It’s only the second week in April and, as strange as it may seem, I’m already writing about butterflies flying on the bird refuge, something I wasn’t expecting to do until the beginning of May.
Last week’s birdwatching trip around the auto tour route was a little slow for birds but, surprisingly, the 70-degree spring day did produce my first butterfly images of 2025, even though they are of the non-native cabbage white butterfly.
Nevertheless, I hope the resulting images posted here show there is beauty in all of nature’s creatures no matter if they belong there or not.
Introduced in the United States in 1860, the cabbage white butterfly has quickly adapted and spread throughout the country, including right here in Utah on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge where butterflies aren’t commonly thought of or even sought after by many of its summer visitors.
I’d like to change that in some way by encouraging any and all who visit both the 12-mile auto loop and nature trail behind the refuge visitors center to keep an eye out for at least some of the dozens of varieties of butterflies that adorn the refuge throughout the summer months.
Butterflies such as the iconic monarch, painted lady, morning cloak, the western pygmy blue (heralded as the smallest butterflies in the world by the way), and dozens of other species I have personally found and photographed can be found along the loop and nature trails at various times of the year.
In fact, there are times during the summer months when birdwatching takes a back seat to butterfly photography while I’m slowly driving the refuge auto tour route and one of those days was actually last week when I started to notice numerous cabbage white butterflies frolicking in the short roadside vegetation.
It was definitely a sight for sore eyes for this nature photographer who loves to capture butterflies on film almost as much as birds, almost that is.
Cabbage white butterflies overwinter in the pupal form, (commonly but mistakenly referred to as a cocoon which actually is the silk casing some butterflies spin around themselves before they pupate), which is why they are one of the first butterflies to emerge during spring when the temperatures warm up enough to finish miracle of metamorphosis.
They can be quite numerous locally but mostly thought of as pests in backyard gardens, however, since cabbage white butterflies do lay their eggs on and use broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage as well as weeds such as flixweed, garlic mustard, whitetop, and london rocket, just to name a few, as host plants for their caterpillars to feed upon as they grow until they pupate.
Depending on the region, cabbage white butterflies can have as many as three or even four broods each summer which is why they can be so numerous in various parts of the country where their breeding season can be a bit longer than other areas due to a warmer climate.
I will say it is quite strange to see butterflies so early in the year when very little vegetation has bloomed and, as a result, so little nectar is available for them to feed upon or lay their eggs on but spring is here and that means a summer full of butterflies is around the corner so no matter where you are, keep an eye out for these delicate winged beauties and see how many different species of butterflies you can find this summer in your neck of the woods.
Someday I hope to photograph and document every species of butterfly found on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge as I know I haven’t found them all yet.
If nature is your passion, including birds and butterflies, I offer you to head on over to our subscribe page and sign up for email notifications for future blog posts about the incredible natural world around us, both on and off of the famous Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
