August 2017 Sightings

These are the sightings from a four-day camping trip on the Routt County side of the Sarvis Wilderness.

Yard list.

Incidental sighting as I volunteered on the grounds. The large fig trees in the Virginia Garden attracted many birds, squirrels and staff who like to harvest the ripe figs. Butterflies are attracted by the dew on the cupped leaves, basking sites and fig juice. 1st Viceroy I’ve seen all season.

Clear blue skies and slightly warmer today…mid 80’s

Elevation: 8700 - 10,100 ft

Walked up to Pass and then continue up to the lift.

Many butterflies at or above the Pass including the Chryxus Arctic.

I only ID’d Callippe and Mormon Frits but there were lots flying so there may have been more.

With Ron Smith most of trip. Amazing count of Painted Ladies. Had to have been driven in by Tropical Storm Emily. Highest density at Bay Pier area, out in the beach scrub by Ranger’s house. 68 counted with R. Smith. 9 more counted by R Smith at park offices at the flag pole. A Florida high count record?

3 p.m., 86 F, light winds, 45 minutes observing

90, mostly sunny. Lots of nectar - skipper numbers still low

Began fully cloudy but sun came out eventually, up to 75F.

Male Monarch still here, “cruising for chicks,” nectaring, rest, repeat.

With Frank Model

With Jim Brock, Stephen Moore and others.

A great day butterflying. Went for 1.5 hours starting at 10. Temp was an average of 75 degrees, 61% humidity and sunny, wind less 5 mph

Various stops along Forest Routes 104 and 112, including Spruce Knob. Part of the area in Randolph County. Pink-edged Sulphur female observed egg laying on Vaccinium angustifolium (lowbush blueberry). Orange Sulphur observed attempting to mate (apparently unsuccessfully) with a Pink-edged Sulphur.

Warmest day of the week so far….High 89
Much rain is expected over the next few days as a Tropical Storm passes the coast.

Residential garden. Sighted Painted Lady—first one to be seen since 2014!

With Jim Brock, Stephen Moore, Kristie Nelson and others.

With Jim Brock, Stephen Moore, Kristie Nelson and others.

It was cloudy most all viewing period and winds averaging 18 mph, and temperature of 70 degrees. Not what you think of as good butterfly weather. We were surprised to see over 200 butterflies

elevation 9900 - 10800ft

A new species (Vanessa cardui ) here at the “Pipkin Preserve”…

Sunny and 88. Snout was my FOS

With Jim Brock, Stephen Moore and others.

With Jim Brock and others.

East portal is a little over 9,000 feet in elevation. coniferous forest, some boggy areas and meadows. We were there from 9:30 am to 1:45 pm. sun and some breeziness.

Orange Sulphur female
First sighting by this observer of American Snout in this park.

The photo appears to be a Spicebush Swallowtail with green submarginal spots but is rather bluish on the hindwings.

Second sighting of a GPH in our garden this year.

Observations occurred at Campito Mountain and meadow.

With Jim Brock, Stephen Moore and others.

Cathy and I butterflied Forest Service Road 20 up to Dutchman Peak in the Siskiyou Mountains. This locale is about 8 miles west of Mt. Ashland. Edith’s Coppers are unusual in the Siskiyou’s.

9:30 am to 3:15 pm. Sunny, hot, humid. Major nectar sources included pickerel weed, duck potato, rattlesnake master, buttonbush, coastalplain chaffhead, and fogfruit.
EPerry & RWarner

Pipevine Swallowtails were all larvae feeding on Virginia Snakeroot.

Sunny, low humidity and 68 degrees when observing

Most of the species were nectaring on Praxelis clematidea, a recently introduced species from South America that is found in disturbed areas in central Florida. Images would not load.

Sunny to partly cloudy, 1015-1315, 65-74 degrees. Walked all three trails plus a fire control line. Spiked blazingstar and early goldenrod in full bloom.

Found him hanging onto my open window as a drove about 3 miles home. Butterflying made easy :)

Seen while in the garden, front yard. I have a good patch of violets and the yard has reared Variegated Frits for several years without any extra help from me. Good to see.

STANDOFF The bee harrassed her but she held her ground! I guess size does matter.

At noon, saw a female monarch nectaring and laying eggs in the front yard. The Cloudless Sulphur nectared on Lady In Red Salvia, Black Swallowtail on Tithonia.

Monarch

a slightly worn male; first record for the park; this species is always very rare at this latitude

Very wet from recent storms; some areas not easy to access.

8:30-12:00

I went out from 12:00 - 2:00. It was around 75 degrees and cloudy. First time I have seen a Harvester.

Lots of Frits flying!

Frit looked like it was scoping out the Violet leaves scattered in the front yard as well as nectaring on various flowers.

Naturalized area behind the Whitetail Inn. Thistles, burdock & goldenrod were blooming.

We last saw a Zebra Longwing in September 2013. We have had one individual in our butterfly garden on and off for a full week. Our last sighting was August 6th 2017.

Funereal Duskywing- sorry this is the best of bad photos

Our family camp off Depot Road.

11:30-4:30, with a lunch break. Temps rising from mid-70s to low 80s; cloudiness decreasing from p/m cloudy to m sunny.
Only covered a small portion of the park - most of West Woods, and Bloody Lane to Roulette Farm and the Nature Trail.

Saw several species off and on throughout the day…sunny and muggy conditions this morning and then somewhat cooler after rainfall, only to steam up again!! LOL

Expected, but not seen - E.Tiger, Three-spotted Skipper, Monarch, Monk Skipper & Common Buckeye.

A hilltop field with red and white clovers and lespedeza. Unfortunately much Horse Nettle as well. Ouch!

A very small garden that attracts decent numbers.

Full sun, 86F. I’ve never seen such a white Cloudless Sulphur

With Karen Finch
87-93; 2.5 hours

Sunny to Mostly Cloudy
76-80 degrees

70F

69F

It was around the mid 80’s, sunny, a little wind.
I am not positive on the count of Melissa Blues, could of been 5.

From 1:45 PM to 4 PM; Temperature 79 to 84 F; wind gusts 5-8 mph from NE. With Della Wells.

40 minutes of observation. Sunny, 82 F. Fewer butterflies than usual at this time of year.

Sunny, low 80’s

Leaderless Walk - 10 participants

Mostly sunny, high around 80. Around 200 Sachems and 50 Silver-spotted Skippers seen.

Sunny, a little breezy and 80 degrees during observation.

First White M seen in yard

Incidental sighting out the front window of butterfly laying eggs on Swamp milkweed and Tropical milkweed in the front yard. The butterfly’s antics briefly distracted a hummingbird from nectaring nearby.

Butterfly observed in our home garden on short-toothed mountain mint. Lifetime first sighting for our yard of this species.

Partly cloudy - 78 degrees
11:40AM to 3:40PM

Also 6 Sleepy Orange caterpillars on Cassia.

6th annual Windshield Survey: Swallowtails Only: Partly Cloudy, Mid 80’s, 0-5 MPH wind. About 80% of Swallowtails were mineralizing on Forest Roads, other 20% were nectaring on Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) or Redroot (Lachnanthes caroliniana)

Low 80’s, mostly sunny

This is an area about a mile outside ENP that contains open fields and a small hammock.

Cloudy,light rain, heavy mosquitoes

Late season, nectar sources fading, however this is a great place to see butterflies, especially southern migrants.Commas and Question Marks were on Boardwalk Island on Woodpecker workings.

Driving tour only

Partly cloudy but some sunny breaks. Devil’s walking stick in bloom attracting many azures.

This is my first sighting of a Harvester at my home and was quite a surprise showing up in an urban neighborhood. My neighbor does have a beech tree in the yard which probably had woolly aphids for the Harvester caterpillars to eat.

Observed in backyard 9:30 am-1:00 pm
Saw Giant Swallowtail fly through yard…did not stop on wild lime bush :-(

New yard butterfly #45 Hayhurst’s Scallopwing

Sunny day 72-82 degrees

Went only about 2.25 miles before turning around — I found the female Great Spangled Frits I was looking for! (The males have been flying for a few weeks already.)

First Monarch sighting in our yard this year at 10.25am. IT stayed on the buddleia blossom for 2 minutes giving a nice show and I took pictures.

Mid-day / Statira’s feeding on the many fire bushes at the preserve entrance

The Spicebushes were newly emerged adult males sitting on my plants in my yard. Probably were raised on the big Sassafras in my yard.

Just passing thru, didn’t stay long.

Sunny, mid 80s, breezy.

Low humidity, sunny and 72 degrees during the sighting. Monarch visited the milkweeds, salvia, Arizona Blanket and butterfly bushes to mention a few. Peck’s Skipper visited the blossoms on chives

excellent day for backyard butterflying
Very hot and humid, butterflies galore!!
Observed 3 hrs in the am 10:00-1:00 and then again early evening for 2 hrs

My first Sachem (female) and Fiery Skipper (male) of the year.

Did the park loop from 2:00-3:45 p.m. Temps in the high 70s. I could have sworn I saw a Southern Dogface or Cloudless Sulphur flying high and fast around the perimeter of the property, but I couldn’t get close enough for an ID or a picture. Both would be rare for this area.

10:45AM to 3:00PM
Sunny, 63 to 77 degrees
with Phil Odum

Went to Hammonasset Bch. S.P., Milford Pt., Stratford Pt., Leete’s Island Marsh and places in between. Mostly in New Haven Co. People at Stratford mentioned they had Swarthy Skipper and one or two other skippers, a Snout or two, and three White M Hairstreaks, but we didn’t. All seen while birding.

80, mostly sunny, breezy

Many butterfliesnectaring on pickerelweed and buttonbush; Zebra Swallowtail puddling on shell road after rain.

Survey from 12:30 PM to 4:15 PM; overcast skies. air temperatures 75-78 F; wind gusts 3-7 mph. Weekly survey with Nancy Slowik.

Rare Southern migrant seen in my yard. Last seen in 2014 in Cape May County, Before that 2012 and 2010. This Brazilian Skipper was flying fast and furiously before landing for just seconds on cannas. Seen several times over 3 hrs.

All butterflies seen feeding on Butterfly Bush.

Saw a Cassius Blue in my garden 8/14/17..I was told this is a very rare sighting for SC Attaching a terrible photo…he flew off so fast

Windshield Survey Swallowtails Only 10:00am-1:30pm
Sunny to light rain Mid 80’s Winds S.E. 5-15
Overall habitat wet, some roads closed due to flooding
Most are freshly emerged mineralizing on Forest Roads or nectaring on Carolina Redroot (Lachnanthes caroliniana)

Incidental sighting while looking out the 2nd story back window and gardening earlier out front. The Coral Honeysuckle out back briefly caught the attention of the sulphur. A Vanessa [either Painted or American Lady] was seen nectaring on Rudbeckia hirta in the back, but from the 2nd floor could not tell which Lady. Two Monarch caterpillars [3rd & 4th instars] were found and reported to Journey North in the front yard earlier in the day.

American Snout still checking out the Hackberry Tree. Red Admiral laying eggs on False Nettle. 4 pairs of Monarchs mating at the same time mid afternoon, Black Swallowtails also mating. cats in garden continuing.

The ET Swallowtail was attracted to a large pink flower made of Legos before it figured out it wasn’t real, behind the main museum building. CW was in Children’s Learning Garden. VLM is hosting a Legos Sculpture exhibition on the grounds in the Conservation and Virginia gardens though Nov 22. Sightings made as I volunteered outdoors between 8:15 and 11 am or so.

Sunny, 70F

Observed in backyard for approx 3 hrs 9am-12pm
Surprised to see so many butterflies during cloudy conditions…temps in 80’s
Observed 2 hrs afternoon in backyard…sunny and hot

Leaderless Walks. 6 Participants. Cloudy and warm. Only a bit of drizzled rain for 2-3 minutes at one point.

Funereal Duskywing is new for me, and apparently for Minnesota. The closest record I can find is from central and southern Wisconsin. Hazy sunshine, wet trails, calm wind, and highs in the mid-70s. Two stops today. One from 11-noon, and again from 4-5pm.

The very fresh Ocola Skipper was the first one of the year for me.

Leaderless walks - 6 participants. Cloudy but warm. Only a bit of drizzled rain for 2-3 minutes at one point.

Windshield Survey: Swallowtails Only: 10:45 - 2:15 Sunny Mid 80’s Winds S.E. 5-10
Overall habitat wet, 297c closed due to flooding,
Most are freshly emerged: About 40% mineralizing on Forest Roads, 60% nectaring on Carolina Redroot (Lachnanthes caroliniana)

Covered the southern section - Burnside Bridge, Otto Farm, Final Attack trail, most of Snively Ford trail. Conditions upper 70s rising to mid-80s; mostly sunny. 3.5 hours in the afternoon alone. Additional minimum 10 unid grass skippers. My first field day over 500 individuals!

Question Mark laying eggs. Cloudless Sulphur’s mating. Hot and humid temps mid-80’s with little wind.

75F

All feeding on Butterfly Bush.

My first American Snout in Wisconsin since 2007!

Sunny and about 82 with some humidity early afternoon.

First time I’ve seen a Zebra Heliconian in my garden.

Large field that’s filled with lespedeza.

12-1 pm. Presby Iris Gardens, Upper Montclair.

4:00 to 4:30PM
Partly cloudy, 75 degrees
My first Leonard’s Skipper of the year

2:00 to 3:15PM
Partly Cloudy, 73 degrees

In-between rain drops

Elevation: 8760-9600ft

Sun in the late afternoon

Seen these butterflies late afternoon,78 degrees and very humid following a rainstorm.

Sightings incidental to volunteering at VLM from 8:15 to about 11 am. Female monarch nectared on Virgin’s Bower on a trellis next to Holt Conservatory @9:30 for a long time. Duskywing nectared on Rudbeckia. ETSwtl at Goodson House, SSS in Children’s Learning Garden area on basking on Ironweed.

I was out from 10 - 1. it was a little windy, 15 mph, sunny and average temperature around 75. I saw around 45 skippers I could not identify because they flew off so fast.