Monarch butterfly on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. This adult monarch butterfly was nectaring on flowers of tapertip hawksbeard (Crepis acuminata), a native perennial forb. You can see how worn the edges of the wings are with a dull color from the loss of many scales during its journey here. This is likely the end of the road for this female monarch, as she will soon mate and lay eggs on showy milkweed plants here. This next generation of monarchs produced on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge will make the return trip in September to coastal California, where they will overwinter. Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. Taken 6/18/17 and posted on Flickr by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Mountain Bluebird on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. Taken on 6/10 and then posted on Flickr by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
An Uncas skipper (Hesperia uncas) nectaring on a rubber rabbitbrush at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. Taken on 8/16/16 and posted on Flickr by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Sagebrush Cicada (Okanagana luteobasalis) sitting on Rabbitbrush on the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge The Sagebrush Cicada life cycle is not the same as the 17 year cicada … these live as a larvae for seven years, then the pupae emerge as adults, mate, and lay eggs before dying. When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow down along a sagebrush root and live underground for 7 years. Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. Taken on 6/5/17 and posted on Flickr by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Yellow-headed blackbird on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. Taken on 6/8/17 & posted on Flickr by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.