January 2015 Sightings

Cloudy and mid 70s; light SE wind.

Upper 50s and light breeze..

Warm and windy day.Temps in the low to mid 70s.

Mid-morning.

Late morning, north end of park. Feeding on bidens.

FL (11)

Very windy

With Dusty Rhodes. 82F, extremely windy, full sun; 1.5 hrs. Mainly Spanish needles for nectar; Metalmarks observed on young thistles.

w/Lori

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
high 70s low 80s
sunny
6 or 7 unIDed grass skippers

Lucky Hammock is a mainly a birding spot, but also good for butterflies. It is about 1/3 mile before Everglades NP on left as driving toward park.
Two large yellow sulphurs up in trees but too high to ID. 7 or 8 small grass skipper unable to ID.
Sunny, warm, there from 2 to 2:30.

Walking the perimeter trail around Ecopond every 10 ft. there were at least 4 or 5 Great Southern Whites. On a number of bushes with flowers there was always between 30 to 50 on each clump. My estimate of 2000 is very low ball. Looking out from pond onto fields they were speckled with more Great Southern Whites. Unfortunately not a whole lot else.

With Dusty Rhodes. Partly sunny, 61F. Winds at 10-15 mph. Walked trail through fields on north side of reserve. Two hrs. Nectar sources scarce.

10 a.m. to noon

Two Buckeyes either Mangrove or Tropical
Viceroy very dark FL subspecies

85 degrees and sunny. Almost all species were seen nectaring on Bidens.

Winter released this cold wet grip today.There was fun sun, breeze from the SE, and temps in the mid 70s.The record breaking low temps last week took out almost all of the wild flowers (a few asters survived), and most for the ornamental flowers; but some pansies, snapdragons, and some of the camellias are still showing color,and they were visited by some hungry insects; a couple being butterflies.

Some very large iguana’s were patrolling the area where the butterflies were flying. Some not for the faint of heart.

Sun came out and winds returned to the south, and temps into the mid 60s. The last freeze didn’t leave much for our winter visitors to feed on.The Spanish Needles are gone,this was the favored flower to feed on.Those that sheltered in close proximity to this food source will have difficult time replacing it.

Temp in low 70s, light breeze

3 unidentified commas

Cool, mostly cloudy. Clouded skipper was, perhaps, a little early.
w/Lori. FL (15).

Butterflies spotted along trail while cycling. Full sun, 81F. Wind 5 mph.

Mid 60s,wind switched from NE to S and from about two hours mid day butterflies were on the move.

The weather man got it right,and it was on my day off.Sunny and high temps in the low 70s midday.I found a good variety out and about.

Sue Tavaglione, a Pinellas birder and photographer, was at the east end of the East Beach Woods area of Fort De Soto Park when she spotted a hammock skipper at the edge of a section of mangroves. As far as I can tell, from researching it and talking with two area experts, it is the first Pinellas County documented record (perhaps the northern most Florida record?). We’ll watch this site for other hammock skippers as the year progresses.

Temperature in the low 70’s. Very windy.
One unidentified Comma

County park on Lake Kissimmee

Very windy today, strong and westerly ; mid day temp low 60s.
The Question Mark was sighted while it was chasing the Monarch(f); the pursuit lasted at least 10mins; because of the amount of time it chased the Monarch. I think it was a pheromonal pursuit , rather a territorial defense. A case of looking for love in all the wrong places.

Late afternoon, mid 60s.
First swallowtail of the year!
FL (18)

I attempted to scout the Sonoran Blue area but the trail to that area is currently closed due to a previous mud or rock slide.

Sunny but cool;AM temps low 40s,with afternoon temps in the low 60s. The wind was light and northerly.

81 degrees and sunny, no wind

60 F

Sunny, low 40s AM, low 60s mid day. Wind light and northerly, and changed to southerly mid afternoon. Cloudless Sulphurs that were so prevalent last week, was reduced a single sighting today. The general movement of sighting is northerly, no matter the wind direction. I hope this is a good sign of the end of our winter.

Upper 40s in the AM, but mid-60s by late in the day. Checked only the front acreage of the park and found quite a bit in an hour. A very worn and battered American Lady was a surprise.

65-67F
Orange tip was my earliest.
Mourning Cloak

I was surprised at the lack of butterfly movement. It was bright and sunny; wind had become southerly by 9am, and the temps had jumped into the low 60s by 10am., and topped out in the mid 70s. that afternoon.

The flowering lawn weeds have come back strong after the last freeze, and even with strong southerly winds a couple of Monarchs managed to take advantage of that food source.

Light wind. Temperature in the mid 70s.