W as in....

Wood-Nymph.

There are 4 different butterflies in the Wood-Nymph category. This one is a Common Wood-Nymph. They are usually found on the edge of woodland areas and in fields in the eastern part of the country. The range map shows them throughout most of the U.S. and into Canada. They do not seem to be in the southern parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California.


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Viceroy...as in a Viceroy butterfly

The Viceroy looks very much like a Monarch. There are several differences, but the two most immediately obvious are size and a a black postmedian band across the hindwing. The wingspan of a Viceroy is 2 5/8 to 3 inches, and a Monarch is 3 1/2 to 4 inches. To translate what a black postmedian band is, it's a black stripe on the lower wing. This black stripe can be faint or lacking.


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A Monarch for comparison

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Upland sandpiper...

In the post immediately below this one, I introduced the Nebraska Sandhills. One of the birds often seen there is the Upland sandpiper. The very first time I saw one, it was sitting on a post like this one


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The Upland sandpiper is one of the few shorebirds that seems to be disinterested in water. They breed and feed in prairies and grasslands. They are typically seen standing on fence posts or in tallgrass, midgrass and shortgrass prairies.


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The number of Upland sandpipers have declined as grasslands have been converted to cropland.

They usually arrive in Nebraska during the latter part of March, and migrate south by middle, late October. They are usually solitary, but as they ready for migration to South America, they "flock up".

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