March 2017 Sightings

Sunny, breezy, 70 degrees, 1230-1530

57F
Large Marble - my earliest record

Me and Rick Snider

12:30 low 80s

9:45
mid 70s and warming

With Dave Bartholomew. Covered over 7 miles on a full-day photo-hike starting before 11 am. High temps in the 60’s, partly cloudy at first, giving way to full sun. The county has had few days in 2017 that were better for butterflies, though it did get somewhat warmer in mid-February for 2-3 days. Butterfly sightings were even lower than we expected. Wildflowers of more than 20 species had started blooming but were few and far between. No nectaring on flowers was observed.

With Jane Lampkin - 2 hours
Temps mid-70-s with sun
Mallow Scrub-Hairstreaks still flying strong. (See earlier posts by Ron Smith) Photos show one typical individual and one variant with a lot of orange.

58F with David Rawlinson

The rains have really helped central and southern CA. Should be a good year.

About 10 miles south of the town of Leeds.

Saw another White and Sulpher but they were too far away to ID.

Actually the Orangetip was far away but I saw the orange wingtips.

Drove up canyon about 1-2 miles to Children’s Garden. No other butterflies flying yet.

Full sun, slight clouds in afternoon. 75F. 1 unid White.

Full sun, 65-72F

With R. Epstein, L. Cooper, S. Farnsworth, L. Rhodes, D. Rhodes.
Temps ~70. 2 hours

Mostly cloudy, 66-70, breezy winds. Today saw a 13 degree drop in temperature from the previous day.

present from 2:00-3:30. Partial sunshine. Few nectar sources but blackberries are in bloom

65-70F, sunny at first, then clouds shut things down
10am-1pm

Three-spotted Skippers continue to become established in Central Florida.

mid 70s clear
9:30
1 Eastern Tiger SWT Dark female

4 - 5pm: overcast, breezy, mid 60’s. Azures focused on wild plums. Fewer Falcate Orangetips today - yesterday 12 -14 males sighted.

Cool but sunny morning. Most sightings were of butterflies nectaring on Groundsel (Senecio sp), along the Blackhawk Trail.

Breezy day; few wildflowers blooming yet

Full sun 70f, slightly cool breeze

62F, 59F
Cabbage White and Silvery Blue were both my first of the year

Both Cabbage Whites (FOY) stayed in a half acre area, whereas both Mourning Cloaks were flying steadily Northeasterly out of sight and Comma in wooded setting. Sunny, breezy, 62°

Some Thistle, few Fleabane. One Sparkleberry on Black Prong Road, but no leps on it.

Full sun, 65f to around 80f, very little wind. Checked a side canyon near Sentenac Canyon, then explored Plum Canyon along with the wash and hills leading to it. Many unidentified whites, most probably Spring, a few unid blues.

Sunny, breezy, 66°, rocky path with grassy patches to the sides made this norhtern slope good today. The ‘Buck Trail’ is the area of the park, nearest West Ridge Road. This was a mile and a half walk.

Fully sunny sky, 66°, breezy, gusts to 19 MPH. Cabbage in Ag field and Commas in Wooded areas

65F
with david rawlinson, dave bartholomew

Sunny, somewhat windy, high in the low 70s. All Falcate Orangetips were males. An Orange or Clouded Sulphur also seen. An Eastern Comma seen apparently exploring potential egg laying sites at the branch tips of a still dormant Winged Elm (Ulmus alata). An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail also seen nearby in a residential neighborhood.

Partly cloudy, a high of 69 degrees, and breezy up on the hilltops.

First butterfly of the season identified in my garden.

With Dusty Rhodes(photos). 78-81F. Full sun. Hiked 2.5 hrs. Twinspot Skipper has unusual extra spots on ventral. Metalmark colors muted. Thistles and Bidens were top nectar sources.

First of Season Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Windy and very dry. Nice count of Mangrove Skippers. Spicebush not always found at the park.

Four of my Black Swallowtails emerged today. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow =(

Lots of roadside thistle in bloom.

Full sun 62-80f. The checkerspots were final instar larvae. Also seen: one female of the rarely sighted day flying silkmoth Walters’ saturnia moth

Gorgeous day….hot and lots of butterflies!

We stopped in just briefly to look for Salt Marsh Skippers. Windy & mostly cloudy.

63F weak sun

Started partly cloudy followed by full sun close to end, around 80f

First one of the year

we had to come several thousand feet down the mountain so we could see some early butterflies. Dead man’s gulch is 5,669’ elevation. very dry this year the creek wasn’t running at all, only a few pools here and there among the boulders. no flowers yet either. but we were happy to see a few butterflies chasing each other. it was about 68F and partly sunny. we were there from 11:45 am to 1:15pm.

One of the Pipevine Swallowtails nectared on a cherry tree for at least five minutes, as my cat watched closely.

63F, 62F
The Cabbage White appeared only at Martinez Marsh. The rest were at the Carquinez Shoreline Park.

Driving through forest in chilly 48-59 degrees. 11 am -3:30 pm. Clear to mostly cloudy. Not many blooming trees or wildflowers. MaryAnn Friedman, Linda Cooper.

Weather sunny, calm. On a low hill. Vegetation overgrazed Chihuahuan Desert Scrub, dominant species creosote bush. Many small forbs in bloom. This site is east of the range shown in BTB:The West for Pima Orangetip. In other years, we have seen and photographed Pima Orangetips hilltopping in the Dona Ana Mts a few miles east of this site. All the Black Swallowtails were male. Later we saw a Sara Orangetip in an arroyo bottom.

Far east side of trail

Sunny and warm day. Unidentified skipper likely Juba

The warmer weather has really turned up the butterfly numbers - notice the skippers!

63-68F

10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

67 degrees, sunny, but cool breeze/wind. Had hard freeze two nights this week.

Thicket Hairstreaks hill/tree topping at the very south end and high point of the ridge. 8048’ elevation, 64F at 1130AM. Amazing spot!

Sunny
Wind Southerly
Winds 10 - 15mph
Temps upper 40s - upper 70s

My grand-daughter was my helper today.We couldn’t get any photos,and her comment was that: they are a lot faster than in the fall.She did a good job with our record keeping.

At least 10 Falcate Orangetips localized to about 1/2 mile of trail

Gabb’s Checkerspot subspecies Atrifasciata found on California Golden Violets near hilltop on Scorpion Canyon Loop trail. Sara Orangetips, Monarchs, and Pale Swallotails found along Scorpion Creek along with West Coast Lady caterpillars on Malva Neglecta. Anise Swallowtail, Gray Hairstreak, American Lady found along Smuggler’s road. Partly cloudy day in the 60’s F.

Sunny, 87 degrees, breezy at times. One no ID duskywing. Not a great day for photography. The canyon’s were like a raceway as most species where darting by today. I’m sure I missed a few.

The hilltoppers were really busy until about noon. Many Arizona Hairstreaks on nectar, and also hill-topping.

Sunny
Wind Northerly
Winds 15 - 20mph
Temps upper 40 - mid 70s

Sighted my 1st Juniper Hairstreak;it was in an area away from the White Cedar riverine forest,where Hessel’s are found.

3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

81 warm degrees nudged Henry’s to fly.

First day of spring. Some plum trees still blooming, Ti-Ti beginning to bloom. A few thistles in bloom.

Mostly Sunny
Wind Southwesterly
Winds 10 - 15 mph
Temps mid 60s - mid 70s

21st March was unusually warm

Malachite extremely worn.

Very hot day…90 was the high
7 butterfly species

9:30 to 12:00

58F

mid 70s overcast breezy

11:30-12:30

Full sun, unsure of temps, on the cooler side. Very productive trip! Tubb Canyon and Culp Valley area. Painted Ladies beginning their migration.

Sunny, 80 degrees, a light breeze.

The Gray Hairstreak is a new early date for Pennsylvania.

low 70’s, bright sunshine

Somewhat cool morning in the 60’s
Nice to see Soapberry Hairstreak eggs hatching!

01:15 - 4:30 pm EDT. Very warm (76-81 deg F). Light & variable wind. Numerous cirrus & cumulus weakened the Sunlight, and so my expectations were low. But it proved a remarkably productive afternoon (14 species) with many personal first-of-season butterflies, not surprisingly.

Unusually warm spring, with many well-worn butterflies seen that possibly survived the winter. Several species seen are more typical of the summer months.

overcast…upper 60’s maybe 70…some periods of brief sunshine

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; 73-82 degrees, wind to 14 mph; partly cloudy; area VERY DRY. Dave Cutler, Margaret Cutler, Linda Cooper

FOY in my yard

A mostly cloudy day with some slightly sunny times, and temperature almost 80°, on a light southwesterly air.

Mostly sunny, 80 degrees.

In addition to actuals, several more anglewing sp. seen.

57F

Found field notes.

With Dusty Rhodes (photos), very dry conditions, full sun, winds 5-15 mph, 80F.

Partly cloudy, low to mid 60s. This site has had a small population of Pipevine Swallowtails for some time now, likely artificially started.

no Painted Lady migration yet - it’s late. Either the migration is small, or the plumes are narrow and haven’t passed over me yet.

Mostly cloudy, 63 degrees and lower, felt colder because winds were gusty. No hilltoppers at peak.

Wooded trail along the river, nectaring at Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)

Warm and sunny near 80

70F My cat, Sloan, tried to catch the Anise Swallowtail and eat her like the last one, but she got away.

65 and partly sunny after much rain

FOY for me in Minneapolis. 62 degrees today. Sunny. Light winds.

Strolled for less than an hour in 93 degrees, finding 30 species.

Full sun, up to 78. Some unidentified Blues.

65F with David Rawlinson and John Hibbard

A gorgeous sunny day. The San Bruno Moss’s Elfins very worn now, but a few still around.

hot and sunny 85 degrees

Sunny and hot 85 degrees

3:30-5:30pm (56 degrees)

Mix of sun and clouds; high in the low 70s. The number of Clouded Sulphurs reported is a rough estimate.

Sunny and 62 degrees.

Full sun 70F, windy with occasional strong gusts

A Compton Tortoiseshell perched on a snow pile. When first observed it was on dog droppings. Sunny conditions and about 48 degrees.

Full sun, mid 60s, with cool wind and gusts. This area is surrounded by a reserve closed to the public which has a population of endangered Quino Checkerspots. I Lucked out and found one inside of the park! May have seen 2 but not certain.

Breezy and warm

65F