July 2017 Sightings

Our family farm. The Painted Lady made 22 species seen on the property to date. Began tracking this season. Heavy rains (7 inches over 2 days) made lots of good puddling and we planted two new butterfly bushes which immediately began attracting butterflies. Purple coneflowers really coming on in the garden. Wild nectar sources included black-eyed susan, common milkweed, daisy fleabane and various other wild prairie sunflower/coreopsis varieties.

Sunny, 95 degrees at lower elevation. Behr’s Hairstreaks were seen in the hundreds. It wasn’t uncommon to see at least 10 to 15 on a single sulphur buckwheat plant. Mint was also a good nectar source.

80 degrees, 9 mph wind. out for 1/2 hour

Wonderful day for butterflying, 70 degrees, 4.6 mph winds, sunny. Saw Reakirt’s Blue for the first time.

83 to 89 degrees, sunny 10:10am to 1pm,
climbed up the ski slope to summit

10:45-12:40 EDT. Partly cloudy to cloudy, 85-88 deg F, wind calm.

This is a still shot taken from an iphone video…
The specific lat/long of Showy Milkweed & Monarch butterfly was: 44.781550, -123.389381

Full sun with a good breeze. Most activity seen at 6700 feet. Extremely dry & hot at lower elevation. Many of the meadows above 6000 feet along Gold Highway are quite wet or even flooded from snow melt. Acmon Blue could be a Lupine Blue.

Perfect day. No butterflies.
Also one each of Banded Hairstreak and Red-banded Hairstreak floating dead in the fountain. That seems to be the only way to get hairstreaks around here lately.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

12:00 - 1:00

Caribou open space just opened for the season yesterday. It is only open from July through April. Habitat consists of meadows, woodlands and a creek runs through part of it. Lots of flowers. Grass skippers are noticeably absent this year so i was happy to see the Nevada skipper. i was there from 10 to noon. mostly sunny and about 75F.

Various locations

Fiery Skippers return; Red-spotted Purple unexpected

Walked about 3.25 miles (and then back)

Still hot and very dry, so that almost everything seen was visiting wet spots!

3:10pm-4:30pm

Mostly sunny and warm - extensive nectar sources but few butterfly’s

an expanded 30 minute search, trails on each side of park’s center, more searching= more buckeyes

Pearl Crescent is new for here

2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

The second brood of Pipevines is coming on strong in Beaver. 17 of the 21 spotted were calling in nutrients on wet sand banks of Ohio River.
10:30 to 11:00 a.m.

Cathy and I worked the high Ridges above the Illinois River for a second time to see how the fritillary numbers were changing. Zerene Fritillary numbers are clinbing and Coronis are decreasing. This is the most Zerene Fritillaries we’ve seen since moving to Southern Oregon. Seeing a Western Cloudywing was a treat. The usual spot is one ridge west of this locale, so seeing one here shows that there may be others in the vicinity.

Sunny, 76 degrees, breezy. One no ID White seen.

Very humid hot afternoon

Searched for about an hour before a rain shower came in.

Various locations.

Sunny afternoon, with light breeze.

80 degrees, sunny, 3:25 to 4pm

mostly sunny, 83 degrees

Partly Cloudy 70 degrees.

Dozens of tiny skippers! I wanted to say Mulberry Wing, but not quite the airplane shape on the lower wings, & difficult to see the upper wings. Also, too far northeast from normal range. But, didn’t seem to fit Peck’s or Hobomok either. Also, Habrosyne gloriosa moth at visitors’ rest area. Mostly sunny, temperatures above 80.

The Small Checkered-Skipper landed on a flower on my deck.

3:15pm-4:05pm
Cloudy & hot

Nice day for butterflies in my garden.
Several visitors stopped by today to celebrate the 4th of July. We even found 3 Black Swallowtail eggs on my fennel!

elevation: 9400 - 10400 ft

8:30 - 10:30am - sunny

Also saw unID’d Whites and a Blue

9:30-11:00

Edwards Skipperling is new.

A slow day for butterflies despite ideal conditions.

Air temperature 76-81 F; wind gusts 3 to 10 mph; cloud covers <5 to 20%. With Della Wells.

Sunny and warm. Slight breeze.

The Mourning Cloak was enjoying the butterfly friendly plant in the garden.We also have a wildlife habitat with trees and leaf piles suitable for their life cycle. The Gray Hairstreak was basking on blooming mint.

Sunny, humid and 91degrees.

Scouting for Saturday’s South Pinellas count.

72-84F with Dennis Olle
The mustard white is my latest sighting in the county.

The elevation of caribou town site is 10,000 feet. It is now a large open meadow with a riot of flowers, a tiny stream going through the middle of it, forested around the edges. it was often sunny today with of clouds building. 10AM to 1:00 pm 75 F
In its hey day, Caribou had been a silver mining town. There are two old stone foundations remaining but mostly there is no sign of a town.

Amazing Butterflies and Caterpillars🦋

4 mile walk; 7:45 - 10:15

Also 1 Monarch caterpillar on Asclepias tuberosa.

1:15 to 2:15PM
Partly cloudy, a thunderstorm ended the count

Had to catch a little sun between afternoon thunderstorms to see butterflies!

How can you beat Golden Hairstreaks in the Oak Creek Canyon red rocks and flowing water?

10:30 - 3:00, with David Rawlinson and Nancy Asquith part of the time. Very warm, in the 80’s. Highlight for me was seeing hundreds upon hundreds of Golden Hairstreaks (last year I saw only two). The Hairstreaks were perched on low shaded vegetation and in the trail, take two steps and a dozen would fly up.

10:00 - 10:30 AM, with David Rawlinson. Looking for Unsilvered Fritillaries, we saw two, the one photographed already tattered.

10:45-13:40. Partly cloudy to cloudy, 87-90 deg F, wind 5-10 mph.

Forested and open areas adjacent to the Gainesville Regional Airport.

Also at least 6 Horace’s/Wild Indigo types not identifiable to species.

22nd annual NABA count. 9 am - 3 pm. 84-93 degrees, sun most of day, light winds, rain at 3 pm. 4 teams. American Snout was new to count. DCutler, MCutler, DDixon, JDuBois, AEdwards, JEvoy, MKanyuh, JMullen, TPalmer, GQuigley, DRhodes, LRhodes, BSmith.

Number of species and number of individuals were way down for such a beautiful mostly sunny day.

Hot, humid, and sunny. This area has gone from severe drought to flood conditions in less than a months time.
Powerline Road and entrance road were being mowed today so some of the nectar sources are now gone, but plenty still exist. It was nice to see native Fewflower Milkweed, A. lanceolata, starting to bloom this day. EPerry & RWarner.

Part of Sandy Lake July 4 count. Also, 2 Viceroy caterpillars, 2 Monarch caterpillars and 1 “Brown” sp.

2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
partly cloudy, around 80

Partly sunny, breezy day.
Also saw one, European Yellow Underwing Moth.

Annual NABA summer count covering Boyd Hill NP and Fort De Soto CP. We dealt with cloud cover and late morning rain. Participants: Kimberly Boucireb, JoAnna Clayton, Robert Epstein, Marie Hughes, John Lampkin & Ron Smith. [Photo credits- Brazilians (Smith); Mallow, Obscure & Cassius (Lampkin); S.Broken-Dash, Tropical & Tawny (Clayton).]

12:45 to 2:45PM
Sunny, 77 degrees
Lots of Milkweed, Indian Hemp, Canada Thistle, but few butterflies

10:00 to 11:00AM
Sunny, 70 degrees
4 Monarch Caterpillars found

Elevation: 7500ft

Just walked around the sagebrush for 10minutes until the rain clouds rolled in.

Walked trail counterclockwise to lake (1.5 miles) and back.

Elevation: 10,100 - 10,900 ft. Checkered White and Marble seen at the lake.

10:00 - 15:00, sunny, 80-87 deg F, wind calm.

13th year of NABA count. 9 am - 3:30 pm, 79-90 degrees, sun most of day, light winds. 2 teams - one covers Arnold’s Wildlife Haven, one covers roads to Lake Okeechobee. SArnold, SBurford, DCutler, MCutler, AEdwards, DEdwards, LEdwards, EMardy, JMullen.

Cloudy & stormy
8:00am-11:00am

Black Swallowtails second visit now laying eggs. First time was on May 17. Two caterpillars fully grown on 19th June and left. Now I see 2 Black Swallowtails. May be they are now adults and back to lay eggs.

Seven Spicebush Swallowtails in view at same time.

American Snout seen 3 days in a row. Monarch laying eggs on Swamp Millkweed and Variegated Fritillary caterpillar continues. FOY Broad-winged Skipper in yard

Had two uncommon visitors today. A pair of Meadow Fritillaries spent some time on our oregano blooms. But my best sighting was a male Diana Fritillary - only the third time in nearly 40 years that I’ve seen a male Diana in our yard. I’ve only seen a female Diana once a few years ago.

Sunny low 80’s. Decent emergence of Red Admirals.

Part of Sandy Lake July 4 count.

9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
One week later from earlier report of second brood Pipevine Swallowtails. Of 38 seen 11 were males taking in nutrients on damp sand shoreline, others nectaring on steep hillside 20 to 50 yds from river.

10:15 AM-11:15 AM, sunny, 80-85 deg.F

8:00 AM- 9:30 AM, sunny, no wind, 75-85 deg F

Sunny, but humid day. Female swallowtail fluttered by and laid 5 eggs on my fennel. Photos will follow in about a month.

Hike was from 10:30-2:30 from the trailhead all the way to the lake in the basin. Also saw one Ranchman’s Tiger Moth (Arctic virginalis), an unidentified crescent, and an unidentified comma.

1:00pm-3:00pm

Mostly sunny, 90 degrees.
One-hour walk, 4—5 p.m.
Nice, fresh Red Admirals. A couple landed on me. It always occurs to me that we take Red Admirals for granted. Were these butterflies much rarer, we’d travel hundreds of miles to see them!
No Swallowtails nor Sulphurs; perhaps between broods.
Catalpa Sphinx moth at preserve headquarters. No great shock; a gigantic, old Catalpa tree nearby.
Beautiful Ebony Jewelwing Damselflies.
Dozens of Common Whitetail Dragonflies around puddles!

86 to 89 degrees, mostly sunny

85 to 89 degrees, mostly sunny

Two lovely mating Great Spangled Fritillaries!

8:30 AM- 10:00 AM, sunny, 70-80 deg F. The fact that the gardens are watered appears to have created an oasis for butterflies.

First of season

No skippers!

The swallowtail was a black female.

1:30-4:30 pm. Conditions upper 70s and mostly sunny. Aided by Dr. David Guzo.
Most or all of the Tiger Swallowtails appeared to be Eastern-Canadian hybrids.
“Red-Spotted Admiral” refers to a hybrid Red-Spotted Purple/White Admiral.

1 Great Spangled Fritillary in between rain showers🦋

Sunny, high in the upper 90s.

As part of the Walk in Water NABA count. 9 am - 3 pm when rain ended count, 78-91 degrees, winds light, sun most of day. 16 Brazilian Skipper caterpillars but no adults seen. LCooper, JDuBois, SFarnsworth.

Also saw an unidentified white and fritillary.

Sunny, very muggy an 88 degrees at 4:30pm. A monarch flying in downtown Rochester, viewed by a parking lot.

The location was in the lot by the stable.

Elevation: 7800 - 8400

Started around 4pm — sunny day but now cloudy

Beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Only out for an hour from 10-11 as the flies convinced my boys to stop hiking.

With David Rawlinson, dune areas, careful to skirt Snowy Plover nesting areas. Marine layer never fully backed off, but occasional weak sun was enough to get a few butterflies moving. In addition to butterflies listed, we saw several unidentified Vanessas including on possible Red Admiral.

Glad to see a few species flying around today…has been painfully slow…..hot and dry…mid 90’s

It was hopping there today. Temp 90 and very humid. Thrilled to see 4 different Juniper Hairstreaks - all in different spots.

I was there from 9:45 AM till 11:45 AM. The temperature was about 70F with bright blue sunny skies.

Focused mainly on the Statira’s nectaring on the fire bushes.

7:45 - 9:00 morning walk around the park

Perfect weather, little wind, 78F

Monarch on our milkweed plant

The Lorquin’s Admiral is a rare visitor to my yard. It perched on a blood orange tree for about half an hour and was on patrol to chase cabbage butterflies off my enormous plumbago plant (about 20 feet high).

Increase in activity today…observed in backyard 3 hrs this morning….Heat index 104

The family hiked just one hour along the trail from 10-11.

RWarner & EPerry

Overcast with some sun at times. Elevation: 6200 - 8400ft

Went only 2 miles to the meadow, wandered around meadow and returned.

Saw Frits too!

(Saw Moose and calf!)

As part of Weslaco NABA butterfly count, 3 miles, 3.5 hours

FIRST sighting of a GIANT SWALLOWTAIL today
about 3:30 P.M. Very beautiful

Sunny 80 degrees and low humidity.

8:40 - 12:15
Hot, humid, partly cloudy, breezy at times