists wander past obliviously at the Kew Waterlily House
June 4, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Eurasian Comma watching the tourists wander past obliviously at the Kew Waterlily House
David E. Dix: Kent State scientist details butterfly research, why it matters www.record-courier.com/story/opinio...
June 2, 2025 at 2:24 PM
David E. Dix: Kent State scientist details butterfly research, why it matters www.record-courier.com/story/opinio...
Variegation is all the rage in the Cruickshank Botanic Garden at the University of Aberdeen, where a Green-veined White (Pieris napi) rests on a variegated hosta
June 2, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Variegation is all the rage in the Cruickshank Botanic Garden at the University of Aberdeen, where a Green-veined White (Pieris napi) rests on a variegated hosta
Green-veined white was flying in numbers today over the heath at Well of the Lecht in Cairngorms NP. As soon as a cloud obscured the sun, even briefly, the whites would drop like stones into the vegetation. This one is nectaring at the larval host plant, cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis.
June 1, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Green-veined white was flying in numbers today over the heath at Well of the Lecht in Cairngorms NP. As soon as a cloud obscured the sun, even briefly, the whites would drop like stones into the vegetation. This one is nectaring at the larval host plant, cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis.
Brown Argus on the chalk grassland in South Downs NP (UK) are similarly coloured to female Common Blues but *much* harder to spot
May 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Brown Argus on the chalk grassland in South Downs NP (UK) are similarly coloured to female Common Blues but *much* harder to spot
One of many Green Hairstreaks ( Callophrys rubi, as the name suggests actually an elfin rather than a standard hairstreak) basking in a rare moment of sunshine at South Downs National Park UK
May 24, 2025 at 8:54 AM
One of many Green Hairstreaks ( Callophrys rubi, as the name suggests actually an elfin rather than a standard hairstreak) basking in a rare moment of sunshine at South Downs National Park UK
A fresh second-brood Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) egg-bombing a New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) bud cluster.
May 20, 2025 at 4:59 PM
A fresh second-brood Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) egg-bombing a New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) bud cluster.
Northern Cloudywings (Cecropterus pylades) are in flight in western MD now, timed (as usual) with the bloom of various brambles like blackberry and dewberry. Here's one hanging from another nectar source, four-leaved milkweed.
May 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Northern Cloudywings (Cecropterus pylades) are in flight in western MD now, timed (as usual) with the bloom of various brambles like blackberry and dewberry. Here's one hanging from another nectar source, four-leaved milkweed.
First Sachem of the year, this one in my College Park MD yard. Of course, iNat insists on appending "Huron" in front of Sachem (as in "Huron Sachem") which is totally unnecessary as there is NO OTHER SACHEM.
May 15, 2025 at 11:10 PM
First Sachem of the year, this one in my College Park MD yard. Of course, iNat insists on appending "Huron" in front of Sachem (as in "Huron Sachem") which is totally unnecessary as there is NO OTHER SACHEM.
A confiding Olympia Marble (S2 state rare status in Maryland) hangs out on my finger during the Green Ridge State Forest spring butterfly count yesterday. Note the rosy flush of a fresh individual. Photo credit Frank Boyle.
April 14, 2025 at 7:49 PM
A confiding Olympia Marble (S2 state rare status in Maryland) hangs out on my finger during the Green Ridge State Forest spring butterfly count yesterday. Note the rosy flush of a fresh individual. Photo credit Frank Boyle.
My candidate for the next official addition to the Maryland butterfly fauna list: Gemmed Satyr. Any day now; it's easily within 50 miles southeast and 10 miles or so west. They were flying in Wake Co NC over the weekend.
April 6, 2025 at 9:35 PM
My candidate for the next official addition to the Maryland butterfly fauna list: Gemmed Satyr. Any day now; it's easily within 50 miles southeast and 10 miles or so west. They were flying in Wake Co NC over the weekend.
Came down early for the @scitalkofficial.bsky.social meeting in Raleigh for a successful snake safari. Found my lifer Queensnake along the Eno River, a specialist predator on newly-molted crayfish. Here's one at top right above a puppy pile of common watersnakes.
April 3, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Came down early for the @scitalkofficial.bsky.social meeting in Raleigh for a successful snake safari. Found my lifer Queensnake along the Eno River, a specialist predator on newly-molted crayfish. Here's one at top right above a puppy pile of common watersnakes.
An early spring State Rare (S2) butterfly, Olympia Marble, in Allegany Co Maryland [Euchloe olympia]. 2025 March 29.
March 30, 2025 at 1:57 PM
An early spring State Rare (S2) butterfly, Olympia Marble, in Allegany Co Maryland [Euchloe olympia]. 2025 March 29.
Chemical ecologist Micah Freedman continues legacy of U of T Monarch butterfly research | Faculty of Arts & Science shar.es/agJYmt
March 21, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Chemical ecologist Micah Freedman continues legacy of U of T Monarch butterfly research | Faculty of Arts & Science shar.es/agJYmt
RSPB petitionsUK Government; any cuts to the farming budget would be a disaster for farmers and nature.https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/farming-petition-budget-cuts
February 24, 2025 at 6:28 PM
RSPB petitionsUK Government; any cuts to the farming budget would be a disaster for farmers and nature.https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/farming-petition-budget-cuts