January 2022 Sightings

Windy morning with calm afternoon ahead of a cold front, high 90.

Weather was clear, 77°, 6-10mph winds
Surveyed from 12:30pm-3:15pm

Sunny, 62 degrees.

Sunny & 81 degrees today! Have not had a freeze yet this year so still have nectar sources.

There are two photos of a pair of Monarch butterflies while they were starting to mate and just before they flew off together into the tops of nearby trees.

There were at least 4 mated-pairs of Queen butterflies.

I did not re-locate the Southern Dogface that was photographed here on 28 and 29 December.

1245-1450, 77-81F, Wind SW 15-28MPH, Cloud Cover 62-41% with light changing constantly, Field with mustard next to swamp, upper plains of SW Georgia.

Next to Passiflora plant.

Weather was mostly clear, 64-68°, 7-9mph winds

Found three Little Metalmark caterpillars

Weather was mostly clear, 70°, 8mph winds

One Long-tailed Skipper Caterpillar

80 degrees, sunny. 30 species is pretty good for early January. Limited nectar sources but the butterflies kept moving through! A veritable herd of Zebra Heliconians around the Nature Center. Be sure to also check on other side of the street.

Weather was mostly clear, 70°, 5mph winds

Surveyed from 1:30pm-4:00pm

Found 5 Little Metalmark caterpillars

Weather was mostly clear, 75°, 9mph winds

Weather was clear, 75°, 9-10mph winds

Surveyed from 1:55pm-3:10pm

Partly Cloudy, 71 degrees, light breeze.

Weather was clear, 79°-81°, 6-11mph winds

Recent sightings for the past week. Temps ranged from 62 to 71.

10am to 12pm, 80 degrees, partly cloudy, no wind

Springlike 64 degree weather brought out just a few butterflies, but included a first-of-year Spring Azure.

Warm day after a couple in the 50’s.

78 degrees and sunny. Plenty of butterflies including very scarce ones. 46 species.

The counts on the Monarch and Queen butterflies are conservative. I did not observe any mated-pairs today. My last report from this location was on New Year’s Day.

1445-1615, 63-64F, Wind W 10-19, Cloud Cover 1-5%, Field next to swamp, All butterflies nectaring on mustard. 31.47031289321586, -84.37646176120741

Afternoon walk was led by Park Naturalist John Yochum. 81 degrees and sunny. We had nine people and 33 species of butterfly. Photos by Karl Legler. The number of Giant Whites was impressive! Nectaring on Mexican Olive tree.

50 degrees, sunny. We have not yet had a freeze this winter on Georgia’s coast.

(15-57) Sunny with temps 60-70.

63 degrees, we have not yet had a freeze this winter.

Partly cloudy & 71 degrees.

Sightings from 1/15 and 1/17.

Weather was clear, 51-55°, 4mph winds
Surveyed from 12:00pm-3:00pm

R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

Weather was clear, 63-68°, calm winds

Surveyed 11:00am-4:30pm

R. Spink, B. Woodmansee

Sunny and 80 degrees. 32 species. (Unfortunately the forecast for tomorrow is a low of 30!) The Red-bordered Metalmark is female.

Four (4) pairs of mated-Queen butterflies.

Second winter season Monarch monitoring at this location. All the Monarch butterflies looked frisky and in good shape. Will any survive the winter here?

1430-1600, 63-34F, Wind S 8-14MPH, Cloud Cover 60%, Mustard field next to swamp, coastal plain of southwest Georgia.

Weather was clear, 64-68°, calm-6mph winds

Surveyed 10:15am-3:00pm

R. Spink, B. Woodmansee

We’ve had only one morning with freezing temperature at 29 two mornings ago, but sunny & 68 this afternoon.

Mostly sunny, 75 degrees, light breeze. Conditions are quite dry.

This is my second consecutive cold season of monitoring at this location.

My last survey from this location was on 19 January 2022, https://sightings.naba.org/sightings/20809 .

There has been some colder weather of late:

Date……Lows

24 January 28F
23 January 25F
22 January 34F
21 January 38F
19 January 30F

The colder weather has not appeared to have affected the Monarch as much as the other species. On this outing, I looked hard for others, but observed only Monarch and Queens. The Queens appeared to have declined much more than the Monarchs since my last survey here on 19 January. The Monarchs appeared much more animated than the Queens today. The Queens may be in decline here for this season (?)

Here are some forecast lows:

Sat 1/29: 27F
Sun 1/30: 20F (!)
Mon 1/31: 32F
Tue 2/01: 39F

Will the monarch butterflies make it?
My bet (hope) is that at least a few will survive.

Today: 1510-1610, 60-61F, Wind N 10-14MPH, 40-50%, Mustard field next to swamps, Coastal plain of southwest Georgia. 31.47030886684634, -84.37637812628424, Numbers of individuals are conservative estimates.

Weather was Partly cloudy, 62-64°, 10mph wind gusts
Surveyed from 1:40pm-4:00pm

R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

Weather was Partly cloudy, 57-62°, 10-12mph wind gusts
Surveyed from 10:15-1:30pm

R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

65 degrees, 15-20mph wind, partially cloudy. 1:15pm - 3pm.

The hairstreaks were mostly on the Bay Cedar right by the water East of the parking lot.

Recent sightings.

Weather was clear, 64°-68°, 9-11mph wind gusts
Surveyed from 11:30am-4:30

R. Spink, B. Woodmansee

Yesterday temperature ranged 34 degrees starting at 23 & increasing to 57! The camelia used for nectar was on the ground and we were surprised at this sighting!