Charleston Butterfly Blitz 2026
July 25 - August 2
It's fun!
It's free!
It's easy!
Prizes!
The Charleston Butterfly Blitz 2026 is a community effort to record as many butterflies as possible in the Charleston, IL area from Saturday, July 25th to Sunday, August 2nd, 2025.
All photos of butterflies submitted to iNaturalist that are observed in Coles County during that time period will count toward the Blitz.
To sign up for iNaturalist, click on the button or download the iNaturalist app. Using the app is free & easy - check out our short tutorial video (below) and look at the video tutorials available on the iNaturalist website!
Step 1: Get iNaturalist app and watch our 4 min video on how to use it!
Step 2: Find and take pictures of butterflies in Coles County!
Good places to look are the UBI butterfly hotspots, unmown roadsides with flowers, Douglas Hart Nature Center, The Whiteside Garden, Warbler Bottoms (part of Warbler Ridge), and Fox Ridge State Park.
Step 3: Submit your butterfly photos to iNaturalist and follow your progress!
It's easy!
Submitting even one butterfly from Coles County found during Blitz week helps!
These Hotspots include sites at the Charleston Public Library, Reasor Park, Lake Charleston, Fox Ridge State Park, and along Lincoln Prairie Grass Trail (including trail heads at 6th street, North Park, and near Decker Springs road).
Click here for a map showing the location of these and other UBI Hotspots.
A map of all the sites is also at the bottom of our iNaturalist page.
By participating in the Blitz, you are helping identify and track the variety of butterflies in our area as well as contributing valuable, publicly accessible, scientific data on our butterfly populations!
Prizes!
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$250 gift certificate for most butterfly species submitted to iNaturalist
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$200 gift certificate for most butterfly observations submitted to iNaturalist
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free water bottle or t-shirt for top contributors to iNaturalist
Top contributors (follow your progress here) should contact UBI via Facebook Message or email at UButterflyInitiative@gmail.com after August 4th to arrange to pick up their prize.
Visit the UBI table at the Butterfly Festival at Lake Charleston on Saturday, Aug 2nd from 11am to 3pm to pick up your patch!
Everyone who submits at least:
-
one butterfly observation
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from Coles County
-
during the Blitz
to iNaturalist will receive this
Commemorative Embroidered Patch!
The Charleston Butterfly Blitz is co-sponsored by the Urban Butterfly Initiative, BIKE & HIKE-Charleston, Grand Prairie Friends, Douglas-Hart Nature Center, Coles County SWCD, the Grand Prairie Butterfly Club (join the group on Facebook!), the City of Charleston, Eastern Illinois University, and Fox Ridge State Park.