May 2019 Sightings

68F

Mid-morning; 80 degrees, few clouds, winds 5-10. The ‘Spring’ Azure is a Holly Azure. Crossline is a ‘lifer’!

Warm, sunny

80 degrees mid-day, sunny. There was only 1 thistle bloom left.

i was surprised to see anything flying today. it was only 45F, breezy and partly cloudy. i was out from 1 to 2pm. the past 3 days had been very cold and snowing. enough sun today to melt most of the new snow.

sunny, mid-60s
started trail around 3pm

After two days of clouds and rain it got to 60 degrees and sunny with little wind. We saw lots of Red Admirals but not as many as long week on our weekly walk for the forest.

75F & partly sunny. Copper, Lady & Hairstreak paused just long enough for me to ID them. Dandelions, violets & wild strawberries abundant.

Sunny, 77 degrees, light winds. Several No ID Whites.

64F

Warm (mid-80’s), sunny, late afternoon (3-5 pm). Habitat is grass and forbs along a paved bike trail, 2 mi r/t, along a riparian corridor along Northeast Branch.

Cloudy, Breezy 78 degrees. Extremely dry.

So many Painted Ladies! They were along the entire trail even the top which is 1000+ ft higher.

My first Wisconsin butterflies of the year!! The azure was the only one of this form.

Overcast with calm winds, 65-72 F, with Della Wells

Sunny, mid 70s, breezy. This park near the border used to be well maintained but hasn’t been the past few years. The milkweed garden was eliminated.

Sunny, humid and warm (upper 70s). Second monarch of the day. Seems too early.

Was very surprised to see a monarch.

78 degrees, 3 hour hike. Partially clouded. Sparkleberry has been blooming for weeks & we finally found Oak Hairstreaks on them!

partly cloudy, started in high 60’s, ended in 80’s

An amazing day/survey spent with friends that also love butterflies. WWallenstein, SKelly, MHeinemann, RWarner, and TPalmer joined up to travel East Loop, to Crossroad, then West Loop, and finishing up on Cemetery Road. Survey time was from 8am to 3:20pm. An amazing quantity of Florida Dusted Skippers were counted, with one Nuttall’s Thistle plant holding eleven dusted skippers on it alone! Eighty percent sun, hot, humid. Major nectar was Daisy Fleabane, Pickereleweed, Lizard’s Tail, Nuttall’s and Bull Thistle, Gallberry, Coreopsis spp., Buttonbush, Gopher Apple, and Pulchea odorata. A good time was had by all!

Despite there still be some snow at four places along this gravel road, there were plenty of butterflies. My previous record for Green Commas in a day was 15 but today I had 36!

60 degrees and sunny.

Sunny and 60 degrees. First red admiral

Sunny, 69 degrees (65300-6600ft)
Gate is still closed so just walked 1.5 miles to the trail head and back.

65,64F

Sunny, upper 70s. This is a consolidated list for the week. female Cloudless Sulphur laying eggs on host plant.

Sunny, mid-70s

Saw 1st Swallowtail of year - either Western or Two-tailed I didn’t get a good look.

Sunny, 65 degrees

2 different White species - no ID on either

Saw a Zebra Swallowtail in our woods May 5 th @ 12 noon.

Laying eggs on citrus trees at the local nursery

Most Azures were the entity called “Holly Spring Azure” by some and we’re fresh but worn Spring Spring Azures were still around.

Fresh-looking Monarch laying eggs on swamp milkweed. Sunny, 78 degrees.

Finally Sunshine🌞👍🐛🦋

also duskywing sp.

Just had a Western Swallowtail butterfly visit my flowers & trees.It was beautiful it’s around noon sunny now & just rained a little earlier mid 80’s

Sunny skies and in the low 80s

Leaderless walks, 12 participants. Cloudy at outset then mostly sunny towards noon.

Seen the Red Admiral in front of our house on the gravel around 12 noon.

Area only recently free of most snow. Early spring flowers in bloom. Hoary Comma laid an egg on a gooseberry still in vegetative state. Saw others nectaring at Flowering Currant, Ribes sanguineum, which were in full bloom.

In my butterfly garden laying eggs on pearly everlasting. There were also eggs present and small instar 1 Caterpillars present.

The day was sunny for a couoe hours, then became overcast_ sunny again later in the day.
One Cabbage White was in the garden, was about 60degrees.

Sunny skies and temperatures low 80s.

Sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s. The Little Yellow is the first sighting of one in the park, and the earliest recorded one for Orange County according to the Butterflies of North Carolina database/website.

Pale Swallowtail rarely at my residence, this was the first seen in many years.

it’s around 1pm just saw Western Tiger Swallowtail fluttering around up in the huge Olive tree(female) and Mulberry(male) it just got windy warmer and sun is out was cloudy all morning/early noon

Sunny Sunny

Yarrow, ninebark, and mountain dandelions are in full bloom, but it was overcast all day which kept many of the butterflies from making an appearance. Only saw 7 species today. Most Painted Ladies were worn out, but a few appeared quite fresh.

64F

Camouflaging amongst the Super Bloom

just saw 2 Western Tiger Swallowtails in my huge Olive tree which is covered in blooms,it’s 11:50 am sunny w/intermittent clouds around 80 degrees mild winds

85 degrees, shady trail with lots of fig trees and sea grapes.

Windy, somewhat overcast, but pretty warm. These all were on or near a hilltop. All six species of hairstreaks were on a single hilltop tree. Photos not good, but it was a great afternoon! The Tailless Scrub-Hairstreak (Strymon cestri) was a lifer for me!

Started surveying about 8 am, ended at 4:30. Hot, sunny, and dry. Major nectar sources were Nuttall’s and bull thistle, Bidens alba, yellow colicroot, daisy fleabane, pickerelweed, and buttonbush. EPerry & RWarner. A good time was had by all.

Sunny, mid 60s
5800 - 7000 ft

Painted Ladies were superabundant on the drive up the canyon to the trail head. So fun to watch!

The last 4 days have been rainy and cloudy. A perfect day for butterflying, around 60 degrees, calm, few clouds.

74F

more clouds than sun. 70’s

65F
plus one unidentified skipper

From 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Of the 14 Pipevines sighted 9 were males taking nourishment from damp sand along bank of Ohio River.

Wonderful outing with Ed Perry & Rachael. 85-92 degrees, Sunny and hot from 8:15 to 3. With help from Ed we saw 2 ‘lifers’ Palmetto and Arogos Skippers! Ed saw Menske’s Skipper briefly but we missed it!

I also saw a hummingbird clear wing moth in my yard. It was an amazing day for butterflies and birds!

Very surprised and happy to find this Queen in the Low country of South Carolina….I believe there are a few sightings but this was my first and a real surprise!!!

sunny, breezy, 80s around 1:15pm saw the Spring White up in the Olive tree then it went up into Palo Verde tree then flew off to the east

Happy Mother’s Day 2019, “On Wings as Butterflies.”
🐛🐛🦋🦋🌷😃

It was the “I Brake for Thistles” field trip #4. We got to meet up with new friends John & Nancy Crosby from Georgia, showing them around one of our favorite places on earth. It was a great day; hot, sunny, and humid. Major nectar sources included Nuttall’s & bull thistle, pickerelweed, Bidens alba, Pulchea odorata, gallberry, yellow milkwort, gopher apple, and buttonbush. Survey time was 8a to 3p, and included a trip around starting on East Loop, then Crossroad, and right onto West Loop and back to loop entrance and then Cemetery Road before ending the day. Florida Dusted Skippers are still holding strong (220)—only a slight decrease from one week ago (285). A good time was had by all. Several “life” butterflies were seen by the Crosbys on this day. EPerry, RWarner, JCrosby, NCrosby.

Road is still closed.

65 degrees and sunny.

Cloudy to start and a bit cool. Then sun came out but a bit too windy.

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Weather: 82°-90°, winds 8-12 mph, sun a.m. - 100%, p.m. - 40%, light rain 2-2:30 p.m. Nectar: lyonia spp, thistles, Frog fruit, Pluchea odorata, Spermacoce prostrata, blackroot, roserush, Daisy fleabane, pickerelweed. Thistles almost totally finished blooming.

Scouting for upcoming NABA count

i was happy to see some butterflies today, after 4 days of snow and then rain. i was out from 11:30 am - 1:00pm
mostly sunny and breezy and 55F.

80 degrees from 11-12. Pinewoods Milkweed in full bloom as was frog fruit & verbena.

Midafternoon sunny 80 degrees. Jim Springer joined us as we checked out our patch of Pinewoods milkweed off the loop at mile marker 0.8 from the visitor center which is always closed to the public, a real sore spot for these past volunteers with the Woodstork Study and with the Painted Bunting study. We also checked out frogfruit and verbena on the loop.

11:15 to 5:15, muted sunshine was enough for a good show of butterflies, and the wildflowers are flourishing with the rain and cool weather we have been having.

(10-34) Cloudy and a light sprinkle at the end. Fire bush was the source of nectar for the sulphurs and swallowtails.

The Sara Orangetip was very fresh; from second brood?

Affixed to stone wall at top of staircase to Floor 2 Entrance amidst heavy rain.

Sunny, 78 degrees. Jim Springer joined us. Most butterflies were found on the 1st section of the boardwalk.

Cool this morning warming to the low 70’s. We hiked from 9:30 until 12 with Jim and Nancy Springer. Jim found an early date for King’s Hairstreak was May 6th. Our earliest was May 10th. We found precious few Sparkleberry blooms. I saw only 1 small tree of another species blooming. Hairstreaks were on Sweetleaf (symplocos tinctoria) the host plant for King’s Hairstreak, wax myrtle and oak. Most hairstreaks were quite worn. In the past we have always located them on Sparkleberry. The azure was a Holly Azure.

Great day for butterflying, temperature around 78 degrees and winds were calm.

Leaderless Walks. 9 participants. Sunny and warming up during the day. Not a good day for butterflies.

Survey 12:30 to 3:00 PM; scattered clouds; 59-66 F; wind gusts 8-15 mph from WSW. With Della Wells.

(22-125). Mid-afternoon. The Soldier was my first at the park since July 2013.

Sunny, high in the low 70s. Juvenal’s Duskywing very worn. Zabulon Skippers males.

First really warm day in what has been a late Spring

1:00pm-3:45pm, mostly cloudy going over to mostly sunny, 83˚F.
Hairstreaks were mostly resting in shade. King’s Hairstreaks were on Blue Trail.

16-24

We drove the loop from 9:30-11:30. The targeted Rare Skipper was a ‘lifer’!

12:40- 2:30 84 degrees, shady in the forest. We walked 4 miles. At the entrance we saw a dozen pickerel blooms where we located the two skippers. We were targeting Rare Skipper reported from here. We saw only 1 other pickerel bloom at the Dike 2 miles in.

Temperatures around 83 with little wind. Saw first Monarch, Silver spotted Skipper and Wild Indigo Duskywing today.

Mid upper 60’s Sunny, heavy fog early

Variegated Frit is lifer

The morning started rainy, cool, and heavily overcast. Gradually after 2 PM the sun started to slowly appear. Temps went from 61 at arrival to 67 at departure. At 4 PM we had full sun. Dave’s report has all species seen. One no ID small orange skipper.

slim pickings, very overcast, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The morning started off a little cool with lots of dew. Once the dew evaporated a few butterflies started to show. We consider ourselves lucky to see one or two Juniper Hairstreaks a year in this spot (southern border of their range), but today was like a dream when we counted 13 along Powerline Road, mostly utilizing Bidens alba along the ditch. RWarner & EPerry, survey from 8 am to 3:20 pm; a good time was had by all!

10:00-13:30, mostly sunny, 83˚F, Pipevine Swallowtail would not stop-photo taken from 75ft.

14:15-16:45, mostly clear, 86˚F, road margins of two prime butterfly sites mowed earlier in the day—very unfortunate.

With Ken Wilson,12:30-4:30. Mostly cloudy with little sunshine until it was time to leave, but the temperature did get up into the 60’s. By days end, Gorgon Coppers had outnumbered all other butterflies combined (six dozen is a reasonable approximation). One small orange skipper did not stick around long enough to identify.

Overcast skies. Temp around 62. First mourning cloak

I have a 10 year old, Dutchman’s Pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla) in my back yard. My husband, Elton Grissom took the following photos of Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) butterfly and caterpillar. So exciting. We’ve seeing the butterflies for years, but couldn’t find the caterpillars or get any photo of butterfly. We are very excited!

Partly cloudy

Blackroot main nectar source

Sunny, low 60’s. 2 hours.
Target of Chryxus Arctic was not found but there were plenty of Elfins.

61F

(21-68) Walked out the Pinellas Trail (and back), which is located along the preserve’s east side off of Keystone Road. Unfortunately, the trail edges had just been mowed.

80 degrees, SW 8

85 degrees with cool breezes from the ocean. Most butterflies were nectaring on Ox-eye daisies near the Salicornia, host plant for E Pygmy-Blue.

Observed for a few hrs in the am….Very hot, humid and dry

Sunny, warm and humid with approaching storms

(10-42) No sign of any Statira’s this morning.

2:00 - 340pm. The American Lady was a first for this location. With LWilliams, DJue and SJue.

Until today the only site for Georgia Satyrs per Pierre Howard of Georgia Conservancy was Paulk’s Pasture and the colony at Paulk’s was destroyed. Finding many GA Satyrs at this wetlands was a great find for Georgia! There were probably many more as we barely entered the wetlands. We also found a few in the ditches on both Cox and Steelbridge Road.

9:45 a.m. - 4 p.m. Weather: 77°-90°, winds 5-13 mph, sun a.m.-100%, p.m.-70%. Nectar: frog fruit, Spanish needles, daisy fleabane, pickerelweed, thistles. Lots of nectar but relatively few butterflies. Covered only Powerline Rd east towards the river.

Sunny 85 degrees. We checked pickerel weed in the ditches.

85 degrees, sunny. Wildflowers have not been mowed on the roadsides!

80F & sunny. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was a dark form female. Nice to see the Common Ringlet in the yard!

11am - 3pm

First brood of Pipevines still fairly strong.

Backyard stuff.

2 hour late morning visit; strong SW winds- even breezier today 5/21- with a modest northward migration of red admirals (saw a few later that afternoon in Manhattan as well).

Observed 2 hrs this afternoon…..90’s
Hot and dry conditions

First monarch of the season!

It warmed to 93 with a heat index of 101 today. We started at 78 degrees at 10 am. All the Sparkleberry blooms are dead. King’s and other pollinators are dependant on a precious few blooming Sweet leaf (host for King’s Hairstreak). It is VERY difficult to see them in the tiny blooms along the stem of the branches. The Great Purple was our FOS but flew before we got a shot. We also had an unidentified duskywing.

60F breezy

Parking area. Partly cloudy and humid.

Total walk was about 45 minutes.

Some nectaring on early blueberry flowers

70, sunny and quite breezy

Short morning visit. Modest movement with strong NW winds following very strong SW winds yesterday. Many more individuals flushed off the ground and were swept away in the wind and could not be identified.

(19-416). Nice morning.

First Monarch of the year.

With Rebecca Gracey, Joe Schelling, Steve Moore, Barbara Volkle, Steve Abbey and Lucinda Valdes

Finally a sunny day and temperature around 66 after the last couple of days rainy, cloudy and temperature around 50.
The Red Admirals were back in force feeding on Virginia waterleaf and wild raspberries.

90 degrees

All at one Hackberry tree. Thanks to Karlo Mirth and Sharron Crocker for the good intel.