"Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it."
― Nathaniel Hawthorne
With single-digit temperatures and a stiff windchill outside, I stayed indoors today and started working on 2025 year-in-review material. Big surprise, this one focuses on tiger beetles. It was a fairly average year: a few species I missed, a few I chose not to chase, and no real surprises. Still, it adds another year of context to the long-term patterns I've been paying attention to.
The first emerged species was Oblique-lined (above), found at Sauk Prairie State Recreational Area in mid-March. They were followed up by Festive (below) in early April.
Then Bronzed along the Wisconsin River ...
Big Sand were present there, too ...
After Spring Bird Migration, I found Northern Barrens at Spring Green ...
Though apparently dwindling at Pope Farm Conservancy and Indian Lake Park, I found a healthy population of Six-spotted at the UW Arboretum's Grady Tract ...
Hairy-necked along the Wisconsin River at Arena were plentiful ...
Right on time, though fewer in number, Sandy-stream were with them ...
Punctured were out late June ...
And Ghost around the same time ...
I didn't find any other new species until Twelve-spotted at Seagull Bar in August ...
Along with the Rhodensis subspecies of Hairy-necked ...
I encountered just a single Splendid Tiger Beetle during the spring emergence, but numbers were noticeably higher later in the summer at Spring Green ...
I tried to find Common Claybank and Virginia Metallic this year but came up empty, despite considerable effort at Spring Green — sometimes that's just how it goes. I didn't make any trips north for Cow Path or Long-lipped, though Mark & Dottie Johnson did find the latter at our reliable Chequamegon location during their annual fishing vacation.
Tiger beetle photography remains the main drive getting me out on the trail. My birding didn't suffer, though — despite not being a chaser or lister, I finished the year with my highest species count in about five years, somewhere in the 220–230 range, though I'd have to double-check the exact number. And I did get a life bird! Plenty of Wisconsin birders continue to chase 300 species each year, often by chasing reports and traveling widely, and a few surpassed it in 2025 — an impressive logistical effort, even if it isn't how I choose to bird. I'd rather invest my hours in the field than squander them chasing the road.
All images © 2025 Mike McDowell