It’s the hottest month of the year in Louisiana, and the butterflies love it! Actually, July is just as hot, but by August we’re really tired of it, so maybe it just seems worse. Whatever. Don’t get hooked on butterfly counting if you can’t take the heat. As August approached last summer, I set out to do some butterfly counting on my own. I had learned that Morehouse Parish, which neighbors my home Ouachita Parish, was “under-reported” when it comes to butterflies. In other words, not much butterfly counting has been done there and so the list of known species…

On a cool January morning in 2015, I headed into the Kisatchie National Forest on ATV trail that leads to a longleaf pine plantation about three-quarters of a mile in. I had parked a few yards behind me, answered a phone call, then started walking, and was still fiddling with my camera, checking the settings as I walked. Suddenly a deer burst out of thick cover to my left and ran across the road in front of me, all rimmed in early morning light. Do you see it? Of course you do. I pray I will have enough time on…