November 2017 Sightings

90-minute Bio-Blitz, with Karen Finch, Jean Evoy and Jean Dubi. Highlight was Zarucco Duskywing caterpillar on shyleaf found by K. Finch, identified by Dr. Marc Minno.

Roost found by Michael O’Brien who was helping the Cape May Monitoring Project. They estimated 2500 roosting Monarch’s. I was over at sunrise to view them starting their day.

Its been hanging out in my screen porch since 4ish on 11/01/2017 …. it is currently 2am, and still in the same spot.

late date for this species here

All seen in the north section of the park.

low 70’s sunny, breezy

Pipevine Swallowtails are still hanging on nectaring on Pineapple Sage. The Zabulon Skipper is a new late date in this area.

Along with several Marius Hairstreak, was very lucky to see a female Shadowed Hairstreak (Michaelus ira), and in the afternoon watch her looking to oviposit!

I can’t believe it’s Nov. 2nd and I still have Monarchs in my yard.

Really surprised to see any butterflies today after having 3 nights of killing frost of 28, 25,22. high today of 53 degrees

warm and sunny conditions…I had 1 Male Monarch that stayed with me the entire day….he was even there at 5:30 pm when we left the house.

Feeding on Cosmos sulphureus - 2 PM Eastern Time.

Stewardship walk with Carolyn McGavock

Seen in the evening. Previous sighting was in the morning.

Mostly sunny, high 60s.

Temps started out cool—71 degrees at 10 am, and didn’t quite reach 80 degrees by the time we left at 1 pm. Not much lep activity today though the bees were nectaring heavily on Summer Farewell. Other nectar sources included Coastal Plain Honeycombhead, Bidens, Liatris, and Carphephorus spp. RWarner & EPerry

low 80’s great butterfly activity

After two nights below freezing, temps were back up to the upper 70s. Surveyed about an hour, so the numbers were surprising as there were few nectar sources remaining. One Sleepy Orange was winter form. Several un-IDable flybys.

Butterflies were attracted to Gregg’s Mistflower.

Seen on Necklace pod on residential street

Partly cloudy, 81 degrees, breezy

9:45 a to 1:00 p. Prominent nectar sources are Frostweed, Pickerel weed, Coreopsis, Swamp Sunflower, Smallfruit Beggarticks (Bidens mitis), and Liatris. There are still some Purple Thistle as well. Started out cool at 70 degrees, but sunny and temps rose to 85 before leaving.

Long Pine Key area

near 50 degrees, mostly cloudy

Saw another butterfly but did not get a good look; may be CA Tortoiseshell or Painted Lady.

Many people out looking (Texas butterfly festival). I was lucky to see or be shown some nice ones!

(19-365) Surprised to find 11 Mallow Scrub-Hairstreaks. All were nectaring on either bidens and/or their host plant at the park, Sleepy Morning. Good number of Monarchs coming through and two Painted Ladys were a bonus.

Day started low 60’s with drizzle. Mid morning sun came out and temps went almost to 70 along the Delaware Bay. One pr of mating Monarchs. Was totally surprised by a Long-tailed Skipper in the yard that looked fresh. New late record for our SJ area.

cloudy start to the day…but then sunny and mid 70’s
2 Monarchs stayed with me the entire day sipping on nectar from the milkweed

Very cool day, only in 50’s, but quite sunny. Surprised to see a Gulf Fritillary. They have been at this spot all summer visiting potted flowering plants.

We had only a little afternoon sun and high temps were in the low sixties. My only nectar sources are drying up with only Mexican Sunflowers, Catmint and a few odd flowers in bloom now.

In the short period of partial sun there was a lot of activity in the fields nearby. Over half of the Common Buckeyes were ‘Rosa’ form today and the Meadow was a nice late treat as well.

Male Monarch - placed Monarch Watch Tag#XBL068 on it
Mostly overcast, 68degrees

First spotted Zebra Heliconian on Tithonia sp. flowers. Then daily thru 11/17. On 11/19 temps dropped to 42. Butterflies could have been here sooner or longer, but these are confirmed days sited of one or more. MOST anxious to see if we will see more this year.

(19-217). Primary nectar sources were bidens, lantana and ceasarweed. No buckeyes!

I could be wrong but this may be one of only a few documented Orange Banner records in the lower 48.

Last day of the Butterfly Festival

Hot day…85 degrees
Observed many butterflies today while walking through Magnolia Gardens in Charleston, SC

38 degrees and sunny. I was very surprised to see a Monarch flying around. It landed in the parking lot and I picked it up and sat it in the sun. It flew over a 20 ft. hedge and headed south!

Temps 38°-50°, windy with changeable skies. The end is near with tomorrow morning temperatures to drop to 32° and Friday down to 20°.

Garberia main nectar source

9:00 am to 2:30 pm, started out at 78 degrees and warmed to 81 by the end of my time surveying. Major nectar sources: Summer Farewell, Coastal Plain Honeycomb Head, Pinelands Purple and other Carphephorus spp., and Bidens alba. Today the lep activity was noticeably slower than normal.

This is and has been a remarkable year for Monarchs.
The numbers of our winter population and their concentration in their roosting areas was great to see after so many years of sparse residents.Then how early the colony dispersed;a full month earlier than in most years.They in normal years will move out of the coastal thickets during the second and third weeks of February, but by the end of third week in January they were few and far between,and inland is where last of the seasons individuals were seen.
This summer the first sight;probably a resident;was in early August,then couple of weeks later another one was sighted,and then as the weeks went by and seasons changed Monarchs sightings became a daily event.Now that we are getting the first cold fronts moving by on their way into Florida;waves of Monarchs are passing through with them.There are the most numerous butterfly be sighted in the past few days.They are so numerous that there are four to eight in view, in every direction, except straight up and down.Most are on the wing and headed to the west;these numbers this fall have not witnessed by me in decades.It will be interesting to see how many stay with us here on Alabama’s gulf coast as we get into our colder months.

Cold @ 37° and windy in full sun, I was surprised to see this solitary butterfly!

Sunny - 43-48 degrees

Overnight we had a powerful cold front move through and by dawn our temperature was 19° and all nectar sources succumbed overnight. At just after noon I saw a Clouded Sulphur on the wing and again like midday yesterday, temperature was at 37° in full sun and breezy conditions. After seeing the Sulphur I did scour the fields to no avail.

fields south of North Beach, behind gulf Pier, and East beach - beach trail.

10:30 -11:00am, partly cloudy. Bartram’s nectaring on Starrush Whitetop (Rhynchosporas colorata).

I photographed this skipper on Sunday and didn’t realize it was a possible Variegated Skipper until I looked at photos on my laptop.

Mostly birding, but did notice a couple of butterflies.

Low 60s, sunny.

Cool, occasional sunshine low 60’s
Surprised to see butterflies today

With Mary Keith and Erik Stabl
Sunny 73-83
Is this the most northern colony of Julias? The 25 (not an estimate) included very worn to fresh. One courting couple was observed.

Low 60’s, but sunny. The only nectar source was a single Baccharis bush in full fragrant bloom (but nothing on it). The two butterflies seen were simply basking in the sun.

seen sunning on the sandtrails while i was walking to the beach…temps around 46-49 degrees; so at least a few butterflies survived our weekend snap of record cold/freezing temps…no nectar sources left alive, except for a few dandelions.

Breezy, full sun, 51° brought out these few butterflies mid day.

Weather fairly cool (High of 60F) & windy. Sunshine.

Mostly yard butterflies at my host’s house..yard, lowland woods, utility line easement, freshwater tidal marsh.

Spent a great hour and a half today at NBC helping a couple from CA with ID’s. The Rusty-tipped Page was a flyby in bright sunlight seen by all 3 of us. Awesome sight but too fast to get a photo. It was not seen again while we were there. At least another dozen species over and above what we saw were reported by other observers in the park today. The Greenstreak was at the “Wall.”

Quick trip to the ocean front before heading to the airport. Forecasted to be a much better day for butterflying. Breeze was blowing the poor Monarchs to the North.

some sun, upper 50s

Orange Sulphur at North Beach parking lot, Sandy Hook

buckeyes on sand trails by the beach at Middletown NJ (Sandy Hook Bay)

also several dead monarchs seen along the driftline.

Long Pine Key trails, Gate 8/10 roadsides, Research Road trails, Gate 15 trail. 2 Orange-barred Sulphur Larvae. 3 Faithful Beauty Moth and 1 Bella Moth. Sunny to partly cloudy. Observers: AGrimm, LWilliams, LEvans.

9:30 AM to 4:00 pm

Saw both summer and winter forms of Barred Yellows

11a.m. - 1:30p.m. With Leigh Williams and Linda Evans. Sunny and 80 degrees. 1 yellow sp.(?), 30 Atala larvae and 13 Atala chrysalis.

Fountain Area and Park Office

Spent a couple of hrs exploring Cape Romain NWR
Warm and breezy…mid 70’s

Went out to get the mail and found quite a bit of butterfly activity by the mailbox! All on Richardia grandiflora which is blooming all over kept areas right now in Florida (this exotic ground cover is sometimes called “Florida Snow”). The butterflies love it as a nectar source. Monarchs are coming through on the cold front.

I found it sitting in the parking lot, so I moved it to some dandelions and it immediately started feeding. It was a yellow female. I’m surprised it was alive after all this wind and cold temps we have had lately at night. This is the latest I’ve seen a butterfly in the northeast.

from 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM, 50 species

I had a good look at a male Statira Sulphur today. I thought it was a cloudless at first but it landed in an oak for a brief period. I quickly got a phone out to take a picture and it took off. Lots of butterflies today there was most likely a dingy purplewing in flight as well but it didn’t land for a confirmation. There were good winds and warm temps which is maybe how these guys turned up so far north and out of range.

On the beach front flying among the senescent goldenrod. My apologies for the photo quality but they are serious about dune trampling fines here so I couldn’t get close.

Unusually warm, mid-70’s, occasional sun but mostly overcast.

Didn’t expect to see any butterflies this late. 1 unidentified dusykwing.

Partly sunny, after morning rain.

After several sub-freezing mornings with frost (28 degrees), pleasant to see even a Cabbage White flying here in late November!

Late lady, flying on a cloudy day

Weather: Sunny and mid-50s.

Highs in upper 60s after several nights below freezing.

Major storm damage to the beach berm and hammock area. The upper trail still has some bay cedar and buttonwood standing. Will continue to monitor. 2:30pm - 3:30pm, 79 degrees and breezy.

While spreading mushroom soil I spotted 5 Orange Sulphurs flying and all went down on blooming Dandelions. Full sun breezy and a high of 61.6°f

Garberia main nectar source

Record late date for Toronto. The latest I’ve seen any butterfly in Ontario. It was sunny and 60 degrees F.

1130am, 56 degrees, very pale light color form, visiting dandelions in grassy area

9:30-10:30, breezy, low 50s- one expected sighting (but took awhile), one unexpected sighting upon arrival…headed west, into the wind.

Sunny, high 68. Common Buckeye and Cabbage Whites fresh.

60 and sunny