November 2012 Sightings

Fresh individual found late in the day by Mark and Holly Salvato. Photo by Linda F. Cooper

Short visit to search for Evans’ Skipper (no luck) but we did find a fresh Guava Skipper. Buck and Linda Cooper; photo by Linda F. Cooper

Just a short 2 hour visit to search for Red-crescent Scrub-Hairstreak (no luck) found an unexpected Theona Checkerspot. Linda and Buck Cooper. photos by Linda F. Cooper

A warm day in the low 80s brought out a surprising number of butterflies, especially after several frosts.

Nov. 3rd 1- Red Admiral in sunny meadow on south side of the mountain.
Nov. 4th 1- Am. Lady at Hook Mnt. Hawk Watch site. Photos bt Felicia Napier

Some of roadsides recently mowed

Not a complete list of butterflies but enough to make you wish you were here. Isabella’a Heliconian found by Mark and Holly Salvato but not photographed by me because we were sitting in a restaurant having lunch when it appeared briefly. Buck and Linda Cooper. Photos by Linda F. Cooper

Usually see them in January, so I guess this is early

Forwarded from the Ontario Google Group by Don Davis.

a little bit of a surprise after the hurricane and the hard freeze

Forwarded from the Ontario Google Group by Don Davis.

Charles Mills has been seeing rare (for Arkansas) blues in the SW corner of Arkansas. Tom Lewis and David Oakley met Charles at Lake Millwood dam for a quick look on a cool windy day. 6 Ceraunus Blues and 8 Western Pygmy-Blues were seen all of them were seen on Corps of Engineers property beginning just outside of Millwood State Park. Charles has also seen Reakirt’s Blues at this location.

Sightings recorded from 11:40 am - 12:45 pm.
Weather: 73°F-73°F, few clouds, windy
Habitat: Clover field and scrubby open area with mature woods along Skunk River valley hills and ridgetop

The near-record high temperatures brought out a few butterflies when the sun peeked out, including a not-too-common Cloudless Sulphur.

Sightings recorded from 2:50 pm - 3:15 pm.
Weather: 73°F-73°F, mostly cloudy, windy
Habitat: Hilly open area with some brush among woods near dammed lake

One more Dainty Sulphur showed up in the near-record heat today.

Two butterflies were still flying, about 60 degrees F this afternoon.

Forwarded from the Ontario Google Group by Don Davis. Late record for Fiery Skipper.

Most of today’s activity included a dish of ripe bananas & orange halves. Some remaining buddleia and lantana also visited.

These are butterflies seen by us though others at the gardens may have seen ones we missed. The sailors are considered uncommon by regular. Isabella’s Heliconian is considered rare. Linda and Buck Cooper. Photos by Linda F. Cooper

White-striped Longtail found nectaring near bank of Cibolo Creek

After a hurricane and a snowstorm, sunny with temps. in mid 60s
Several anglewings and the one red admiral that afforded close looks all looked very fresh.

Late Cloudless Sulphur nectaring on honeysuckle (photo)

seen by Buck and Linda Cooper. Photo by Linda F. Cooper

found by Steve W. ca 10 am after we had seen our fill of visiting red and white-winged crossbills. Temp. no more than 50 degrees.

Photos by Linda F. Cooper. Very fresh Malachite seen by many people was found by Tom Bentley. Fresh Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak. Mourning Cloaks worn. Female Curve-winged Metalmark seen only briefly and no photo obtained.

Forwarded from the Ontario Google Group by Don Davis.

Photo by Linda F. Cooper. Female Silver Emperor was very fresh, Seen by many people.

Photo by Linda F. Cooper. Found by Dan Hardy. Seen by Linda Hardy, Steve Moore, Barbara Volke, Buck and Linda Cooper

Amongst many Queens, one leucistic individual. Photo by S. Layten

Forwarded from the Ontario Google Group by Don Davis. Dainty Sulphurs are a late record for Ontario and possibly the first November record.

Fresh Saltbush Sootywing found previous day. This individual was worn. Field guides do not indicate them flying this late in the year. Found by Dave Hanson and seen by Steve Moore, Barbara Volke, Buck and Linda Cooper. Photos by Linda F. Cooper

I noticed two Colias sulphurs flying over some sunny, grassy areas.

Temperatures near 60 degrees today brought some butterflies out of hiding.

This is same site where I found 13 Cuban Crescents in November 2009.

A nice way to end November. The Rusty-tipped page (rare and new for a lot of us) was an early Christmas gift. First spotted and thankfully photographed by a novice visitor who asked me if I knew what the fuzzy photo was of … then (as you can imagine) a mad search and I finally found it in a different location. It stayed for over an hour and lots of folks came to see it. Also present was Rusty’s only other U.S. relative: a Malachite.

Rusty-tipped Page! This was the icing on the cake at the end of our six week stay in Mission. This was a first for the NBC gardens. My photos were taken shortly after 4 p.m., up in a Guajillo tree. It was found by a Canadian couple visiting the gardens for the first time and identified by Dave Hanson. Also in the gardens - two Malachites and two Guatemalan Crackers. Linda and Buck Cooper. Photos by Linda F. Cooper

Butterfly garden, SE foot of Huachuca Mts, 5,010’ elev at oak-grassland interface. Nectar plants: Dalea (2 spp), Salvia (several spp), Aster, Lantana (2 spp), Cosmos, Gaillardia, Tithonia (2 spp), Gaura, Milkweed (2 spp), Verbena, and Chocolate Flower. Common/White Checkered-Skippers not differentiated.