July 2018 Sightings

12:55pm - 3:15pm. Hot, humid and mostly sunny. 1 Queen observed ovipositing on petite vine in low weeds. Nearest host plant for Lyside Sulphur occurs across the channel on Bahia Honda Key.
With Leigh Williams.

i have not had time to post this July 1st list till today. this was my part of the Gilpin County count that gets sent to NABA. i was excited as I found a European Skipper. apparently its a county record. its only the 2nd one seen east of the divide as far as I know. the first had been seen 2 years ago in rocky mountain national park. the day was beautiful and many butterflies were flying. the trail head at east portal is 9,200 feet and goes up from there.

Monarchs were released adults that were raised from caterpillars collected in our yard.

first Gulf Fritillary of the season in my garden.

8730 - 10250 ft.

There several other Frits flying.

Commas

10:00 to 11:30 a.m., very hot, very humid, 82 at start already 88 at end.
Of the 40 Pipevines I saw, 33 were males taking in nutrients on damp sand on shore of Ohio River.
One of the Pipevines, not on river sand, was flying across the river when a swallow came within a foot of it and then suddenly turned away. One can only imagine it realized, at the last minute, it was an unpalatable Pipevine.

Seven mated pairs of Monarchs. My first Orange Sulphur of the year.

Commas

Checkered White was a first ever to be sighted in our yard.

Temps in low 90s, with high humidity. A female Monarch visited certified butterfly garden #2490. It flew slower, and the orange in the wings have faded since the latest rainstorm and strong winds; not to mention the high humidity. Enjoyed the milkweed.

Large numbers of Acadian Hairstreak and Long Dash on clover, yarrow, and milkweed. Mourning Cloaks were enjoying wet gravel roads.

Two adults seen flying on coastal sand dune

First Monarch seen this season.

Two of the three Monarchs were releases of adults raised from caterpillars found in our yard.

This location is a blend zone for the Canadian and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails. Not only are these two species there but also hybrids of the two.

Restricted spillway, and public area around the Ed Center

We have two cages now one for each type. Both have have been busy. today released 3 Monarch and 1 Gulf Fritillary

[Moderator’s Note]: This is the 3rd report of Compton Tortoiseshell in the state this year and first report of the summer brood—all in Sussex County. Keep an eye on them elsewhere in northern NJ.

Mostly on 140th St. Possible first county record for Melissa Blue.

Did a mid-afternoon visit. Sunny and hot (87 degrees) kept the activity down and I wasn’t planning to do a full walk-through, however the adjacent field was plowed under and I was concerned. So I did a single pass walk-through of the colony’s primary senna patch.

After I began to walk into the primary senna patch, the Sleepy’s began to pop up from their siesta within. An amazing count for this date, as it’s the first brood and the count is 5x higher than a comparable time last season, and the primary brood is still to come in August. Amongst this total count were three mated pairs. The promise of a significant flight to come appears at hand.

Plus small numbers of the usual suspects.
I don’t know what happened to this photo, but it is just representative of the abundance of this species this year. It seems to be the only local that is doing extremely well. I see a whole bunch of these every time out.
This site used to have a fantastic formal garden. It is now neglected and in disrepair. Not so fantastic anymore.

Mostly sunny, low to mid 80s, humid.

Excellent day for butterflies in the yard!

Sunny and humid, heat index 101.

Rain shortened day. Searched from 2:15 to 3:55 PM.

Rain in the afternoon and into evening.

14 additional large fritillaries

100 deg

Sunny, warming from mid-60s to low 80s.

Sunny, low 80s.

Sunny and near 80 degrees, 1:45-2:45 pm. Lots of nectar but not many butterflies.

Very cool in the morning—66 degrees to start. Thought we would only see captured Regals as no butterflies were flying at the start. Most of the Regals were males. Temps did warm up to close to 80 degrees luckily. Orange-tipped Oakworm moth also.

Part of Big Pine Key NABA count. With LWilliams, DCoffin and AGrimm.

A small marsh on the outskirts of Vienna MD feeding into the Nanticoke River. Bright sunshine, stiff breeze, temperature in the mid-70s. Nectar sources: swamp milkweed and pickerel weed.

One of the few known locations in MD for King’s Hairstreak. Early morning, mostly overcast, temperatures in low 70s F., stiff breeze to strong wind gusts. Cold front passed through during the night. Sunny streamside in interior of wooded swamp.

Paved road through agricultural area into the swamp and marsh along the Pocomoke River. Mostly sunny, very breezy, most butterflies were hunkered down on low nectar sources (principally clovers). Temperatures in the low 70s F.

With Dennis Olle.

25th NABA 4th of July Butterfly Count - 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; 77-89 degrees; sun most of day. Area mostly flooded. CClark, SClark, LCooper, DCutler, MCutler, DDixon, KDucham, AEdwards, JEvoy, SFarnsworth, KFerguson, MKanyuh, TPalmer, NPrine.

NABA count conducted by Chris Edwards, Mark Brown, Frank Olsen, and Linda Rudolph. Funereal Duskywing is a very rare stray to Iowa, but amazingly has been seen on this count twice in three years.

Part of July 4 count.

Part of the July 4 count.

We started at the entrance to Triple N Ranch and then moved over to Bull Creek proper. The bridge area at Yolk Branch is now passable (water has dropped considerably) so we drove the short loop using Crossroad. Surveyed from 8:45a to 3:45p; EPerry & RWarner.

Appalachian Brown is a new county record for Shelby County.

A beautiful day on the Red Rock escarpment. Plenty of butterflies and a close encounter with 2 cubs and mama bear. Yikes!

Sunny 80 degrees
1:30 to 5:00PM

80 degrees at 10 a.m.

88 degrees at 11 a.m. Hot and humid. Winds NNW2. LOTS of Pearl Crescents and a good number of Monarchs.

70 degrees, abundant sunshine, a bit windy.

Early morning stop, still cloudy. Pictured - Red-spotted Admiral and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Partly cloudy, warm. Pictured - Black Dash & Canadian Tiger Swallowtail

Cloudy, mid 70s. Pictured - Silver-bordered Fritillary

Lower humidity today! Highs in the 80’s

This is what I saw puddling on the beach and flying in the grasses along the shore. Time was from 12:30-2:30 when the kids were done swimming.

Juniper Hairstreak was First of Year sighting in the yard.

14th NABA 4th of July Butterfly Count. Includes Arnold’s Butterfly/Wildlife Haven and roads in the county to Lake Okeechobee shore. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 80 to 91 degrees; sun most of day. SBurford, LCooper, KDucham, AEdwards, DEdwards, LEdwards, SFarnsworth.

(18-958) 8 AM to 11 AM, full sun.

Hike from Silver Lake to Lake Solitude, then up to Twin Lakes Pass, down to Twin Lakes and returned to Silver Lake.

There were Frits flying but nothing stopping.

Late afternoon visitor to the watermelon-Red-spotted Purple

Upper 80s, low humidity, and gentle breezes. A good day for butterflies.

Perfect day for butterflying, no clouds, temperature around 83 degrees. Lots more butterflies this week that last in weekly count

Also Page and Greene Counties. Various stops along Skyline Drive, including Pocosin Fire Road, Story of the Forest Trail, Big Meadows, Stables Horse Trail, and Pinnacles Picnic Area.

From 09:00 AM to 12:50 PM; clear, with air temperature 72 to 84 F and wind gusts 4-8 mph from SSW. With Della Wells and Fabrice de Lacour.

Warm sunny day. 10:20 - 11:40

Pine Mountain is 25 miles east of the citty of Bend, Oregon. I butterflied the sage flats along Pine Mountain Road on my way to the summit of Pine Mountain, right behind the astronomical onservatory. The summit has a small population of Riding’s Satyrs. Riding’s Satyr is a lifer!

Warm sunny day. Drove the loop road.

Gold rimmed swallowtail spotted yesterday in my butterfly garden. I also spotted several monarchs, two species of Julia, one long wing zebra, several Gulf Fritillary and a bright yellow Butterfly I’m not sure the species.

Sunny and humid. Drought is here, but monarchs are very happy. Saw three today in different areas of the community.

🦋

Big Spy Mountain overlook

at a pulloff called the Priest

The Juniper Hairstreak was new for the count. Also 2 anglewings. The Juniper Hairstreak photo was taken by Marcie O’Connor

As part of Walk in Water NABA butterfly count - 14th year. Weather: 81 to 93 degrees, 100% sun all day. Nectar: Buttonbush, Redroot, Pickerelweed, Balsam-Apple, Caesarweed, Pluchea, Cabbage Palm, Mistflower, Piriqueta. 3 Brazilian Skipper caterpillars on Thalia. 2 miles on foot. SFarnsworth, LCooper.

Leaderless Walks field trip

Not numbers of butterflies, but some nice ones….

It was all about Milkweed with Tiger Swallowtails everywhere. The Milbert’s Tortoiseshells were a nice surprise. spent considerable time here first in early afternoon, then again at about 4:45 p.m. Fritillaries were surprisingly scarce.

Great to see so many Tiger Swallowtails today, as they have been scarce in my South Jersey home area. Lost track of an exact count on Eastern & Canadian Tigers. Fritillary numbers were way down in this area.

It was hot and humid, start temperature was 82 and 5 hours later 94. Weekly walk at the forest. Part of the route had been flooded for 2 weeks so good to be able to walk it again. Butterflies there but not as many as usual. Saw 23 different species which is great for this area.

Partly cloudy & warm with rain clouds moving over.

Pre-Count excursions, primarily the meadow area overlooking the Drakesbad Resort and the Dream Meadow area.

Purplish Copper was a new species for me.

Spent a short time here around 3 p.m. Very little activity here today.

85 degrees by early afternoon. Gayfeather in the butterfly garden had the most activity. Red-spotted purple laying eggs on cherry. Pecks and sachem laying eggs on crab grass. Azure by Cheseapeake Farms gate (drive closed)

6200-8400 ft

Saw unIDd Nymph and Duskywing (and probably Frits too)

I saw one Great Spangled Fritillary in my zinnia garden today, my first sighting in my backyard this year. The skippers were in the zinnias and also the prairie garden, and the others were flying around in one or the other or both.

9:30 AM - 12:10 PM.

Conducting the Itasca S.P. Butterfly Count in Hubbard, Becker, & Clearwater Counties. Regal Fritillary was in a bog on the north side of CR-113 - possible first county record for Becker Co. Probable Bog Fritillary at the same site.

Audubon Naturalist Society field trip led by Rick Borchelt.

My first sighting to NABA.org in 15 years and I decided to make it a special one.

I am pleased to have witnessed a thriving population of the endangered El Segundo Blue Butterly in two locations along the Los Angeles Coast today:

1. Redondo Beach, along the west side of Paseo de la Playa at the south parking lot of Miramar Park in Redondo Beach, CA.

2. Dockweiler Beach Park, in the north end of the parking lot just off S. Marine Drive in Playa del Rey, CA.

Both colonies were thriving off of blooming Coastal Buckwheat plants. The Dockweiler Beach colony was in the public park across Vista Del Mar from the designated protected El Segundo Blue Butterfly Reserve.

Despite not being on protected land, I was extremely careful in my interaction as I didn’t want to damage/disturb any of the butterflies or touch the Coastal Buckwheat plants around. I got plenty of photos and video though. I would say I saw at least 12 El Segundo Blues, and for being so localized, they seemed very easy to spot once there was a Buckwheat plant. I would say that the species would be far more common if there simply was more Coastal Buckwheat and less invasive Ice Plant around.

I am grateful that I had the opportunity to witness such a highly localized and protected species.

Only four reports of Little Yellows this year, all in the southern third of the state, so to find it in Oneida Co. in northern WI was quite surprising. The White Admiral photo is one for the over-the-hill collection.

Area surveyed was a small patch of the entrance road harboring lots of blooming common loosestrife and blue mistflower. All species were recorded in this one, small area as it was acting as a nectar oasis to the surrounding area. EPerry & RWarner from 9 am to 2:30 pm.

Stronghold for Statira Sulphurs in Pinellas the past few summers.

Sunny light breeze. Low 90s

7:15am-11:00am

Had a very dark large duskywing with 3 or 4 small white spots on fw though not sure which species. Also had a Snowberry Clearwing and some species of Tussock Moth.

Roadsides in two counties as part of the Highlands Hammock SP NABA count. 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Weather: 78-95 degrees, light winds, mostly sunny all day. 2.5 miles on foot. SFarnsworth, Linda Cooper. 1 Viceroy caterpillar on Carolina Willow; 6 Long-tailed Skipper caterpillars on Desmodium. Nectar: Frogfruit, Spanish Needles, Pickerelweed, Buttonbush, Caesarweed.

Likely last report from this location as we’re moving. Hope someone enjoys my plants!

Elevation: 9900 - 10800ft

UnId’d: Whites and Frits

A very poor year here and neaby with only singles of many species being seen and quite late too.