Butterfly Blitz

About Butterfly Blitz

Butterfly Blitz is a citizen science program with a mission to create an inventory of butterflies in the Credit River Watershed. Since its launch in 2019, our dedicated community of participants have submitted over 9,000 butterfly observation on iNaturalist. Through these observations, CVC can deepen our understanding of where different butterfly species can be found, determine which butterflies are locally rare or common, and understand if species are becoming more or less common over time.

By joining the iNaturalist project and sharing your observations, you’ll be contributing to an important project that will increase your own understanding of this important group of insects and promote the conservation and protection of butterflies for the future.

Butterfly Blitz ran as an intensive five-year summer program from 2019 to 2023 with a mix of group events and self-guided butterfly surveys. Starting in 2024, you can learn from our training resources at your own pace. You can continue to participate in Butterfly Blitz through self-guided surveys and by adding your observations to CVC’s Butterfly Blitz iNaturalist project.

Get Involved

We invite you to share information about your butterfly sightings in the Credit River Watershed through CVC’s Butterfly Blitz iNaturalist Project. Your butterfly sightings will add to our dataset and help us better understand butterflies in the area.

As a citizen scientist in the program, you’ll learn how to identify butterfly species in your backyard and neighbourhood. You can take part in your own time. The data you collect will help us learn important information about local butterfly populations.

Not an expert? Not a problem! Anyone can contribute to Butterfly Blitz, and it’s a great way to learn.

Participation Opportunities

To participate in the Butterfly Blitz program, complete the following steps.

Register for iNaturalist online. Create a profile using your email address, Facebook account or Google account.
Click on Community.
Select Projects. Search “CVC Butterfly Blitz”.
Click Join.

Online Training

Watch our Butterfly Blitz Training videos:

Our online resource kit includes:

Notes from the training videos, including: How to Find Butterflies, How to Identify Butterflies, How to use iNaturalist, Butterfly Photography, and How to Conduct Timed Surveys and use eButterfly
Species identification resources
Grid square map showing where more butterfly observations are needed
Species checklist of the butterflies of the Credit River Watershed
Timed survey form to use alongside timed surveys

iNaturalist Project

Submit photo observations of butterflies in the Credit River Watershed on your own time. Observations are welcome year-round.

Location: Anywhere in the Credit River Watershed
Time: Self-directed (any time)

Timed Surveys on eButterfly

To participate in this option, you’ll commit to completing four 15-minute butterfly surveys, on your own time, throughout the summer. You’ll submit your observations to CVC through the online platform eButterfly.

Location: Anywhere in the Credit River Watershed
Time: Self-directed (any time)

Learn about the biology, identification and habits of butterflies in our area, all while spending time enjoying nature.
Contribute data to help guide the protection and restoration of habitat in the Credit River Watershed.
Access online resources:
- Local butterfly species checklist
- Butterfly identification resources
- Map of areas in need of butterfly observations