BEMIDJI — Allison Barta fell in love with butterflies when she was a girl in the 1960s.
"They're just a wonderful part of this earth that we all need to appreciate," she said during a recent Bright Spot conversation on the KAXE Morning Show.
Although Barta's love of butterflies runs deep, it wasn't until 15 years ago when she started documenting the species she was seeing and reporting them to The Lepidopterist Society.
Barta has counted 102 species of butterflies since 2010. In 2025 alone, she saw 72 species. She will give a presentation on this year's discoveries at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, at Watermark Art Center in Bemidji. It's a precursor to the Monarch Butterfly Festival 1-4 p.m. Saturday at the Bemidji Veterans Home.
Those who follow the KAXE-KBXE Season Watch page on Facebook may be familiar with Barta's photos. She has taken over 60,000 of butterflies and shares many on the page. She said there are three questions to ask yourself when taking a photo of a butterfly:
1. How windy is it?
2. Is the butterfly moving?
3. Are you moving?
Barta has been known to spend 30 minutes with a butterfly if she really wants a photo.
"And usually when I'm looking at the results on my computer, I'm like, 'Blurry, blurry, blurry, dang it, blurry.' All of a sudden, I'll get to the one picture, and I'm like, 'Yes! I got it!'"
Barta said she's been amazed by some of the species she has seen, including a Gulf fritillary right in her yard between Cass Lake and Walker. This is a species that rarely makes it north of Missouri. She contacted a scientist, who told her she most likely had a record sighting.
If you are wondering how you can start seeing all kinds of different butterflies, Barta said, "If you just immerse yourself in nature, you start looking. And once you see one butterfly, all of a sudden, you'll see another one, and you'll see another one."
Listen to our full conversation above and check out a selection of Barta's photos below!
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The Bright Spot is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
