October 2015 Sightings

Late afternoon visit.

Overgrown yard with abundant asters

Cloudy,strong North wind,and in the 60’s.

65 degrees, gray and mist from the remnant hurricane. Often times when such storms pass, butterflies not usually seen appear. First sighting ever at this location of a Brazilian Skipper, for the most part, out of its normal range. Species number 47 for the year here and number 68 all time (last 5 years). Knew it was something special right away due to its large size. Only butterfly of the day.

Photo taken late morning with temperature in the low 50’s.

I stopped counting Western Pygmy Blues at 360, and that was just looking at one side of the trail.

Cuban Crescents on and around Green Shrimp Plant (Blechum pyramidatum). No Crimson Dicliptera (Dicliptera sexangularis) seen in the area.

Late afternoon visit.

Visited Dove Field from 10:00-11:45 and then Cooter’s Bog from 12:00-1:30

Cloudy,strong North wind,low 60s early,and a little sun into the low 70s mid afternoon.

Low 80s and breezy.

Death by Skipper annual field trip - DCutler, MCutler, JEvoy, SFarnsworth, SGlynn, SHalling, JLampkin, JLampkin, GSchepker, LCooper. 75-84 degrees. Lots of wildflowers. Area very wet.

A few of the sulphurs looked a bit smaller and may have been Pink-spot Sulphurs.

This is my third trip to this park to sort out the drab brownish skippers that occur there; I believe they are a mix of Three-spotted and Neamathla Skippers.

Cloudy,strong North winds,upper 50s early,but with breaks in the clouds warmed to mid 60s.Each time the sun would come out and the butterfies would take to the sky,as soon the clouds returned they disappeared,and this was repeated during the enter outing.At one point the Tawny Emperor came into the car for a visit,while the clouds past by.This area was protected from the wind by a thick bottomland forest,which helped with the number of species sighted.

9:30 am - 3 pm. Weather: 70-80 degrees, mostly cloudy, winds - 8 to 10. Lots of wildflowers. BCooper, LCooper, SFarnsworth, SGlynn, SHalling, JLampkin, GSchepker.

Gray and drizzle, mid-60s.

Party cloudy, some wind after a cold front

After the weather we’ve had this week I was surprised to see anything.

Several male Statira Sulphurs seen skirmishing around Coinvine (Dalbergia ecastophyllum) and nectaring frequently on Firebush (Hamelia patens), but never for more than about a second on each flower. One female seen in a different area nectaring on Spanish Needles (Bidens alba). I had no luck photographing this high-energy, wary butterfly. Atlalas seen as chrysalids on Coontie (Zamia pumila).

10 am - 3 pm
clear skies, mid-80s

All butterflies from Kidneywoods along entrance road and from butterfly garden.

New yard butterfly: Painted Lady! The butterfly did an odd thing - it was fluttering at the side of my house, and then it went up and under a shingle and just stayed there. Not sure how long it was there, as I didn’t see it leave, although I’m sure it did.

Fall form mating (in photo)

Monarch migration and a Queen showed up..75-100 Monarchs and 1 Queen

Late afternoon searching. Cool, 69 degrees. Nice nectar, but few butterflies this late in the season.

With Jane Lampkin; 3 - 4:30, 88 degrees
Whirlabouts were in the uncountable hundreds

Sunny and warm after a week of clouds and cold.

Weekly survey with Della Wells and Nancy Slowik. Air temperatures ranged from 63 to 66 F. One of the individuals listed as Orange Sulphur was a female white morph Orange/Clouded Sulphur.

Second day in a row for the Compton Tortoiseshell. These two photos are of the same butterfly.

The first butterfly survey for Duette on record; with John Lampkin (photo), Karen Finch (photo), Jean Evoy (photo), Dave Cutler, Fred Allen. Sunny, partly sunny, temp. 76-88F.

Sunny, low humodity and temps close to 70.

highest number of Ocola Skippers I’ve ever recorded here

This is the third day in a row that I saw a Compton Tortoiseshell in the yard!

1:10-3:30 pm EDT, sunny, 78-80 deg F, wind 10-15 mph.

With Jane Lampkin & Robert Epstein
2 - 4; 86-88
Whirlabouts again uncountable hundreds.
Image shows why we were one White Peacock short.

Went 2.2 miles to the entrance of Broads Fork Basin (8400ft) Mylittas seen in the basin.

One moose - female!

Winds 15-18 MPH all day. Seeing new small instars of Black Swallowtails and Monarch caterpillars. 1 Monarch emerged today.

With Jim Brock and Ken Kertell

With Jim Brock and Ken Kertell

With Jim Brock and Ken Kertell

Also along were Brian Ahern and Melissa James. Fla Year(138).
Photo credits -
Dotted Skipper (Smith)
Southern Dogface (James)
Zarucco Duskywing (James)

Several locations at the point including the Triangle Garden, State Park, Pavillion Circle and several private gardens.
Six Black Swallowtails were caterpillars.

The Ocola and Fiery Skippers were scattered all over the point.

With Jim Brock and Ken Kertell

Painted Lady feeding on Butterfly Bush at summit of Sugarloaf Mountain - sunny and clear at approx. 70 degrees.

Sun did not appear until 11 a.m. Little activity before then. Intermittent sunshine rest of the day until after 2 p.m.

88 degrees with 8 mph wind.

With Jane Lampkin
3 -5; 85 with some clouds
Whirlabouts which were super-abundant a few days ago have dwindled dramatically.

From the Catherine’s Pass went up/over to Alta’s Supreme Lift (10,400ft) and back.

No snow yet - near 50degrees

All butterflies seen above 10,200ft

Certified Butterfly Garden #1151, Certified Wildlife Garden #179,054 8 Black Swallowtail caterpillars found. 13 more Monarch caterpillars on Common Milkweed with 3 in J-position.

Fair butterfly numbers throughout day but most gone by 5 PM. 5 new Monarch cats on common milkweed.

Also had a monarch chrysalis on the overhang of the front door.

breezy/sunny mid 70s. Hard to get exact counts as things were really moving/blowing around. First time I noticed checkered Whites here; the ones nearby at the west end of Jones Beach State Park had all expired about ten days ago after a strong nor’easter over several days; this species is having a strong year in LI/NYC area.

With Jane Lampkin, Karen Finch & Jean Evoy
2:30 - 4:30; 86 and sunny
Longtail Skipper observed ovipositing on Desmodium sp.

With Karen Finch and Jean Evoy
9-12:30; 71-82 Bright Sun
Lower meadows only

I am unlikely to see a day like this again soon. The late season butterfly diversity was good: 18 species in 3.5 hours. Highlights included my first Mourning Cloak since spring, my first Albemarle Painted Lady this season, and numerous sulphurs (though no Cloudless), Cabbage Whites, Variegated Frits, and Eastern Commas/Question Marks.

four hours: 9-11 am, 1:30-3:30 pm
sunny, clear, mid 80s-low 90s, light winds

Third wave of migrating Monarchs..

79F
Most monarchs I’ve ever seen at once.
First mylitta I’ve seen at Pt. Richmond.

This butterfly has been checking out my new leaf mulch piles as well as the Rabbit Brush on an autumn day, 67F.

Spotted a monarch at UK Hospital today. Flew around in the court yard/front loop area.

Painted Lady stopped by my little garden

9 AM - 3 PM
mostly sunny, upper 80s-low 90s, calm

Weekly survey with Della Wells and Nancy Slowik. Air temperatures ranged from 55 to 61 F.

Sunny, breezy and 60 degrees.

Grand parents day function brought the wife and I to Tuscaloosa. After the conclusion of the program we checked Isabella out of school. When asked what she wanted to do she said it was to go looking for butterflies. So we were off to the fields where she did the recording of our sightings.The fall flowers where producing a good numbers of butterflies, and this this is our list from that afternoon.

Much colder morning with a strong North wind. Isabella and I started out about 9am and it was cold We checked on some sites that had been productive the day before and found nothing. While look for some activity we found that we had made our way down to Moundville,to south of Tuscaloosa.The site is very good example of a village where earthen mounds where build by native Americans to cope with the frequent flooding of the Black Warrior River. The mounds and the bordering forest provided us a good wind break where we hoped to have some sightings. As the day before my grand daughter did the recording as we explored the historic location.

Monarchs and Red Admirals migrating south

Periodic Survey with Jane Lampkin
3-5pm 86 and sunny
The eggs laid by the Dorantes Longwing Skipper on Desmodium on 10/12 have hatched and the caterpillars are 1/4” long and have constructed cut leaf shelters as shown below. The leaf is cut, leaving a hinge which is then folded over and stuck together with secretions.

On 10/15 the majority of the larger butterflies were Gulf Fritillary and they were abundant. Then on 10/18 the majority was,and now is Monarchs. I knew they were going to be thick because the night before when returning home I found a Monarch on the wall next to my front door. A very nice surprise for the day was a Southern Oak Hairstreak was also sighted.

A group (B.Ahern, J.Clayton, R.Epstein, R.Harrod, M.James, J.Lampkin, L.Packard, S.Reardon) of us visited several different sites in and around Florida City and Homestead from 8 AM to 2 PM
Photo Credits–
Bartram’s Scrub-Hairstreak (Smith)
Large Orange Sulphur (Epstein)
Pink-spot Sulphur (Harrod)
Polydamus cat (Lampkin)
Queen (Epstein)
Ruddy Daggerwing (Clayton)
Three-spot Skipper (Lampkin)

Certified Butterfly Garden #1151, Certified Wildlife Garden #179,054 Warmer today along the bay with less wind ~ 5 MPH. Many continuing Monarch and Black Swallowtail caterpillars. Red Admiral and Mourning Cloak nectaring on rotten fruit, which was shared with Yellow-rumped Warblers catching the gnats

The migratory species have taken over the water front! Monarch, Gulf Fritillary, Common Buckeye, Little Yellow, Cloudless Sulphur, Long-tailed and Ocola Skipper are making it difficult for the locals. Like summer time is for the human locals.There is more room away from the water, as is seen in days list.

Following three consecutive days of lows in the 30’s, it was a delight to see one white cabbage flying in the backyard. Temp was around 68 degrees when it appeared around 2pmET.

12 Noon - 3 PM. Windy, but sunny.
First Am Lady at the park since late April. It was on frostweed.
Monk Skipper was on plumbago.

8:30-10:30. Very windy.

Perdido River WMA is about 30 miles inland from the coast and the area I visited is newly opened to the general public;accessed via River Rd, off State Hwy 112.

This location has been fairly dependable in fall for several years for Cuban Crescents.

We have had so many Gulf Fritillary caterpillars this year. While we eat lunch in the garden, Fritillaries fly over our table while we eat. Pictured is one of the latest starting to form its chrysalis.

Periodic Survey 11:30 - 1:30; 86 cloudy ending in light rain. The Whirlabouts which were in super-abundant uncountable hundreds just weeks ago are now tattered remnants. Sleepy Orange and Barred Yellows are showing winter forms. Pic shows Cloudless Sulphur variant with only one central HW circle.

8:30 - 11:30.

From 1:00 - 2:00 PM - 70 Degrees.

Glorious 70 degree day. Season is almost over.

Certified Butterfly Garden #1151, Certified Wildlife Garden #179,054

Weekly survey with Della Wells and Nancy Slowik. Air temperatures ranged from 72 to 75 F. Cloud cover initially about 80%, increasing to 100% with occasional light rain.

Fiery was a female

10-20 1:20-2:40 pm on blue trail; 10-22 4:30-5:30 hilltop and yellow trail. Weather around 70 and partly-mostly sunny.

While birding this area in the morning I saw that it looked like good butterfly habitat so when it was nearly 60 degrees and sunny I stopped back here. I was quite surprised do see this many butterflies. This is the latest I have ever counted double-digit Monarchs in WI! Also saw 5 white-form female sulphurs.
2:50-3:20.

87 degrees with 10 mph winds. Nectar source is minimum. One unidentified white.

Walked the southern end of the park near the river.

Certified Butterfly Garden #1151, Certified Wildlife Garden #179,054 Beautiful sunny day with clouds late in the afternoon. Started with 2 Monarchs very early, 1 Monarch enclosed and butterflies increased. I counted 11 Monarch Chrysalis in my yard last evening.

Partly to mostly cloudy, windy, about 68 degrees around 3 p.m.

I don’t recall ever seeing a Variegated Frit here right along the road.

Note: NOT Balm-Boyette Preserve
11:30 - 12 86 sun & clouds, with Jane Lampkin
Quick peek into a little-known preserve.
Remarkable today for the superabundant Peacocks and Mangrove Buckeyes found ~6 miles from nearest mangrove.

In Weslaco on Saturday, Oct 24 we had a day of torrential rains and flash flooding, that totaled 9 1/2 inches! We doubted that butterflies could survive such a prolonged downpour. We also expected flowers to be decimated. But on Monday when we went to the park we were amazed to find not only the same butterflies on the same flowers but even more butterflies than before! Butterflies are tough bugs!

Scouting out for Texas Butterfly Festival. The Orange-barred Sulphur was a female with substantial orange on trailing edge of hindwing above.

Partly cloudy with scattered showers, after the stormy day yesterday. Some of the fall flowers have been beaten down, but should come back strong now that we have had some rain; it is the first for Oct.

10:30 AM to 2:45 PM

In the fall and winter of 2013-2014 the majority of Vanessa sp.sighted were Painted Ladies but in the fall and winter of 2014-2015 the majority were American Ladies. So far this year it appears that Painted Ladies are making a come back.

In the sand of back dunes it is very hard to get grass to grow, but flowering weeds do. This time of year the white, pink, and purple are visited by orange, silver, yellow, and browns.

Overcast, breezy and constant spitting rain. Garden surprising and happily busy.

Overcast, 86 degrees

Heavy overcast, light rain and 82 degrees.

71F