Sighting for July 20, 2013

Jim Springer and I led a group from the Hunterdon Land Trust (HLT) on part of the Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve Count Circle. This is the second year of the count and this area was the least productive area from last year, but this year, we were almost immediately greeted by a Hackberry emperor, which puddled in the parking lot and posed for several pictures while we waited for the HLT group (which administers the Preserve) to join us. Jim Springer followed a mysterious black-colored swallowtail that seemed to vanish, but it vanished near the creek where he observed 7 puddling Eastern Tiger Swallowtails! Everyone showed up around 10 to start the count, which we conducted for about 45 minutes before moving on to the next HLT location.