May 2018 Sightings

77 degrees, full sun

After the others went home, I decided on the spur of the moment to check out the other area in the park where I have observed Falcate Orangetips - an apparent abandoned roadway along Hughes Drive (visible on aerial photos). I was there from 3:15 to 4:00 pm and was rewarded with an American Copper.

I sent along an invitation via the North Jersey chapter of NABA to see if anyone was interested in joining me to see if we could observe the Falcate orangetips at Mercer County Park. There was an enthusiastic response and we had a group of six butterfliers, in all. We met at the park at 1:30 pm and walked along the power line area for about an hour and 15 minutes in near-perfect sunny weather with very little breeze and 77º F. In that time, we saw 29 Falcate Orangetips overall; 7 females, 3 fly-by individuals that could not be determined and the other 19 were males. This was the most Falcate Orangetips I have seen at the park (as best I can remember) in a single day and their numbers are definitely good this year, despite the late spring. Normally, they would be done by now, but they seem to be just reaching their peak and it may be possible to see them for another few days.

Juniper-dominated shale woodland on steep east-facing slopes above the Potomac River. Observed Olympia Marbles for about seven hours over a two-day period (4/30 and 5/1). Difficult to estimate the number seen due to the steepness of the terrain, the rapidity of Olympia Marble flight, and the similarity to female Falcate Orangetips, which were more common. I saw at least four and very likely twice that number or more. Marbles observed nectaring on common dandelion, early saxifrage (Micranthes virginiensis), mouse-ear cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), and field-chickweed (Cerastium arvense). Smooth rock cress (Boechera laevigata), a host plant, prevalent. Males observed chasing one another and skirmishing. Spring Azure not determined to subspecies.

70-80 Sun with some clouds
With Joe Mustion
Great Southern White is ovipositing on Virginia Pepperweed, Lipidium viginicum

67F

The Red Admiral seen here was very dull/worn and appeared to be full of eggs as seen in picture. Nectaring on Purple Deadnettle, Lamium purpureum,

Seems like very little in butterflies here this year and I think could it be due to the very quick 95% dieoff of Pitch Pines here? Southern Pine Beetle. Many trees broken and falling with far too much fuel in the area now. Sad!

Former construction site with all old materials pushed into individual piles somewhat centralized about ten+ years ago. This area has grown from weedy fields to now a jungle of Greenbrier and Blackberry for the most part and almost impenetrable.

During a short lunchtime walk, I saw a smallish butterfly that was bright blue above. Expecting it to be a Spring Azure, it turned out to be a hairstreak. And instead of a Red-banded Hairstreak which can be expected now at this time, it was a just-emerged White M Hairstreak!

It was cloudy all day and winds around 14 mph.

Site access is by foot only. Surveyed all taxa from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Windy, partly cloudy

Cold and foggy most of the day. The sun only appeared for about 30 minutes, 11:30 - 12:00. A warm sunny day would be much more productive as there are lots of wildflower attractants.

Breezy, humid with sunshine and 85 degrees!

Butterflies passively seen during a Monarchs In The Rough demonstration site planting.

Loads of stuff

We worked the Deschutes River Canyon to Mack’s Canyon campground and boat ramp. All the Old World Swallowtails were mud-puddling at waters edge by the boat ramp. This type of Old World Swallowtail is known as “Oregon Swallowtail”. This was my target species and a lifer!

Mid-afternoon visit.

Late morning visit to see what was flying.

Unseasonably hot just over 90. Most of the Duskywings were puddling along Carroll Rd where water flowed from mountainside across the road.Fairly careful observation did not indicate any Dreamy Duskywings.Observed a male Falcate Orangetip relentlessly pursuing a female Olympia Marble.In addition one anglewing & two dark Swallowtails were observed.

Back to Mercer County Park later in the afternoon; I am combining sightings from the power lines area and the “abandoned roadway” area. There was a sustained 15 mph wind and it was mostly sunny and 91º F at 3:15, when I arrived. I spent 45 minutes at the power lines and another hour at the roadway. At the power lines there were 3 Falcate orangetips, 1 Eastern tailed-blue, 1 Spring Azure and 1 Juvenal’s duskywing; all the other butterflies were from the abandoned roadway and surrounding wooded areas. Nearly all were females (18 of 22 overall). There was one fly-by swallowtail (fortunately it was a Black Swallowtail male - easily identified).

Full sun high 60’s. Two unidentified whites. Likely Lupine blues (Icaricia monticola) but I am having trouble telling them apart from Acmon

Today felt like summer with a high of 91°, full sun and breezy.

10 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. Weather: 78-85 degrees, winds 9-14 mph, sun a.m.-90%, p.m.-50% Nectar: Cirsium horridulum, C. nuttallii, Erigeron spp, Phyla nodiflora, Pluchea spp, Serenoa repens, Justicia angustifolia. Area very dry. Sue Farnsworth, Linda Cooper

4 UnID’d Duskywings

Sunny, warm (86 degrees)

Full sun up to 80F, heated up early. 1 unidentified sulphur. Some noticeable absences like Anise Swallowtail.

2-5:00
I was expecting that I might find my first Brown Elfin or Hoary Elfin of the year. I found neither, but was amazed at how much I did find!

we had 18” of snow yesterday. today the temperature raised to 55 F melting most of the snow and bringing out a few butterflies along farrell dr. i was out later in the day around 2:30 to 3:30 pm. i included a photo of farrell dr. the creek runs along near the road but isn’t visible in the picture. the 3 Green Commas that I saw and photographed each have a slightly different dot pattern on the rear wings. i have noticed that farrell dr often has species variation in the butterflies, especially the commas.

Late afternoon visit from 3pm to 5:30pm.

It was a perfect day for going butterflying after the last 4 days being rainy and cloudy. It was around 70 degrees and sunny. Saw the first Monarch of the season

Sunny, high in the upper 80s.

partly cloudy, 82 degrees

One of several fields that have not been plowed under for at least ten years that I am aware of on this farm.

Later afternoon visit and butterfly searching.

Return visit in the morning, from 9:15 to Noon. Outis Skippers and Common Roadside-Skipper were all seen before 10am.

Surveyed entrance road to loop west to cross road and back around to entrance road, then Cemetery Road. Weather was warm and partly cloudy. Major nectar sources: purple and Nuttall’s thistle, daisy fleabane. This property is being managed well and recent prescribed fires hold promise of a great fall bloom. It was nice to run into other butterfly enthusiasts the Salvatos. EPerry & RWarner

In our backyard. We’ve been planting host and nectar plants.

Spring Azures everywhere with Mourning Cloak Accents, and just one Cabbage White🦋

Sunny, Mid 70s.

Surveyed 1.25 miles of gravel road bordering Howard Creek and mature coniferous forest from noon to 1pm. Temps were high 60’s, sunshine, no wind. Everything except the Orangetips were “mud puddling”. Big Spring Azure showing, an additional 54 Blues were unidentified, likely Azure’s also. Fifteen Comma were unidentified.

Wonderful spot. Late morning to early afternoon visit. Sunny and hot, which probably kept some species cooling in the woods.

73 degrees, partly sunny, calm winds.

Temps in the upper 60s, partly sunny, light breeze.

80 degrees, wind around 6 mph and sunny. This is part of the ongoing citizen science research to see the number of butterflies in the forest.

high clouds, 70 degrees

Just wander through the Junipers and sagebrush. I was looking specifically for the Pearly Marble (lifer).

While spreading “mushroom soil” on the field midday

Same field as yesterday, and at 10:00 AM yoday

I saw a Pipevine Swallowtail in my backyard on my key lime tree.

10:15 AM to 12:30 PM; mostly clear skies with temperatures 65 to 71 F; wind gusts 4 to 8 mph; with Della Wells.

Walked about a mile on Bass Creek Trail through moist mature coniferous forest from 10:40-12:50. Temps were 58 to 72F, 5 mph wind, clear skies. Eight Blues and six Commas went unidentified.

Seemed early, considering most other butterflies being late this year to see a Red-spotted Purple today. Spicebush looked quite worn. Working so no pix today.

Large open pasture land, with half untouched, so far this year, and full of blooming dandelion. Cattle rotation on other half so far.

Many atala adults, larvae, eggs around north Ranger Station where hostplant grows.

Full sun high 70’s.

67-69F

Great day for butterflying

Females laying eggs on dill plants and rue plants.

One last attempt to find the Falcate Orangetips from 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm. The day was sunny but quite windy, with steady 15 mph breezes. I did not see any butterflies flying out in the open except a couple of Juvenal’s Duskywings and Cabbage Whites. I did see Falcate Orangetips in surprisingly high numbers for such a late date (the latest I remember seeing them here prior to this year was May 5th). After about an hour (3 Falcates & 5 Cabbage Whites with two Juvenal’s Duskywings & 1 Eastern Tailed-Blue), I left the power lines area for the abandoned roadway area, where, surprisingly, there were 7 more Falcates, but not much else.

Just walked around the grounds at the Ranch.

4:45 - 5:30pm

Another great day of butterflying, average temperature 75, wind around 7 mph.

Late afternoon (4 to 6 PM) walk down the Stone Bridge Trail.

Fire breaks along the Park’s boundary had been thoroughly mowed, which eliminated many of the flowers, along with the chances of finding many specialties.

Spring Azure was fresh new brood

11 am-2 pm.

A couple hours before dark. 85F and sunny. Blackberries are blooming. Photos by Victoria Gray.

Sunny, high around 85. Many larger species, such as Eastern Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtails have been scarce this year. All of the Zabulon Skippers were males.

Started looking at leps when the birding slowed down. 3rd park record of Zebra Swallowtail (2 others 4/’05 & 9/’05 by L.Atherton).

FOY/FOS Monarch, just before 10am while heading south back to the car- it was headed north; also very fresh male black swallowtail.

Part of the Spring 2018 NABA “Bullfrog Creek” count.
With J. Evoy, S. Farnsworth and J. Mustion
9:45-1:30; 73-81 100% overcast. The colony of Julias persists.

Sigtings during a Tennessee Native Plant Society field trip. Butterfly numbers are still much lower than average. Great Spangled Fritillary sighting is early.

Visited spot twice 1.5 hrs apart for combined 30 minutes, totals reflect this. Conditions mostly same: sunshine, no wind, ~60F. Habitat: unshaded, moist gravel from snow melt, recent rains…immediate to mature Ponderosa Pine forest.
Silvery Blue was first of year.

An overcast, mild day turned worse for lepping when the rain set in. Surveyed from 8:30 to 2:30 and saw little for a location that is usually alive with activity. One great shot of a Red-banded Hairstreak made the day! EPerry and RWarner

Partly cloudy.

Sunny after a late warm-up.

Excursion with Robert Gorman. Few butterflies to be seen, it was cold and cloudy most of the day.

Near the coast, with Robert Gorman.

In the 50s with spotty sunshine
Just walked the road 1.5 miles to the actual trail and back. Everything was seen on the return trip as the sunny decided to stay out longer.

Unknown White.

Spent 12:30-3pm covering 1.5 miles of trail and gravel road (moist ditch). Temps hit high of 78F w/sunshine, no wind. Five Comma went unidentified. The Two-banded Checkered-Skipper were first of year.

77 degrees and sunny when I got there at 3:00 but clouded up by 4:00. These appeared to all be males patrolling for females as they never stopped except for a couple on the road to briefly mineralize.

77 degrees and sunny. The butterflies were not very cooperative today. 4 unidentified duskywings, 3 unidentified elfins, and no photo of the Chryxus Arctic, my target species for today.

Worked the road on a nice sunny day. Well, it started out sunny but by the end of the day it was raining. One noteworthy sighting is the 16 Bramble Hairstreaks I saw today. That was the most I’ve seen anywhere in one day!

With Robert Gorman. Afternoon of May 14, cold and windy, little to be seen. Most of the day on May 15, it was comfortably warm and many more butterflies were out there enjoying it. In addition to the butterflies listed we saw a few other duskywings either Mournful or Funereal.

This trail followed a small stream through a dry, sandy desert. We were surprised to see hundreds of butterflies, including 6 Variegated Fritillaries laying eggs on Broom Flax (Linum aristatum) and Field Crescents coupling. We saw no other butterflies during other hikes in the park, but this trail was full of them! We also saw thousands of milkweeds (Showy and Utah), so I would imagine that Monarchs will be there soon!

Hundreds of Silvery Blues, Olympia Marble is a first for me.

just past the school going towards Old Army Rd.

Gorgone Checkerspot is a first for me.

Elevation: 8760
Sunny, lower 60s 4:30-5:00pm

1:30 to 4:00PM
Sunny 79 degrees
Unidentified were 11 Elfin species and 13 Duskywing species. Moth species included 30+ Black banded Orange Moth and 4 Bluish Spring Moths.

69F

Survey started at 9 am and ended at 3:30 pm. It was mostly sunny, warm, and humid. We first did Cemetery Road, then entrance road to the loop. The shorter loop was then surveyed using crossroad which connects east and west loop. Major nectar sources were purple and Nuttall’s thistle, colic root, daisy fleabane, and Bidens alba. A new flower for me was Osceola’s plume or Zigadenus densus. We did see some butterflies utilizing it as a nectar source. Though we have probably seen as many dusted skippers in the month of May in the past, this was the first time we documented them.

Leaderless walks. Photo of odd-colored Eastern Comma below.

62F

Sunny and 71 degrees, light breeze.First monarch in the area.

Overcast with a heavy marine layer thining at 3 PM. Breezy. Buckwheat is just starting to bloom.

Surveyed entrance road and Powerline Road north before rains set in for the day. Mostly cloudy and working up to rain. Survey time from 8:30a to 11:40a. Major nectar sources: Nuttall’s thistle, colic root, Bidens alba. EPerry & RWarner

11:30 – 16:00 EDT
Mostly sunny to partly cloudy, 83 – 89 deg F. South wind 5-10 mph

Walked .75 mile of trail from 11am - 12:30pm. Conditions: ~66F, PC, 5 mph wind, trail flooded/moist in places (Bitterroot River back flooding). Lithophragma, Cranesbill, Mustard sp. main nectar sources. Five Blues unidentified. Arrowhead Blue and Common Alpine first of year.

From the south lot - walked loop and maybe 1/4 mile towards the dam

sunny, 60s

mid-60s - sunny for at the start but then mostly cloudy

I’ve looked for butterflies in Lamb’s Canyon for 6 years, this is my first Two-banded Skipper.

With Leigj Williams. 12:30pm - 1:30pm.

Juniper Hairstreaks were seen ‘dueling’ at the top of most large juniper trees

Target species (Frosted Elfin) is a species of special concern in New York.

Seen at 08:00 and 62° with sun and a light breeze fly up onto a rusted farm gate.

If it wasn’t for the Horse droppings! These were the only butterflies seen in a mile plus walk. 95% of Pitch Pines are dead from Southern Pine Beetle infestation here in this park. Most of the park is Serpentine Barrens, hence mostly scrub oaks and pines.

Overcast 67 degrees

Fairly slow, following a full day of rain yesterday.

Sunny 80 degrees

Sunny skies for a change. Photo credits // B.Hoffman - Phaon Crescent, Black Swallowtail and Checkered White. All others; Smith.

This day started out sunny and cool turning to overcast and finally sprinkles. Still, an hour and a half yielded a nice tally!

Mostly sunny, high in the upper 70s.

Partly sunny, high in the upper 70s.

I arrived at 2:50 pm and stayed until 5:30 pm. It was in the mid-80’s, sunny and there was a continuous breeze of about 10 mph with occasional, slight gusts to about 15 mph. Those running the Preserve have de-emphasized wildflower plantings and as a result, there were very few butterflies present. The male Zabulon skippers were the only ones that appeared in normal numbers for this location and time.

Sunny 82 degrees

A nice warm day into the upper 80’S brought out the Sootywing and two Dusted Skippers.

First tiger swallowtail. Clear skies, 83 degrees. It was continuously flying and so gracefully

This property is located along Route 130 in Hamilton, NJ and is used as a parking lot for their overflow cars. There is a drainage impoundment and some undeveloped area east of Route 130, where I have observed several butterfly species over the years while having my cars serviced. On this day, I spent about 2 hours in the area. It was sunny and warm, in the lower 80’s. There were a smaller number of butterflies than at other times I have been here, but the area has not been mowed for some time and fewer nectar sources were available here than before. I observed two large, orange butterflies (one larger than the other). One was definitely a Monarch, and after consulting with Jim Springer, I have listed the smaller one as a Monarch as well, though both were fly-by sightings and I have observed Viceroys here in the past (though never this early in the season).

sunny, mid-70s

Eastern portion. Sunny, high in the lower 80s.

Warm, sunny after several days of rain. In the field for about four hours in mid-afternoon. The crescents probably represent the cocyta-group with orange undersides to the antennal club although recorded here at P. tharos.

Leaderless Walks

Mid-afternoon visit. Hot, 87 degrees and the heat kept things slow.

Sunny, 80 degrees during mid-morning walk.

First Black Swallowtail

Found a few leps in-between raindrops. (16-93)

From 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon.

Saw this Monk Skipper in the park. Some wind and rain so not many butterflies were out.

My backyard, front yard, butterfly gardens

Very warm, low 90’s and breezy. I did see a grass skipper but it was too fast for me.

Hot!

75 degrees with very light winds and humid but cloudy. A few sprinkles along the way. Not a great day for butterflies.

As I was walking around buying host plants, an American Lady flew in on the wormwood plants to lay eggs. 😊

Starting to see many whites in my yard this week.

Stopped for a quick picnic on way home from buying plants at Rose Franklins. Lots of tiger swallowtails to be seen. 😊

Entered at Route 55 access point and covered areas north to Bigelo Road and south about 2 miles.

Generally overcast during visit from 9am to 2pm. Activity very low still.

90F but threatening rain.