October 2020 Sightings

82 degrees, full sun. NW section of the South Tract on dirt roads adjacent to the Townsend Bombing Range. At one point the bombing became intense but soon subsided. This was our first time exploring this location where we found Dion Skipper, Georgia Satyr & Southern Dogface all roadside as there is no off road access except for the handicapped! The Southern Dogface photo (ventral) is unedited. The Gulf Fritillary was caught by a yellow spider.

9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Weather: 75°-83°, mostly cloudy all day, winds 10-14 mph. Scouting for up upcoming Death by Skipper field trip. Nectar sources: Spanish needles, pickerelweed, Carphephorus, liatris, Florida Elephant’s Foot, Pine Lily. LCooper

Observed the Butterfly gardens and the Marsh Discovery Trail.
I tagged seven of fourteen Monarchs.

Second location of the day…mostly cloudy, cool conditions gave way to warmer sunshine with light wind. Species and overall numbers jumped once the sun broke. Still seeing Cloudless Sulphurs and a single Sleepy Orange…late in the season for both!

First location of the day…late morning, breezy, mostly cloudy with occasional filtered sunlight, upper 60s. Numbers way down…suspect this is a combo of the time of year but also the cool, lower light morning.

Ten Master Naturalist observers participated in this count, the first time the park has been formally surveyed. Sunny, 85F, winds calm. Hiking times approximately 2.5 hours.

This is a new location for the St. Louis area.

82 degrees, sunny. We included the wet meadow across Butler Road. This location is best mid-day due to shady conditions on the boardwalk early and late in the day. Four o’clock was too late for the butterfly garden and boardwalk.

1150am-220pm,76-78 degrees, cloudy, calm, intermittent rain

This is the most Ocola Skippers I’ve ever seen at one time in TN.

Mostly sunny, low 60s, light breeze. Beautiful fall day, but despite the nice weather, numbers continue to decline. Not a single Grass Skipper species today, and Cloudless Sulphurs were also now absent…

This Monarch seems to have a piece of grass stuck in its right forewing, & I think it was unable to fly.

Recent sightings. Every day this week was 100 degrees or higher.

Near the Mogollon Rim Visitors Center

73 degrees, overcast skies. Was watering newly planted seeds & discovered a beautiful freshly eclosed Palamedes Swallowtail, it was gone when I was back out with my camera! It was like Star Wars there were so many Long-tailed Skippers in flight around the Passion Vine, host plant of Gulf Fritillary!

Observed several Clouded Skippers on Blue Mistflower. Area was a gravel road in a mostly wooded area with a few cabins nearby.

Warm, sunny morning

Sunny and 59degrees. Slight breeze. The Cabbage White returned today. No other butterflies have been seen, as there have been many cool nights & mornings in upper 30s for the past week.

11th Annual Death by Skipper trip. Scheduled Oct. 3 trip cancelled due to rain. 9:15 a.m.-2:45 p.m. rain ended trip. 83°-88°, winds 9-14 mph. Sun 70%. Nectar: liatris, carphephorus, Bidens, pickerelweed, goldenrod and more. LCooper, SFarnsworth, DFraser, EPerry, NPrine, DSmith, RWarner.

Partly cloudy, gusty winds at times, mid 60s. Pieridae species back out in full force!

An excellent, wide-ranging late season afternoon for butterflies, with sunny, warm weather. I saw more species diversity than expected (19 species total), & a fresh, cooperative Long-tailed Skipper capped the day. The late season Sachem horde has peaked; their numbers were down, those that remained were all worn. 12:00-17:00 EDT. Sunny, 73 – 81 deg F, wind 5-15 mph (breezy at times)

All of the Buckeyes are ‘Rosa’ form now

86, full sun.

3 hour survey in strong SW winds, which may have limited Monarch numbers; mid to upper 70s, sun followed by clouds with breaks of sun. Brazilian Skipper continues at this location, adults and many larvae seen previously, but then only a couple of larvae on 9/24. Two Monarch caterpillars were also seen on exotic ‘globe’ milkweed plantings, plus a few in chrysalises nearby. This was also the latest tiger swallowtail for any of us locally. Brazilian Skipper photo by Steve Walter.

I’m no expert at Duskywing identification, but this one seemed to be laying eggs on Columbine.

Partly cloudy, windy, low 60s. Numbers have really dropped…the cool nights and rain days in the upcoming forecast won’t help unfortunately.

Windy, full sun temperature 46-65 degrees today. After a light frost several days ago it was sufficient to stop nectar production it seems.

1020am-130pm, 84-91 degrees, sunny, windy. The White Peacocks were out in force (323).

Sunny, but with a cold wind.

88 degrees, full sun. We included the wet meadow across Charlie Butler Road.

We are having above normal temperatures which is probable helping keep some of the butterflies at the garden. This is my weekly survey of Lauritzen Garden

Ocola Skipper, a rare stray to the St. Louis area.

Rachel and I were out scouting for the upcoming Bullied By Skippers field trip which has been repeatedly postponed due to poor weather here in Florida. We had a great day and got the “Bull Creek Fabulous Five” (Florida Dusted Skipper, Dotted Skipper, Arogos Skipper, Berry’s Skipper, Meske’s Skipper) two times over, with a Palmetto Skipper added on each! Monday’s field trip participants (Monday, Oct. 12th) should be excited as this area is in prime condition for butterflies right now. EPerry & RWarner from 9am to 4 pm, but things didn’t pick up until late morning and we rounded out the day with 45 species.

85 degrees, gusty wind & intermiddent clouds from Hurricane Delta. Liatris & Goldenrod and numerous unidentified wildflowers provided nectar from abundant rainfall this year.

(19-80) Sunny skies. Way crazy was a completely out-of-season Henry’s Elfin providing Pinellas with its 2nd-ever county record. The first was earlier this year!

Seen while driving the dikes birding, not lepping.

Sunny, around 5:30 pm, high 70’s. Has been very dry with no rain in about a month. Butterflies attracted to winterfat, gomphrenia, and guara plants

Breezy with overcast skies, some sun on/off. Temp of 73, low humidity. White cabbage butterflies around cert garden #2490 visited.

82 degrees midday. Intermiddant sun & clouds. Dan found his ‘lifer’ Georgia Satyr before we arrived but we helped locate one that would sit for a photo!

Sunny, low 80s.

1:30 to 2:30 p.m., overcast, low 70’s

Sunny, low 80s. Sightings for the past week. Number of daily Monarchs seen in yard has dropped in half since a month ago.

Gulf Fritillary was a large male.

Warm, but overcast, with rain expected.

Annual Bullied by Skippers trip 9:15 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. Weather: 77°-86°, sun all day 85%, winds 9-15 mph. Nectar: liatris, carphephorus, pickerelweed, Spanish needles, sunflowers, lantana. Participants: LCooper, SFarnsworth, JaLampkin, JoLampkin, EPerry, NPrine, RWarner. NEW RECORD FOR FUNEREAL DUSKYWING.

Around 3pm (on 10/12)I looked at a small weedy area on the West/North side of the parking lot by the bathrooms. Partially cloudy high 80s. As an aside we also had Bahama Swallow from the hawk watch in the park that day. I stopped by on the 13th but did not relocate the Mimic with about 30 minutes of searching

Best day since July!
2nd Gulf Fritillary was very small
California Sister was very worn

(23-129) Lots of Florida Paintbrush and Slender Blazing Star in bloom.

Quick stop at a flowering bush.

Another quick stop near Lake Cornelia yielded a Eufala Skipper.

Rain from Sunday evening through Tuesday morning. When the sun finally came out, so did just a few butterflies.

1020am-120pm, 81-86 degrees, partly cloudy, light wind

The Zebra Heliconian was in my front yard at about 11am this morning. It was fly down low to the ground looking for flowers to land on. I’m surprised it was this far north considering they are native to Mexico and South America and some of Florida.

Surprisingly good day in the gardens. Sunny with winds about 8 MPH, low 70’s. Started with 5 Monarchs but on last round at 5PM there were 25 Monarchs. Fiery Skippers and Ocola Skippers together almost matched the Sachems in the yard. 6 Ocola skippers in the yard today was a big surprise. 4 Spicebush Swallowtail chrysalises and several Monarch chrysalises still waiting to eclose. Large irruption of Pine Siskins today in the yard plus still have 2 ruby-throated hummingbirds here.

Clear, sunny, breezy, mid 60s. Beautiful bounce back after several cold, rainy, windy days. More Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars…and probably the latest Spicebush Swallowtail I’ve seen…

Agricultural area. Crops are mainly corn and alfalfa.

87 degrees, sunny. We walked along the tidal flats and found the marsh grass blooming as well as goldenrod. Our target was Eastern Pygmy-Blue but the Ox-eye Daisies were bloomed out. We didn’t see Great Southern White but found it’s host plant. Some were taken on the way.

Two-day totals; Oct 13, Rogue Valley Trail and Oct 15, Wildcat Canyon. Both days, high 80’s to low 90’s. Spring Azure was the only surprise.

Surprised to see the Long-tailed Skipper nectaring on old or dead looking blossoms instead of any of the other nectar in the gardens. 4 Spicebush Swallowtail chrysalises in the yard. Monarch Chrysalises also here.
Eggs laid on cassia by Cloudless Sulphur. Black Swallowtail, caterpillars on host plant. <onarchs continue to migrate through Cape May County and my yard. Monarchs tagged in the yard today by CMBO naturalists.

Mostly sunny, windy, high in the low 70s. I was mostly in old field habitat.

Sunny, 76 degrees.

82 degrees sunny. Area has had alot of rain so wild flowers are abundant as are butterflies. This is the first location we have seen where Southern Dogface is common. Many of the the butterflies are showing their Fall/Winter colors.

1215pm-130pm, 86-87 degrees, cloudy, calm

10am-1140am, 78-86 degrees, partly cloudy, calm

High number of Three-spotted; Only worked part of the property.

9:15 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Weather: 74°-86°; winds 9-15 with gusts to 20 mph; sun all day 70%. Nectar: liatris, carphephorus, balduina, pickerelweed, Spanish needles, rayless sunflower, primrose willow. DBollmar, LCooper, SFarnsworth, SMcLeod, EPerry, NPrine, WWallenstein, RWarner. Same area covered as earlier in the week and skipper numbers definitely dropping off despite abundant nectar.

12:00-13:30
Weather was pleasant in the 70s. Wind 5-10 MPH.

Sunny & calm, but high temp was only 60.

Great day again in the garden for mid Oct. Temp’s high 60’s & sunny. An influx of Common Buckeyes, Painted and American Ladies noted. Some really runty Common Buckeye and American Ladies noted. There are new eggs on the cassia that look like 2 different types - one round egg and one oval egg. Oval egg looks like the Cloudless Sulphur eggs. Caterpillars on rue and parsley, cannas and spicebush. Mint fresh Red Admiral. Midday another Long-tailed Skipper put in a fast appearance while working in the garden without my camera. Not found again.

Flying downstream along the Sacramento River. This is the only migrating monarch I have seen locally this year. Also saw a sulphuric and grass skipper but neither ID’d to species.

Temperatures rebounded after a cold snap. Unexpected sunshine turned my morning birding into a butterfly trip with 15 species.It started raining later. Our butterfly season is almost over in the St. Louis area.

(29-335) Sunny skies.

80 degrees, intermiddent clouds & sun. The shots on yellow composites were at Harris Neck NWR, the others were taken on Old Shellman Road w/i two miles of Barbour Landing at Harris Neck. Roadsides had abundent elephant’s foot in full bloom.

11:00-1400. High 70s, sunny, pleasant.

Located ‘Seminole’ Texan Crescent males on their small territories. They perched in specific areas and patrolled in the immediate vicinity(s). Observed one or two apparent females who appeared unimpressed (8 photos).

Surveyed a yard and cow pasture at a private residence in Sarasota with John and Jane Lampkin, and Karen Rosenbeck. 10am-1130am, 80 degrees, sunny, light wind

We were surprised to see a Zebra Heliconian flying near Little River, landing only on purple verbena. I saw one in this same wild area 5 years ago in August, heading the same direction.

Very windy today. Pleased with the butterflies seen. Joined by Donald Fraser. Gorgeous Gray Hairstreak just posed for us today.

Glorious afternoon. Sunshine and 71 degrees.

With Jane Lampkin. One mile loop. Overcast, temps in the 80’s.
THe Salt Marsh Skipper is seldom seen here in spite of abundant larval hosts.

Today, was a good Monarch day with 20 Monarch tagged by RH & KH. Then, by 3:30 PM these tagged Monarchs, excepting 1-2 of them, were on their way with a new crop of about 15 Monarchs stopping by for the night. It was exciting to have 7 mint fresh Cloudless Sulphurs today within the same field of vision in the back yard. Of note, there were 8 male Fiery Skippers and 1 female Fiery Skipper in the yard. 2 Long-tailed Skippers continue though one is really a rag now. Have 3 species of caterpillar in the yard that are continuing.

I have lived in Lubbock, Texas, since 1998 and have been chasing butterflies or luring them to my yard since my arrival. The photograph is of the first Tailed Orange I have ever seen in the county,tending a sunflower in my Lubbock backyard.

Juniper Hairstreak outside expected range, feeding on Goldenrod. Not near any stands of red cedar.

Temp 76, little wind and sunny all day. Another good day with migrating Monarchs. Started the day with over 2 dozen Monarch’s in the yard. This afternoon KH & RH tagged 30 Monarchs before running out of tags, warmth and sunlight. Mid- afternoon had a Monarch eclose. Hard to estimate the numbers of Monarchs that came and went throughout the day. Increase of American Ladies today. The ratty Long-tailed Skipper from yesterday continues but another very fresh Long-tailed Skipper here today. Stood waiting for 2 Brazilian Skippers to mate for about 20 minutes and while the darker skipper would fly around, landing near the the lighter one, no mating ever took place while I was watching. 1/2 hr later the lighter BS was still in the same exact spot on the leaf. Black Swallowtail caterpillars, Brazilian Skippers caterpillars, American Lady Caterpillars all continue along with Spicebush Swallowtail and Brazilian Skipper chrysalises also present in the yard.

9-12 Pleasant 80’s.
Eufala is uncommon for the site.
All 19 Monks were on one patch of Littlebell Morning Glory.

Intermiddent rain and sun. Temperature 78 degrees.

Time: 10:30 - noon.
Weather: Temps in the 80s, humid. Rained a little.
Habitat: Coastal plain, sandy soils, mostly pine forest with low understory, palmettos, grasses, sedges, fall wildflowers, etc.
I saw a few Grass Skippers, but could not get on them.
Also saw many moths in the grasses.

Pipevine Swallowtail was the latest record for me (one prior October record)

Seems late for Long-tailed Skipper

With Rebecca Neill, Dusty Rhodes. Surveyed parts of Elam Creek Rd. and Clark Creek Rd. Sunny, mid 80’s. Observed about 2.5 hrs. Only species were documented. Nectar: Boneset, Cowpen Daisy, Frogfruit, Maximillion Sunflower, Thistle, Gregg’s Mistflower

1025am-1pm, 78-86 degrees, sunny, light wind

Sunny, warm (low 80s), light breeze, all observed in or near the pumpkin patch

Butterflies were counted during the fall wildflower walks. 9:30-11.30 a.m.; 1:30- 3:30 p.m. Weather: 81°-85°, winds: 8 -11 mph, sun a.m. - 50%; p.m. - 70%. L.Cooper, CHuegel & participants.

83 degrees, sunny, light breeze.

82 degrees, intermittent rain and sun.

Yard butterflies. On and off rain with periods of sun and high humidity. EPerry