Annual Charleston Butterfly Blitz
It's fun!
It's free!
It's outside!
The annual Charleston Butterfly Blitz is a community effort to record as many butterflies as possible in the Charleston, IL area during the last week of July.
All photos of butterflies submitted to iNaturalist that are observed in Coles County during that time period count toward the Blitz.
Check back for updates on the upcoming Butterfly Blitz 2027!
July 24 - Aug 1, 2027
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 videos and look at the video tutorials available on the iNaturalist website!
Step 1: Get the iNaturalist app and watch one of our 4 min videos on how to use it!
Step 2: Find and take pictures of butterflies!
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!
It's easy!
Submitting even one butterfly from Coles County found during Blitz week helps!
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!
Summaries of Previous Blitzes
(with yearly composite butterfly photos!)
iNaturalist Results of Past Blitzes
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.