Join us in the field this June!

 

Hunt's bumble bee queen. Photo by Sierra Hastings.

It's May, and the air is alive with the buzz of pollinators! Our winged pals have been busy, and so has our Utah Pollinator Pursuit community, having logged over 3,000 observations this month — double the number of observations made in May 2025!

Read on to learn how you can get even more involved in pollinator conservation with Utah Pollinator Pursuit and our partners.

Guided Pollinator Surveys

Join biologists from Sageland Collaborative and Utah’s Rare Insect Conservation Program for guided pollinator surveys this June!

We will be surveying along streams where we have previously done riverscape restoration work. These surveys help us understand how restoration efforts like beaver dam analogs benefit overall ecosystem health, including that of plants and pollinators.

Learn more and sign up for our first survey days below:

Parley's Creek

When: Wednesday, June 10 from 9am-12pm
Where: near Salt Lake City, UT

June 10 @ Parley's Creek

Red Hole Creek

When: Tuesday, June 23 from 9am-12pm
Where: near Coalville, UT

June 23 @ Red Hole Creek

Monarch or Mimic?

A monarch butterfly perches on a milkweed leaf. Photo by Bryant Olsen.

Did you see that? A flash of orange gliding through the warm summer air? It must've been a monarch butterfly! Or... was it? While our iNaturalist community has already logged 9 monarch butterfly observations to the Utah Pollinator Pursuit project this month, there are several butterflies with similar colors and patterns that might trip you up! Here are a few mimics you might see in Utah:

Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) by Jane Tatchell

Queen (Danaus gilippus) by @colorful-corvid

Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) by Mike Schijf

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) by @kwat

Remember to share your monarch photos (any life stage) to the Utah Friends of Monarchs Facebook page! The observer of the first monarch shared in each of Utah's 29 counties will win a cash prize. Find the full contest rules here.

Volunteer Resources

New to pollinator conservation? Get started by watching our training video and download the iNaturalist app so that you're all set to log pollinator observations while you're out and about in your own backyard, on a neighborhood stroll, or adventuring across Utah.

These resources and more can be found on the Native Plants & Pollinators program page!

Thank You

Thank you for the work you do to conserve Utah's precious pollinators!

Unable to join us in the field this year? Please consider supporting this and other conservation work through donating, sharing on social media or with family and friends, or volunteering your expertise in other capacities on the project. 

Please don't hesitate to email us at mary@sagelandcollaborative.org with any questions.

 
Sierra Hastings