Sighting for February 16, 2022
Roy Cohutta
Hickory Mound Unit - Big Bend Wildlife Management Area
Taylor County, FL
- Cloudless Sulphur 10
- Red-banded Hairstreak 1
- American Snout 2
- Pearl Crescent 2
- Question Mark 10
- Southern Pearly-eye 1
- Monarch 7
- Queen 6
- Juvenal's Duskywing 1
Red-banded Hairstreak
Queen
Monarch, Queen
Juvenal's Duskywing
Monarch
Queen
Cloudless Sulphur
Not a lot going on here quite yet. Predominant nectar sources included two small flowers growing close to the ground. One little blue flower was in the violet family and the other flower was Southern Dewberry-Rubus trivialis. I was looking for buds and flowers on the trees, but did not see any-should be any day now though.
I ‘think’ I saw a Sleepy Orange and a Barred Yellow, but they were very brief looks from a distance.
I’m not completely convinced the male Duskywing in the photo is a Juvenal’s and not a Horace’s. But there is some gray overscaling and it is only February!
The camera-shy Question Marks flew into nearby trees and were followed and observed with butterfly binoculars.
Ran into famous butterfliers RS & BW! A good time was held by all.
Time: 1000-1600, Temperature: 64-75, Wind: SE 7-18MPH, Cloud Cover: 4-38%, A beautiful day.
Location: 30.042852447098248, -83.84252365945584