March 2023 Sightings

Weather was cloudy, 72-75°, calm-6mph winds

Survey time: 10:30am-5:00pm

R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

plus assorted swallowtails, Phaon Crescents, Red-spotted Admiral, Little Yellow, many Cloudless Sulphurs.

W 5 Sunny 68-80F, only recorded the butterflies 2.5 miles of the 6 mile loop, 0815-1215; overwhelmed by GSW and SMS; 8 other species elsewhere today in Brevard Co

Very little blooming besides Pickerelweed and Toadflax

Mostly sunny/Partly cloudy, 74-81, 12:30-4pm. Earliest elfin and duskywing sightings for me. Looks more like April 1st than March 1st. Best sighting of the day came at the end - a bobcat crossing the forest road and bounding up the hill!

Mostly sunny, 67-74, 10:30-12:00, light to moderate breeze.

Weather was clear-partly cloudy, 81°, calm-11mph winds

Survey time: 12:00pm-4:00pm

R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

0750-1150 56-82F SW5; not much in bloom, a couple of patches of blue toadflax on powerline rd and some fetterbush in the woods

Sunny, 60 degrees @ 11 AM starting time, breezy.

Casual observations during a private tour with others including Ed Perry and photos are his. 10:15 am-2 pm. 84°-89°, sunny, windy. Everything dry and almost no nectar sources.

Quick visit to see if Yucca Giant-Skipper Skipper is laying eggs in known locations yet. 2:15 -4:30 pm, 90°, windy & dry conditions with few nectar sources. With Ed Perry and most photos are his. The light colored egg would be unusual for Yucca Giant-Skipper, and could possibly be a Cofaqui Giant-Skipper. We found four Yucca Giant-Skipper eggs and two of the light ones.

Most of the sulphurs were very yellow, with almost all having a small orange area in the central trailing edge of the hindwing, so these were Orange Sulphurs. There were two that were completely yellow (Clouded Sulphurs).

mid-80’s, sunny, 11 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

12:45-2:35, 73-75 degrees, mostly sunny with light to moderate breezes and occasional higher gusts. One Spring Azure nectared on spicebush. Season well-advanced with star and sauce magnolia in full bloom. Also blooming are wildflowers including white trout lily.

(19-130). Warm and sunny. Still very dry with no rain in many weeks. FL74.

Clear, breezy, 73 degrees. Most of activity was past the mine in the canyon proper. One Blue seen but not identified.

The Zebra Swallowtails never landed; they kept flying about.
Also saw 1 unID grass skipper.

Weather: mostly sunny-partly cloudy, 75°-79°, calm-6mph winds

Survey time: 12:00pm-5:30pm

R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

1:30 - 3. overcast then rain

Overcast all day 9am to 1:30pm

(8-52) Short visit for only an hour. FL80

(10-36) Mostly sunny with fetterbush, littleleaf buckbrush and sundial lupine being nectar sources. FL78

Yard butterflies. The O.B.S. was a laying female on Senna bicapsularis and Senna alata. There was also one patrolling male. Beautiful weather with high about 80 degrees. Dry as can be. We’ve had about three days of cold weather back in December and it’s been summer since.

70 degrees mostly sunny. Nature trail below Gregory house and trail to stone bridge

72 degrees, partly sunny, windy. 2 Funereal or Mournful duskywings. 5 unidentified Checkered-skippers.

We checked the thistle and other wildflowers on a newly cleared lot on Captain’s Cove Road where we found the Buckeye, Whirlabout and Salt Marsh Skipper before hiking into Tabby Oaks. The high today was 73 after 1/2 inch of rain yesterday.

(16-86) Warm and sunny. Little in the way of nectar sources except a couple of thistles. Walked the forest edges and hillsides. Pine Elfin photo is cropped and lightened to show field marks. Along for the adventure: J & I Gibbons. FL84

9am to 2pm. Trail to power line cut. Found 1 yucca with 3 Yucca Giant-Skipper eggs

78 degrees, sunny just before wind and high winds arrived. A timber or canebrake rattlesnake was across our path when we arrived so we took the long way around through the tall cane which is host plant for several species we saw. We haven’t seen a Juniper Hairstreak in this location for a couple of years and this is a very early date for White M Hairstreak which we don’t typically see until May in McIntosh County.

phaon crescent

70 degrees, clear, breezy.

lower 80’s 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

High today only 68 after 78 yesterday,

NW Industrial area of town, which has a surprising amount of wildlife.

Multiple fresh Apodemia mormo duryi near noon today. 69 degrees, breezy and clear. Just after noon.

Sunny and cool with temperatures in the mid 50s.

First sightings of the season in our neighborhood. 7,000 ft elevation 60 degrees F.

Both sightings were near 11:15 and no more for the day.

65 degrees, sunny.

Sunny, a high of 67 degrees, light winds. The season here remains close to running 3 to 4 weeks late for most species.

10:15 am - 5:15 pm. 70°-83°, clear to partly cloudy, winds 10-16 mph. Scouting for follow up surveys. Area dry. Nectar: thistle, pickerelweed, several polygala species, huckleberry, buttonweed. CGibson, JLampkin, EPerry, LCooper.

First of year for me in PA

75 degrees sunny with front moving in and intermittent periods of overcast skies. During those periods the mosquitos and Satyrs were abundant!

Surveyed from 8:30a to 9:35a in a known area for YGS. Fifteen unemerged eggs were located on various yuccas, 3 that had emerged, and 2 caterpillars in their leaf-tip tents were located. The photographed caterpillar is most likely entering its second or third day out of the egg. Not long after this it will burrow into the root of the host plant.

Finally, a warm sunny 67 degree day. All the Tortoiseshells and the one Mourning Cloak were worn and tattered. The Sara Orangetips, first of year for me.

FOY. Spring form Summer Azure male (C neglecta, not C ladon). Falcate Orangetip was a female; males had been observed at this location a week ago.

60F buckeye on “lawn”

Only butterfly of the day. But the first of the year.

Good variety today; they especially liked the Bristle Thistle.

First butterfly of the year on the first day of spring. It was around 60 degrees with little wind. 2p.m.

Weather was partly cloudy, 64°-73°, 8-9mph winds

Survey time: 11:45am-2:50pm

R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

Southern Oak Hairstreak, American Lady and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail seen on Sparkleberry

Cabbage Whites feisty and had not been seen here until this date in ‘23, to my knowledge - commas were each sitting more than ‘cloaks which regularly patrolled in their respective ‘territories’ and just occasionally caused a comma to fly up and defend a small patch of a sunny slope. The Mourning Cloaks had been first noted [by me] here, as of March 16th, when at least two individuals were seen.

1:30 pm - 4 pm under mostly sunny to slightly overcast skies; warm (temperatures rising from 50F to 63F) with mostly calm winds. Circuit from Visitor Center via Wild Turkey Way to Kingfisher Road to WIldlife Loop and return to VC. Very little nectar in bloom; the anglewings surprised me by avidly nectaring on invasive Pyrus x calleryana. Azure was actually spring form of Summer Azure, C. neglecta.

Sunny, light breeze, 60 degrees. First of year butterflies for me in PA!

First of the season for me.

(28-141) A bit foggy until just after 11 and then everything came to life. A great day!

Great Southern White laying eggs on Virginia Peppergrass.

plus 1 unid’d skipper

ceraunus blue

2 pm temperature was about 75 degrees when we found the Juniper Hairstreak and Henry’s Elfin. Nectar source was thistle, briars and abundant amounts of yapon holly, Ilex vomitoria the host plant for Henry’s Elfin yahwehus subspecies. Both the Zebra Swallowtails and the Juniper Hairstreak were oviposting.

Patch of baptisia on roadside

A brief check of some areas for native wildflowers and other signs of spring; with a rather brief interlude of warmer sun. Less than 1/2-mile total walk here on this visit.

(27-198) Always worth a visit. FL93

Scouting for upcoming butterfly walks. 10 a.m.-4 pm. 71°-84°, winds 10-14. Area very dry with few wildflowers. Nectar: thistle, fleabane, Spanish needles. ACreager, KNieves, LCooper. Last hour with JBoxall, EPoropat.

81F
Cloudless Sulphur on mounding mandevilla

Weather was partly, 67°-76°, breezy

Survey time: 9:0am-2:00pm

R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

Weather was partly cloudy, 78°-80°, breezy

Survey time: 3:30-5:40pm

R. Spink, B. Woodmansee, and M. Woodmansee

Weather was cloudy and 81°

Survey time: 4:30pm-5:00pm

R. Spink, B. Woodmansee, M. Woodmansee

Weather was cloudy, 81°, breezy

Surveyed from 10:00am-1:15pm

R. Spink, B. Woodmansee, M. Woodmansee

The Frosted Elfins are the subspecies hadros that is found in the Arklatex region.

Friends of Kissimmee Prairie butterfly walks 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. 74°-91°, partly cloudy, winds 9-13 mph. 22 participants. Nectar: thistle, daisy fleabane, spermacoce, Spanish needles.

Nectaring on Shrubby False Buttonweed ((Spermacoce verticillata).

Yard butters.

Cabbage White was in very poor shape must have had a rough winter.

There’s always surprises out there. Today it was the number of Appalachian Browns and finally seeing an Elfin in Florida.

84F

cool, low 60’s, partly sunny

Season is getting a slow start, with all the rain and more on the way. But today was sunny, mid-60s. Western Brown Elfin and Propertius Duskywing, First-of-Season. Also saw a single Variable Checkerspot caterpillar marching across the road.

Seven Springs Loop Trail 1145-1530, 4 miles. Finally some sunny weather in California! Temps still in the high 50’s-low 60’s in the afternoon. “Lotus” Bramble Hairstreak was a Lifer for me.

Sunny, breezy, 68 degrees. Still slow and very little nectar in bloom as yet.

1:30 PM. First butterfly for 2023 at this location.

(20-166). Warm and partly sunny. With J & I Gibbons. FL96

Suburban foothills.Sunny, temps in 60’s

With Clinton Gibson. Xeric Scrub habitat. Six hours. Two female Sleepy Duskywings were observed laying eggs on scrub oak buds. 75 is a conservative estimate.

69F

Clear, 57-60, calm to light south breeze, 2pm-4pm. All sightings in or near the spillway.

Partly cloudy, 73 degrees. 1:30pm to 3:30pm. Walked the road down to Lake O’ Pines then walked the trail beside the lake. Approximate distance is 1.2 miles. Saw a Zebra Swallowtail for the first time in Upshur County. Unable to get a picture of it, but I believe there were two individuals seen a total of 5 times. Also saw two luna moths.

74F Pearl Crescent, the same individual in exactly the same place as yesterday. Phaon Crescent also in that same place.

Mike, please add this pic to join the others. Thanks

With Don Fraser, Clint Gibson, Paul Pratt.
Eight hours; temps in the 70-80’s.
One of the Cofaqui Giant Skippers had eclosed with compromised wings, making it easy to pose on a finger. In addition to two adults, we found 41 eggs on yucca.

80F Cloudless Sulphur on Amaryllis.