July 2022 Sightings

C. milkweed on road to Butterfly garden, garden itself, around the visitor’s center, and picnic area; 82 degrees and sunny—some wind; 10 am -1:40 pm. Buttonbush shrubs attracting most species.

Bronze Coppers rather freshly-out and coming to Common Milkweeds as well as some other flowers, and one just in grasses, in wet meadow. Only 1 Meadow Fritillary seen well (worn), but poss. others present as fly-bys. All ‘anglewings’ seen were fresh summer-brood, the commas and the QMark with dark hindwings above. One Red-spotted Purple was quite intrigued with a large beaver-lodge. Tawny Emperor was not at all cooperative for photos; the area where seen has produced that species in the past as well. (We did not go to a site that is often good for Hackberry Emperor this time.) Eyed Browns appeared fresh, in typical sedge-meadow habitat. The single Delaware Skipper appeared extremely freshly-emerged. Some sites were a bit dry, while a few were as wet or moist as we have experienced in other years. Weather was warm to hot, lots of sun and temp. from 70’s to near 90 [F.], with light breezes. While in some areas with much of a host-plant for the 1 Riodinid species of the region, we found no forms of that at all (no cats, no pupae, no adults) despite a bit of search. There was a little ‘feel’ of things just getting going, in terms of summer-species [or forms] coming out. It was not an entire day’s field-work out for us, yet nice diversity anyhow, and still in ‘low-ish’ numbers of individual butterflies. LOTS of nectar plants all around.

Sunny as I started at 11:30am and mostly cloudy as I finished at 2:15pm, with wind throughout and temperatures ranging from the mid-sixties to about 70°. Butterfly diversity was low but the Mormon Fritillaries seemed to be everywhere, fluttering low among the grasses, sedge, and wildflowers.

Partly Cloudy, breezy with higher gusts in open areas, 90 degrees. Targeted potential Cloudless Sulphur and Sleepy Orange haunts without success…still a little early. Lots of American Coppers out, as well as my FOY Northern Broken Dash. Female Question Mark ovipositing and would not sit still. Surprisingly not a single Swallowtail…

It was nice to see more wildflowers blooming today on these trails; some of the nectar sources I recognized were Sweet Yellow Clover, Milkweed, Knapweed, Thistle and bindweed. Two species flew by me on the trail; a Crescent, most likely a Pale or a Mylitta, as well as a Fritillary species.

10:15-12:15, sunny, breezy, high 80’s, elevation about 5600 feet.

Very dry conditions, even in the bog. Bog Coppers seen near the same small patch of cranberry as last year.

Sunny with occasional large fluffy clouds, windy and very warm with temperatures in the mid to upper seventies from 3 to 6pm. An extraordinary afternoon for me with my highest count of species yet (14) for a session here in Alaska. It began with my first Purplish Fritillaries of the year. Then a sighting on Blueberry Knoll of a Painted Lady, a rare migrating stray (or maybe a wedding or science project release?). The NABA species list for Alaska doesn’t include Painted Lady so it’s not tracked in my checklist but I’ve uploaded a photo. There have been two Painted Lady sightings from 2022 (May and June) reported for Anchorage on the iNaturalist site, but sightings are generally infrequent here. Later I had my first-ever sighting of a spectacular Phoebus Parnassian and managed just a single blurry photo before it fluttered off on translucent wings. And later I had my first White Admiral sighting since July 2019. Counts of the sulphurs are conservative. I distinguished the Clouded Sulphur from the Palaeno based on the lightly double-ringed spot on the ventral hind wing surfaces of the Clouded and the simple un-ringed spot on the Palaeno.

Weather was mostly sunny, 70-79°, 7-8mph winds
Survey lasted 8.5 hours

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, G. Crisler, J. Mundy, J. Reinoehl, T. Rutgers, C. Sauter, and S. Sauter

Sunny, 67 degrees, very windy. Arrive at 3 PM. Searched for one hour.

Incredible hike.
12.3 miles round trip.
72 F and sunny

3 hours with Jane Lampkin

Started after 7:30 and finished by 9:20.
Went past Silver, Solitude and then up to Twin Lakes and back.

(18-72) 90 and sunny.

92 degrees, sunny. In 3 days we’ve had 3.5 inches of rain! We had been 12” behind for the year.

Sunny, 85 degrees, windy.

Sunny, 87 degrees, windy. Images - Behr’s Hairstreak, California Hairstreak, Edith’s Copper, & Lupine Blue.

Weather was clear-partly cloudy, 77-82°, 5mph winds
Surveyed from 11:15am-1:15pm

Weather was partly cloudy, 84-88°, 5mph winds
Surveyed from 1:30-5:30pm

8a.m. to 10a.m. mostly sunny high 80s.
Hundreds of Cassius Blue and Dainty Sulphur

10-10:45 a.m. 90 degrees mostly sunny
Found what I think is the first FL record of White-angled Sulphur

Scouting for upcoming butterfly count. 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; 83°-93°, winds 4-6, sunny to partly cloudy. Many nectar sources but not many butterflies.

Mid 80’s, partly cloudy, heavy rains about a week earlier. The weather has brought out flies and assassin bugs.

Sunny with temperatures in the mid to high seventies and windy from 12:20 to 4pm. I saw Red-disked Alpines at this location on 7/4/2021 and hoped for them again today. With the warm, dry weather this summer I suspect their flight season may have finished early as I didn’t find any at all this afternoon. Palaeno Sulphurs were abundant but butterflies of other species were scarce.

Hiked the 1st 3 miles and back.

Second brood of Pipevine Swallowtails in full swing. Of 24 seen 5 were in flight and seen walking towards Ohio River and other 19 were males taking nutrients from damp sand along river.

Overcast most of the day, few butterflies seen until about 2:00 pm when the sun shone weakly through. Nice surprise was a Golden Hairstreak sitting on a barrier, trying to get warm (very cooperative for photos). Coronis Fritillaries were faded and tattered.

sunny, 90+, light breeze
Dainty Sulphur and Cassius Blue huge numbers

A mix of sun and clouds, increasingly overcast and shady, with temperature at about 58° when I started at 10:40am and in the low-sixties at 1:20pm as I ended. I returned to Flattop hoping to find a Phoebus Parnassian after seeing one two days ago. Most of my time was spent in the meadow I had observed it but I didn’t manage to find one today. It was a very pretty day to be out, with fairly good butterfly activity considering the cooler temperatures.

Today I checked out various trails and parks in New Castle, including grassy fields, woods, the riverside and the roadside, finding large patches of Milkweed and knapweed. Most of the clumps of knapweed were covered in butterflies. I saw several wood nymphs, but I was not close enough to identify them.

Partly sunny, high 70’s, 9:55-12:50, elevation about 6000 feet.

Partly sunny but cool at times, high of 77, very windy. Note - saw several greater fritillay fly-bys, not able to ID.

Weather was cloudy-mostly sunny, 70-86°. 0-11mph winds
Surveyed for 8.5 hours

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, and A. Lidral

Sunny and 74° from 6:10 to 7:10pm. I’ve been feeling deprived of Silvery Blues this season, having only seen them a couple of times in late May and early June, so visited a spot where I found them reliably last summer. At first I saw only Cranberry Blues. When I spotted Silvery Blues they appeared strikingly larger than the little Cranberry Blues, and they were active in a sunny patch within the woods where blooming fireweed and late Alpine Lupine was plentiful. One of the Silvery Blues appeared to be ovipositing, although I didn’t find eggs (but also didn’t pull apart leaves in search of them). One Silvery Blue landed repeatedly on my clothes, camera, and hands. An uploaded photo shows it licking minerals off my knuckle.

With Jane Lampkin, Alan Wells, Della Wells, Karen Nickeson
9:40 - 12:40 70’s, overcast
Annual Lily Pond 4th of July count

1:30 to 4:30PM. Mostly Cloudy. 80 degrees.

Mostly sunny with increasing clouds, breezy and 68° from 6:05 to 6:50pm. When I visited the bog last Thursday shortly after the Dorcas Coppers began eclosing, I saw only males. This evening there was a mix of both males and females present in the three spots on the east side of the bog that I checked, and in greater overall numbers. A probable Silver-bordered Fritillary was observed, but at too great a distance for confident identification. Mosquitos were abundant.

Today while gardening, I saw seven butterfly species in my yard, three of which were nectaring on my Zinnias and Catmint.

Sunny, high 70’s

Mostly Cloudy, light breeze, low 80s. Vast majority of sightings from Mariton. Coral Hairstreak, Great Spangled Fritillary, and Little Wood-Satyr counts are conservative. Highest count of Coral Hairstreaks I’ve ever come across!

Visited on July 4th & 7th. The season appeared to be running 3 to 4 weeks late based on my previous visits the past decade.

Cloudy, calm, low 80s. Out walking in the park with the kiddos, so a limited loop and only cell phone images. Still surprised at the numbers seen with limited time and cloud cover. A couple of orange, fast-flying skippers went unidentified…probably the emergence of the next Zabulon brood.

The walk around the perimeter of the pond is mostly White Clover, grass, and Plantain, both round leaf and narrow leaf types on the pathway, with a variety of other flowering plants in lesser numbers.

(16-109) Sunny & hot. Fire bush, frogfruit and porterweed were nectar sources.

Visited on 6 & 8 July 2022.

Half of my usual search area was subjected to a controlled burn recently, but the butterfly sightings were still quite good for a brief visit.

98 degrees, full sun. We’ve had 8 inches of rain in the past 9 days! The Queen is a ‘lifer’ for our garden!

Today I learned that the No Name Trailhead is also known as the Jess Weaver Trailhead. Regardless of the name, it is still my favorite trail for new butterflies. Today’s new species was the Tailed Copper, and what a little beauty!

Sunny, 90 degrees, 11:05-12:35, elevation 6000 feet

Elevation 9,300 ft (Dog Lake) to above Snake Creek Pass (10,200 ft+)

Sunny with haze due to a fire near Yosemite. Some breeze. NP.

1pm - 2:30, ~80 degrees, sunny, 10-15mph wind

29th annual NABA butterfly count. Weather: 82°-93°, winds: 5-8 mph, sun all day 76%. 3 teams. LCooper, SClendenin, SFarnsworth, ANaccarato, CNagele, TPalmer, NPrine, PStrauss, CWelch. Many nectar sources.

Mostly cloudy and very windy, with temperatures in the mid-sixties from 1:30 to 2pm. The strong wind and shade from clouds reduced butterfly activity but I found Mormon Fritillaries taking shelter in wind-protected spots.

Wind, mostly overcast skies, and temperatures in the low-sixties from 3:30 to 6pm. Very little butterfly activity with the gray, windy weather. It had looked like the sun might break through the clouds but the conditions never really improved. The few Mormon Fritillaries I found were very skittish and didn’t cooperate for photos.

Humid partly sunny and low 80s during observation. Several Monarch eggs, no caterpillars in the countryside.

The parking lots, east side of Lake Maggorie and the SW fields - 12pm- 2pm

The Little Yellow was a big surprise, being both very early and far north as far as coastal records go.

Sunny day, slight breeze, butterflies were found on butterfly weed plants

Hiked from Silver Lake (8700 ft), past Lake Solitude and then up to Twin Lakes Pass (9993ft) and back down past Twin Lakes.
7am - 10am

97 degrees, sunny but more rain expected! Many of our shots are taken through windows as the heat, humidity and mosquitos are bad right now.

Weather was cloudy most of the day with one brief rain shower, 72-75°, 8-14mph winds. Surveyed from 9:30am-5:30pm

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, J. Grzeskowiak

Sunny, very windy and 82 degrees.

Mostly sunny, breezy, and 73° at 6:45pm but overcast as I finished at 7:15pm. I’ve been checking on this boggy area near our house to confirm if a population of Dorcas Coppers are present. The habitat seems ideal with lots of Shrubby Cinquefoil, and survey data collected in July 1965 by Dr. Kenelm Philip of the University of Alaska Fairbanks indicated a population was present on the Alaska Pacific University campus back then. I’ve visited several times in the past two weeks after first seeing recently-eclosed Dorcas Coppers at nearby Baxter Bog. I hadn’t found Dorcas Coppers yet at the wetlands on campus, though, and faced torment from dive-bombing Mew Gulls and hordes of mosquitoes. After several days of overcast weather, I stopped by this evening when conditions were bright and warm and checked the northwest corner of the bog where the gulls are less aggressive. I was very happy to find a Silver-bordered Fritillary that was cooperative for photos. With some looking I ultimately found several Dorcas Coppers too, so was very happy to confirm a population is still present at this location.

Gardens look great, as usual, with Buttonbussh just emerging and many more plants ready to bloom soon. Adequate moisture in the area as well.

Sunny day, breezy,

Walked 3 miles in and then back.
Lots of Grouse along the trail this morning. Scared up a group of at least 15 (twice), a group of 4 and then finally 1.

15 walk around grassy area. Nectar sources include Biden’s alba, False button weed. 93 degrees. iPhone photos include Mallow Srub-Hairstreak, Dainty Sulphur, Cassius Blue.

1:00 to 3:30PM. Partly cloudy 50% sun. Low 70’s.

First time that we have seen 4 different blues at the Gardens. We usually see Summer Azure and Eastern Tailed Blue. Reakirt’s Blue we see occasionally and only one other time since 2015 have we seen a Marine Blue. It was sunny after a cloudy morning with temperatures around 83 degrees.

Gulf Frits visiting passion flowers

A long-known locality, with great quantities of Aristolochia durior growing on the cliffs and very steep slopes here, above the Hudson River at Englewood Cliffs. Many paths in disrepair as of this visit, but open. A majority of the Pipevine Swallowtails were females and many seen were in near-constant movement. At least 6+ males also observed, some seemingly attempting to mate with females. Also a few females apparently laying eggs on the Aristolochia vine’s leaves and/or nodes. My first re-visit here in many years, to specifically witness these majestic creatures. My visit also to honor 2 great naturalists of the local area, Nicholas Wagerik and Michael Bonifanti. Almost the only-other butterflies seen were Cabbage Whites which were less-numerous than these swallowtails. No other swallowtail species were noted. Road-access can be somewhat limited at times, and may be from the southward side of site.

(23-127) Short visit from 9:30 until noon. Sunny and near 90.

Overcast day with breeze. Rain on & off. Temps in 70s, low humidity

12:30PM to 4:00PM. Mostly cloudy, then clearing for the last hour and one half. 70-72 degrees.

My girlfriend and I witnessed a female Zebra Swallowtail laying eggs on three separate Sugar Apple saplings, Annona squamosa. Is this a first? I looked up their known hosts, Asimina spp., and sure enough, they belong to the Annonaceae family. Lots of other butterfly activity in the vicinity. A good time was had by all.

Weather was mostly sunny, 64-79°, 4-8mph winds
Surveyed from 9:00am-6:00pm

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, T. Rutgers, J. Reinoehl, J. Grzeskowiak

Willowemoc Road runs along Fir Brook for several miles. We stopped at a few productive milkweed stands along the road. We also stopped at a large meadow on Frost Valley Road.

Sunny, hot, 90 degrees. Rain earlier in the day. Quick walk, 12:40 - 12:55, along grassy area of parking lot. New species today for this site. Nectar included Biden’s alba, Fog fruit, False buttonweed, Fanpetal, Coco plum.

Mostly sunny and 64° from 6 to 7:20pm. The bog was very wet after rain overnight and throughout the morning. We’ve had several days of cool overcast weather and the forecast for the next ten days suggests plenty of rain, so when the sky partially cleared this evening I took the opportunity to visit the bog. I checked three spots for Dorcas Coppers and found males and females present at all locations in close proximity to ample Shrubby Cinquefoil. This included two of my usual locations on the east side of the bog and a spot at the northwest end of the bog I hadn’t investigated yet. Silver-bordered Fritillaries were only found at the northwest location this evening. Mosquitoes were present throughout the bog and a real nuisance.

Early morning on Duranta erecta (golden dewdrop)

We went back to the large meadow not far from the Frost Valley YMCA center which had proven to be quite productive the day before.

Obs. made from 1:20 to 3:45, mid 70’s and mostly cloudy. Over 50% of Common Milkweed at Splash dam pond was recently mowed to the ground.

Various stops along the roadside primarily checking out stands of common milkweed.

Obs. made from 10:45- 12:50 & again from 5:30-6:45. Mostly cloudy & low 70’s early rising to a sunny 79 late. Fiery was a worn female.

Began obs. around 9 a.m. with sun and 63 degrees. European Skippers were on the wing early. White Admiral was nectaring on Golden Alexander.

Cloudy, light breeze at times, mid-70s. Always a great location to find a large number of grass skipper varieties - particularly marsh/wetland species that are otherwise hard to find. Overall skipper numbers down this year…not sure if it is due to the dry conditions recently or today’s cloud cover? Still a good number of different species…happy to find a handful of Dion Skippers present along with a single Mulberry Wing. A good number of the Tiger Swallowtails appeared to be Eastern x Canadian hybrids/intergrades - I labeled them all as Eastern in the tally.

Lots of Milkweed in bloom, with Dogbane just starting to open, and lots of Slender Mountain Mint in bloom on the perimeter with zero takers

Today I saw about the same species that were flying here a couple of weeks ago, but there were many more Common Wood-Nymphs.

10:40-12:15, Partly sunny, 79-88 degrees, elevation about 6000 ft.

85 degrees have had 9.5 inches of rain since June 29th! We see new species as a result.

Partly sunny and 84.

Weather was cloudy-mostly cloudy, 70-81°, winds calm-4mph
Surveyed from 9:00am-4:00pm

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, T. Rutgers

Hardee & Highlands Cos. roadsides (mostly rural Hardee Co) as part of the Highlands Hammock State Park 25th annual NABA count. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. when rain stopped the count. 78°-90°, winds light. Sun a.m.-90%, p.m.-40% then rain. Nectar: frogfruit, Spanish needles, sida spp, richardia spp, diodia spp, twinevine. Explosion of Mallow Scrub-Hairstreaks north of their typical range. LCooper, SFarnsworth.

Conducting the Itasca Butterfly Count - mostly in Clearwater Co. but small portions in Hubbard & Becker Cos.

The abundance of grass skippers, Common Wood Nymphs and Great Spangled Fritillaries along the milkweed-lined road edges was impressive.

Walked 3 miles and back
Saw 1st female Great Spangled Frit of the season.

Seen mostly in airport part of the park, but was in the whole park. No sign of the metalmarks. As usual couldn’t find the Springdale Rd. site, seems to be very overgrown. May have been late again for them. Missed them last year too.

82 and sunny.

Today I hiked almost to the top of the West Colorow Trail, retracing my steps then walking the lower portion of the East Colorow Trail, hoping to see some new wildflowers as well as butterflies.

Most of the trail is a steep narrow mountain bike trail rated as “easy” by AllTrails, but not so easy for me, new to Colorado from Massachusetts.

Sunny, 85 degrees, 10:10-12:45, another beautiful day in the mountains, elevation about 6500 ft.

Identified a rare (for our area) skipper today. Found a smaller gray-brown skipper with marks matching a Eufala. Confirmed sighting with multiple photos & local entomologist. Saw butterfly with president of CVWO Brian Taber.

88 degrees, overcast. We continue to see new species with almost daily rain showers.