Neil BjörklundJun 711 minA Boy and His ButterflyEarlier this spring, I learned in an unexpected way about an obscure disease called 4H Leukodystrophy. It is an inherited genetic...
Neil BjörklundApr 299 minSearching for SpringThis year, just when we seemed to be heading for the most severe drought in Oregon history, winter seemed to wake up and say "oh, wait...
Neil BjörklundAug 15, 20215 minSilverspottingThe Oregon Silverspot (Argynnis zerene hippolyta) is a subspecies of the Zerene Fritillary (Argynnis zerene), found along the Oregon...
Neil BjörklundAug 8, 202112 minPuttin' on the FritsHere in Oregon, as summer pushes on into July and early August, we get into smoke season, but we also get into the season of nymphalids...
Neil BjörklundJul 14, 202110 minThe Mysterious Case of the Vanishing CheckerspotI was packing for a trip to the southern Blue Mountains to (hopefully) photograph Garita Skipperlings for the first time, when I got the...
Neil BjörklundJul 10, 20218 minThe Tao of SkipperlingsThe Taoist Masters of old speak of the principle of Wu wei, or non-doing, as being central to their way of understanding how the world is...
Neil BjörklundJun 27, 202113 minHeat Zombie and the Bakeoven ButterfliesAs a second generation native Oregonian, I have always felt some kind of civic duty to photograph the Oregon Swallowtail, our state insect..
Neil BjörklundJun 6, 20216 minHunting for the GoldIsn't it curious how sometimes when we are looking for one thing, we often find something else that is equally satisfying?
Neil BjörklundMay 3, 20215 minChasing Our SwallowtailMy 2021 field season started quite a bit later than I'd planned, and sadly I had to skip a trip to the Illinois River in April in search...
Neil BjörklundSep 27, 20205 minSeeking Answers In The High PlacesIt's 10 am on August 23, and I've just arrived at the bottom of the tramway that climbs 3,300 feet up to the top of Mount Howard, in the...
Neil BjörklundSep 15, 20209 minI Got Those Low-down, High Elevation BluesAndy Warren's monumental review of Oregon's butterflies (Butterflies of Oregon, Their Taxonomy, Distribution and Biology) not only has...
Neil BjörklundAug 5, 20206 minThe 600 ClubIn American major league baseball, the group of players who have hit 600 or more career home runs is an elite and very small group. Just...
Neil BjörklundJul 28, 20205 minThe Sternitzky EffectThe Mountain Parnassian is a denizen of steep, high elevation meadows with rocky outcroppings that support its host plants in the genus...
Neil BjörklundJul 7, 20205 minWindsweptAndy Warren describes the habitat of the Nevada Skipper (Hesperia nevada) as dry, windblown summits of peaks and ridges, usually above...
Neil BjörklundJun 29, 20206 minLa Garita EscondidaBack in 2004, I saw one Garita Skipperling (Oarisma garita) in what was then an unkempt lawn in front of an abandoned motel in Minam...
Neil BjörklundJun 15, 20206 minAn Eight Dollar DealJust west of the town of Selma in Josephine County, Oregon is a rounded butte called Eight Dollar Mountain. Some say the name comes from...
Neil BjörklundJun 8, 20205 minThe Weeping Rocks of Oregon MountainAccording to California lepidopterist Ken Davenport, author of Butterflies of the Sierra Nevada, the Western Cloudywing is one of our...
Neil BjörklundMay 31, 20207 minThe Gold-HuntersWhen I packed up my Subaru and headed down to Jackson County to visit Kinney Creek this past week, I'd forgotten about the mining claims...
Neil BjörklundMay 15, 20204 minA Lingering SpringFor Oregon lepidopterists, butterfliers and butterfly photographers, spring is the time to venture into stream and river canyons in...
Neil BjörklundMay 7, 20203 minSmall is BeautifulThat is the title of a 1973 book by E.F. Schumacher that was very influential for me when I was in my early 20's. It gave me the...