June 2013 Sightings

86 degrees. Sunny, hot humid
Low overall count with a lot of singletons
Still no anglewings.

A couple of FOYs for me during the Howard County Dragonfly Count. Very hot, humid, sunny — highs in the low 90s. The checkerspot (photo by Beth Johnson) was a complete surprise, the species not being recorded from this area in some time.

2 unidentified swallowtails
1 unidentified sulpher
lots of blues — only recorded what I stopped to ID

Four Little Wood Satyrs nectaring on tree sap

Walked the southern end, northern end and a bit in the middle. A great place odonata, botany, and birds too. Also observed were several species of diurnal moths, possibly a Mustard White, Silvery Blue, Bog Copper (we were unable to photograph the 3) and a few Duskywing species that I need help with identifying.
Thank you so much to Sheila and Lew Rosenberg who submitted their sighting last spring and for making us aware of such a beautiful place.

Results of the Decatur Co. Count

The Little Wood-Satyrs were flying at dusk and the Juniper Hairstreak was very worn.

This Spotless Comma (Polygonia haroldii) was seen soaring overhead and landing in a mesic area. The normal distribution for this species is in the mountains around Mexico City. This is apparently a new U.S. record.

Ray Bruun and I worked the high mountain meadows east and south of Mt. Shasta today, mostly in Siskiyou County. We had the most ever Lustrous Coppers in the meadows. Also of note, we saw a greater fritillary taxa in early June which is early for them - Northwestern Fritillary.

Common Checkered Skipper was fresh and unusual this early and never expected at WPR. Third personal record. Indian Skippers all in one spot and not where I usually see them.

Rockland County Audubon Society birding trip.
Temps in the 80’s.
150 acres of tremendous habitat with little to show for it. The birds won species-wise 40 to 13.

The Banded Hairstreak was mint fresh, dropping out of the tree canopy to land on the damp lawn.

The Ursine Giant-Skippers are flying again at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center for the fourth year in a row.

Periodic survey with Groundskeeper Matt Ceplo.
Matt maintains large areas of butterfly and pollinator-friendly plants integrated with a first-class golf course.
72 degrees

Walking the trail and associated streambank along Northeast Branch from 3 pm - 6 pm. Sunny, warm, 75F. Much activity after the heavy rain two days ago. Nectar sources included brambles, Japanese honeysuckle, and dogbane just coming into flower.

Also observed at least 60 Baltimore larvae of various sizes and 4 pupae.
Sachem was a worn female.

In the morning before heavy rains set in, Tom Stock and I re-visited a patch of newly blooming dogbane to find good numbers of both Striped and Banded Hairstreaks under overcast skies and 73F. Photos by Tom Stock.

I drove back up to the lovely meadows south and east of Mt. Shasta to try and photograph a Tawny-edged Skipper. This small colony of Tawny-edged Skipper was refound by Dennis Holmes and described by MacNeill in the Lepidopterists’ Journal. It is apparently a disjunct population of Tawny-edged Skipper. Perhaps this is the only locale in California to photograph them. See the following document for details:
“The Journal Of the Lepidopterists’ Society”, Volume 47 Number 3, dated 1993 - “Comments on the Genus Polites…” for species and locale info.

2 Unknown Crescents

Weekly survey with Jane Lampkin. 72, humid with some sun
Early Appalachian; Juvenal’s showing their age; Common Ringlet is new for site

Delaware Skipper are rare in this area

Harris’ all fresh and all males. Indian, Long Dash, Peck’s and Hobomok Skippers nectaring on Blue Flag Iris

NABA count. Very unusual to see this many White Ms. The majority of them were nectaring on Erechtites hieracifolia - Fireweed. This is the only reliable place to see Appalachian Brown in our county. The park has received 8” of rain over the past week.

Species Identified by Lee A. Shoemaker and Larry Shaw:
Conditions: Sunny, warm, very few wildflowers or shrubs in bloom, very dry year, most of butterflies observed below were seen primarily in shady riparian habitats near a running stream or other damp water source.

Sightings recorded over 5 hours and 35 minutes.
Weather: 58°F-78°F, partly to mostly sunny, light winds
Habitat: Roads/trails through hilly mature oak-hickory forest

Good to see closer-to-average numbers after what has been a weak season so far here with lots of wet weather after last year’s drought.

Periodic survey.
With Jane Lampkin
75 and sunny
48 Zabulons with only 1 female Hobomok is remarkable
Still no Commas or Question Marks

1 Unknown White
1 Unknown Duskywing

Drive went from 5000-10000ft - various habitats

NABA-NJ field trip

Hot and muggy sunshine in the afternoon following morning rains; exploring the area with Tom Stock. Most of the time was spent at the public boat landing or a few hundred yards uphill at fallow fields supporting an abundance of dogbane and common milkweed in bloom. Easily more than 100 Banded Hairstreaks in this 3-acre area.

APAFR is in Polk and Highlands Counties. This is the NABA count. 7 participants. Georgia Satyr is rarely seen nectaring.

Brenda Inskeep also observed most species. The swallowtails were especially numerous and many were at small puddle-parties.

At home.

Most of the species were seen on the Taggart Lake loop and Lupine Meadow trail, but a few were seen along the main road at various pullouts.

Weekly survery.
Between rain showers. 72 with clouds and sun

Only two of the Zebra Swallowtails were fresh “summer” brood. Could not buy a Pearl Crescent today, very unusual.

Silvery Checkerspots fairly fresh, Banded Hairstreaks possibly emerged freshly this very day. Barely any skippers noted, but with little searching for them, other than seeing many worn Hobomoks in the wooded areas where the checkerspots live.

72 and sunny
Great Spangled Fritillaries emerged and all is right with the world.

Observations made from Washington Ditch, Jericho Ditch, and along Desert Rd. Besides the identified E.Commas & Q-Marks, I observed at least an additional 15 anglewings.

Start around 3:30
10+ UnID’d Yellow Swallowtail
2 UnID’d Coppers

Seen while in Mammoth Hot Springs.

A day ago there were no dragonflies, today there were hundreds of Baskettails and 8 other species including Twin-spotted Spiketail. The Pepper and Salt Skipper and Harvester were real surprises.

The temperature was around 70º F with variable clouds and winds for this trip from 2:15 - 4:00 pm. Much of this area is filled with milkweed and dogbane, just starting to bloom. This was a good area when I visited it for the first time last fall and looks promising for the summer as well.

Count was part of a pollinator survey

Periodic survey.
With Jane Lampkin
75 degrees
Red-banded Hairstreaks are uncommon in Rockland

Periodic survey
With Jane Lampkin
75 degrees

Very wet conditions. Common Milkweed not yet in bloom.

The main nectar source was dogbane, but did find a small but very productive stand of Common Milkweed. On the 12 or so Milkweed plants there were 3 Hoaries, 3 N.Cloudywings, 3 Indian, 2 Silver-spotted, & 2 Banded Hairstreaks

Scores of Hackberry Emperors around the lake and along the Lower Ted Lake trail

Beth Johnson, Tom Stock and I had a great day today at Eastern Neck NWR in Rock Hall MD (Kent Co.). Most of the leps we saw were in the Refuge butterfly garden, where nectar sources included white clover, common milkweed, orange milkweed (butterfly weed), pickerel week, coreopsis, and dogbane. The Coral Hairstreak was on common milkweed. We had 31 species for the day, including 7 FOYs in common for both me and Tom and Tom also got his FOY Red Admiral. Tom’s pics of Aaron’s Skipper and Coral Hairstreak are below.

Count was part of a pollinator survey

NABA count, 5 participants. White M Hairstreaks are having a very good year. Very large number of this species on this count surpassed previous week at Colt Creek State Park. Huge number of Zebra Heliconians as these continue to recover from freezes few years ago.

Temp. 82-89 F
Winds: 0-9 kts
Weather: partly cloudy, cloud cover at 70%
Count Duration: 3-5 hrs
Participants: Fred Allen, Jean Evoy, Bob Wilk, Dusty and Laurel Rhodes, Teresa Good, Mike Stanfield, Belinda Perry

First 2.25miles of trail — 7600ft - 8900ft
5+ UnID’d Yellow Swallowtails

Periodic Survey with Groundskeeper Matt Ceplo
76-83 - Sunny
FOS Northern Broken Dash is late this year.
Also 6 Black Swallowtail caterpillars and 3 eggs, all on Bronze Fennel. Picture sequence shows female ovipositing, Egg in context of fennel plant, and macro enlargement of egg.

10am-12noon walk

Weekly survey - 76 degrees
I reported an Oak Hairstreak from this site on 7/4/11.
Appalachian Azure ID is based on its size and worn condition. (The Summer Azures were fresh and smaller)

Dave and I strongly believe we saw and photographed a Columbine Duskywing today. It nectared on Pussy Toes, Buttercup, and Ox-eye Daisy within a few feet of a large patch of blooming Columbine. It was very active and hard to get near so accounting for the poor photos. The comparisons with many photos and descriptions in books and on the internet leaves us to reject Juvenal’s and Persius. Other factors such as upper and lower spotting, range, and color distribution seem to leave doubt that it could have been a Wild Indigo. We are returning to Camp 8 Rd. again today for more photos.

Saw beautiful, fresh Mourning Cloak immediately outside our radio studios in northern New Castle County about 1:30 p.m. on a beautiful sunny day.

My first Mourning Cloak of 2013, and the first time I’ve ever seen it immediately outside my workplace (and I’ve been here 8 years).

Periodic Survey
With Jane Lampkin
76 and sunny

Today we saw 4 Columbine Duskywings all flying near and/or landing on the plants themselves. More Columbine is beginning to flower in the area so I would think that soon there may be some eggs and caterpillars present. The site is a rocky outcrop a couple miles in, on the left side of Camp 8 Rd. To get to Camp 8 Rd. go south on CTH D from the village of Grand View on HWY 63 south of Ashland. The 2 photos, except for being slightly cropped, are as the camera saw them.

Just a brief visit while traveling, but the park had great habitat for woodland, riparian, and open habitat butterflies. The number of puddling Red Admiral was impressive.

With Jane Lampkin
78 and sunny
Some years, European Skippers are irruptive in Rockland meadows. We stopped counting after quickly reaching 100.

It was a beautiful day to be out, with temperatures of 75-80 and very little to no wind. This area is excellent for Great Spangled Fritillaries and Banded Hairstreaks. Normally, one can also see a couple of swallowtail species and a Question Mark or two, but these species have been scarce this year.

Meske’s skippers are usually abundant in Kisatchie NF in late June. At this time of year I usually see about 20 individuals. This year I counted 140 of them—a very large number for this species. Most were seen nectaring on pycnanthemum which which was blooming profusely along the main road through the forest.

The temperatures were low, probably never hitting 70 degrees. Frits are just starting to show up in Bunchgrass Valley and Lost Creek and with both locales being over 5000’ elevation, things are a little slow. Most of the mint is not ready yet…

2 UnID’d blue
UnID’d Frits
UnID’d Yellow Swallowtail
UnID’d Duskywing

pretty lousy for a first post-Sandy visit -could/should be about 10-15 species easy at this spot now….much vegetation dead or removed on this barrier island preserve. understory gone in many spots, still a lot of dead woody vegetation, trumpet vines pruned back, looks like all butterfly bushes were removed by the town. enough flowers blooming including orange milkweed to have been better. hopefully more stuff later this summer….

Bog Coppers getting late, with worn males and a few females seen and photos taken.

Common milkweed in full bloom. Sightings from the butterfly garden, Ingleside Recreation Area, Visitor’s Center, and parking area of Woods trail

We were surpised and elated to come accross our very first Baltimore Checkerspots ever on June 21 at the vernal pond in the central wetland of the Big Meadow in Shenandoah National Park. These two were siphoning nutrients from the damp mud. So cool! Observed by Mara Meisel and Rick Frederick.

2-hour walk: @ 9:15–11:15 a.m., beautiful sunny day; Banded Hairstreak rare for this location, more likely to see Red-banded Hairstreak; most butterflies fresh, but all Zabs were past their prime

Just a quick visit to see the Baltimores. So numerous they were hard to count. Just a rough estimate, and probably quite conservative. Also saw 2 pupae and one larva.
See American Butterflies Vol.17 No. 4 for my article on the colonization at this site.

1 UnID’d White

We had our butterfly count this morning. The Striped Hairstreak was a new species for us.

as part of the Christmas FL NABA count. Nine participants on this property. Cuban Crescent colony has been established for several years, north of where they are typically expected to be seen.

Photos by Dave Cutler.

Results from the Reelfoot Lake count. This is the third year in a row for Bronze Coppers. It appears they may have established a small but stable colony along Phillipy levee.

The Rocky Mt Parnassians were flying only in the zone of the last 100 vertical feet of the summit of Scott Mt.

Beth Johnson, Walter Gould, Tom Stock and I covered Sector 11 (mostly Little Bennett Regional Park plus a nearby private bog location) as part of the 25th annual western Montgomery Co. annual count. Highlights were Baltimore Checkerspot, Mulberry Wing, and Hobomok Skipper. Nectar sources included plentiful common milkweed and dogbane. Hairstreaks were almost absent. Overall, the various sectors of the count yielded up 42 species.

I did a preliminary look at the Spencer Meadows area before the official NABA Count today with the count compiler Joe Smith, and Ray Bruun. The conditions are very good down low at Child’s Meadows right now but will only improve the higher we get by count time.
I had an unexpected find. Great Arctic flies as an adult once every other year and it is always on an ‘even’ numbered year. So, this guy shouldn’t be out! But, there are always the ones that beat to a different drummer, so to speak. I expected to see a few this year but to photograph one is a little exciting.

Weekly survey
74-82 Bright sun
21 is an impressive number of Appalachian Browns. Five days ago I observed only 3.

9:15–10:15 a.m.; overcast to partly sunny

Periodic surveyv 80-85, high humidity
Cabbage Whites discounted, only five individuals/four species in two hours. For late June at a hot spot like this, extraordinary.

Hot, partly overcast day. 1000X as many grasshoppers as butterflies.

Hazy, hot, humid; several acres of dogbane along the entrance road to the WMA.

After a hard rain, several Eastern Tiger and Palamedes Swallowtails were imbibing from the remains of discarded fish that had nothing on them prior to the rain or a few days later when I returned and it was dry. “Seminole” Texan Crescent was a life butterfly at the subspecific level for anyone who cares.

Exceptionally hot and humid, hazy sunshine. Minimal nectar sources available; mostly roadside red clover and a small patch of dogbane. Great Purple Hairstreak was on the dogbane.

Weekly survey 84-88, humid
Tawny Emperor is very rare for Rockland.

Part of the Bull Creek NABA count, this list is species found only on Bull Creek. Area very dry and little nectar sources.

Part of Bull Creek NABA. Area wet and many nectar sources. It is not accessible except on foot unless with special permission.

This is part of the Bull Creek NABA count and covers only Forever Florida. Lots of nectar sources in open fields, pastures, pine flatwoods. Arogos Skippers are not accessible without walking to the conservation land and searching for them.

We found several Tawny Crescents on F.R. 248. The bug was pretty flighty but did settle down because of wind and I got a close-up with flash. Other butterflies in this report were seen on F.R. 236 and F.R. 407.

Trip to Hopkin’s Prairie and other locations within the NF with Lep Soc led by Lary Reeves. I saw all these species myself and these are my counts alone except Delaware Skipper which was reported to me by Karl Gardner. Other than that, I made no real attempt to record species encountered by others on the trip. There may have been another species or 2 of DW mixed in with Horace’s

Weekly survey
Mid 80’s - sun and threatening clouds
A remarkable 33 Appalachian Browns tops the 21 from 6/23/13. Some are worn already, others fresh. A gradual emergence?

Common milkweed across from the visitor’s center the best spot on the refuge at mid-day

Late afternoon (4 pm) following a series of severe thunderstorms. Still quite warm (80’s F) and very humid; mostly sunny. Nectar sources included red clover and a variety of escaped ornamentals near the parking lot. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was appalachiensis.

very friendly…saw one yesterday also.

Early morning visit to check on flight status of Edwards’ Hairstreak. Warm, partly cloudy, lower 80’s. Nectar sources included red and white clover, Cirsium, lespedeza. In the company of Tom Stock.

Old crop field adjacent to active field crops with standard old field flowers such as the likes of trefoil, white clover, knapweed, and fleabane. (Also numerous 17-year cicadas.) Abundances presented here are general for whole park, but specific counts were done in the different fields, and Meadow Frits exceeded 300 during one of the 40 min counts. See picture.

not seeing any new butterflies, but the familiar ones are welcome company.

This was a big day for Rocky Mountain Parnassians on Scott Mountain. This is a very localized population that can be found in the high mountains of the Siskiyous and Trinity mountains of Northern California. It is also found in Southern Oregon at Soda Mountain.
Five days ago there were severe thunderstorms that soaked the area. But I had three good, warm days before I showed up and sure enough there were plenty of freshly eclosed Rocky Mountain Parnassians. I’ve included a picture of one individual that is in the process of drying it’s wings. You can easily tell by the yellowish color of the wing, it is still not dry and firm. It Must have eclosed while I was hiking up to the serpentine barrens that contained the Stonecrop larval foodplant.

Results of the Meeman-Shelby Forest count. Big numbers of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails. The five Harvesters were all seen at one puddle. This is a rather high number as they are mostly seen as single individuals.

Very warm and humid, low 90’s F with mostly bright sunshine and light breeze. In the field mid-afternoon with Tom Stock and Beth Johnson. The area of DeCoursey Bridge Rd that was most productive is where the road crosses an extensive swamp area with abundant blooming Cephalanthus (buttonbush). Sightings include roadsides along other area roads as well just south of the Blackwater NWR.

Windshield survey 2:30 - 6:30

Roads 250A FR233 FR232 FR235 Columbia/Baker Counties

high 80’s low 90’s very little wind partly cloudy to cloudy

Most are freshly emerged and mineralizing along trail/roads

Nectar sources in the Genera: Cyrilla Cephalanthus Bejaria

3 E. Tiger Swallowtails were dark form females

Survey Duration: 9AM-2PM
Counters: Laurel Rhodes, Karen Finch (photo)
Conditions: Scattered showers, temp. 87-92F

I had never seen so many Baltimore Checkerspots on our driveway. There were lots of other butterflies too, but I counted only the Baltimore Checkerspots. I’ve included one image of a Baltimore Checkerspot, and also one of a grouping of other butterflies along the driveway - to give a sense of what it was like.

highlights from a walk organized for one of the local audubon societies specifically to see the baltimore checkerspots, considerably fewer individuals (mostly worn) estimated than noted by R Kelly et al eight days prior. R Poricelli had the checkered skipper before my group (45+ participants! - hard to make butterfly counts) got there. Checkered skipper is infrequent in Nassau/ and Suffolk Counties, possibly new record for this locality.

mostly cloudy