Recent sightings

EPerry & RWarner from 9:15a to 3:45p. Hot with 75% sun. Cemetery Road proved the best spot and a return afternoon look at it before leaving produced the two dotted skippers and three more Meske’s Skippers. Major nectar sources are Coastal Plain Honeycomb Head, Carphephorus spp, Liatris spp., Summer Farewell, Pickerelweed, and Bidens alba. No Arogos Skippers to be found.

Morning low temerature of 31 degrees with a heavy frost. Afternoon high of 58 degrees under partly sunny skies.

First sun today since Monday’s cold front. 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. 70-74 degrees, northerly breeze. LCooper

1:30 - 1:40 PM

Finally a perfect day for butterflying. Little wind, no clouds and between 55-60 degrees. We had snow and freezing temps on Sunday so great to see anything. This was our weekly walk through Lauritzen Gardens. Today saw a Gorgone Checkerspot for the first time in the gardens. That makes 4 new butterflies for the garden this year.

Few nectar sources available.

Full sun, windy with temperature in the 50 s

I was surprised to find a fresh looking Long-tailed Skipper out with temperatures in the mid-50s.

previous night temps. in low to mid 30’s
temp. at time of observations 50
observed from 3 to 3:30 p.m.

Sunny, windy, cool. Variegated Fritillary usually abundant here late summer, however mostly absent this year.

only saw these three in a small patch of clover

On Oct. 14 we had over 3 inches of snow and then a low of 27 degrees so didn’t expect to see many butterflies if any today. We went out at noon and were our for 3 1/4 hours. High temperature of 60 degrees and no clouds.

I was unloading an apple tree that I had just bought and saw the butterfly fall (?) off the tree leaves and land ‘lifelessly’ in the cargo area of my Jeep. The weather had just turned from hot/summer-like (70s and 80s) to more seasonally cool (40s to low 50s), rainy, and windy. It was past dusk, raining harder, and turning windier and colder - far from suitable for a butterfly - so I figured I should try to save/revive the butterfly by keeping it inside. I placed the butterfly near a sunlamp and watched it fan out and warm (dry?) its wings and eventually ‘come to life’. I’ve now had it for more than three days. It is eating nectar (soaked in a cotton ball) and old watermelon.