April 2020 Sightings

11:00-3:00, pond area was most productive.

Butterflies are sheltering, too. Female Mourning Cloak

Exceptional day in the yard. Loads of butterflies, & a new species for the yard, Amythest Hairstreak. Saw it 2 days in a row, then no more. Fulvous Hairstreaks having a good showing, multiple ones every day for a couple weeks now

67 degrees, breezy & sunny.

67 degrees, sunny & breezy after an inch of rain so we expected to see more.

Sunny, low 60’s.Dry for past 4 days. Area is mostly scrub and cholla with some suburban houses and yards.

Paulette Ogard sent the following note and the photo.
On April 2, 2020, ten-year old Jeremiah Butler fished a drowning butterfly out of a pond in Jackson County, Alabama. Before it flew away, he and his mother photographed it. It was later identified as an Early Hairstreak, only the third documented sighting of that species in Alabama!

My first butterfly of the year!

Two Monarchs mating.

Start weather: Clear, 64°, 2mph wind
End weather: Clear, 76°, 6mph wind
Start time: 10:00am
End time: 4:45pm
R. Spink
I drove almost to the Goethe Giant Cypress tree, I ended about 1/4 mile south.

1-4pm, 74-76 degrees, sunny, light wind

Sunny,light wind, temperature in. mid-80s. Major nectar source: thistles

Observed butterflies from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Weather between 64 and 76 degrees. Started off a little cloudy then the sun came out.

Observed butterflies from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Sunny around 76 degrees.

Sunny, breezy, upper 50’s to low 60’s

A sunny, little breezy day on the trail observing and recording the pictured common butterflies in super-abundance (25+) in the duration of 2 hours (9-11 am)

71 degrees, sunny.

70 degrees, sunny. Sparkleberry is blooming!

seen while birding, first day above 50F in a week, sunny, very little wind

Sunny, very windy, mid-50s

The Monarch is another common visitor, as are its caterpillars to the milkweed I planted. They’ve been regulars since before I made a larger garden in spring 2018

First Cabbage Whites of the year

57F

58F

From our deck at lunch time we watched as these butterflies nectared on poisonwood flowers. Sunny, warm. 12:45 - 1:00pm. AGrimm and LWilliams.

With Bob Gorman & Diane Brodeur. Sunny, mid 70s, breezy early to full blast wind in the afternoon. All park sites & roads were closed but some of the canyons near the main roads could be accessed by foot.

Temp 65-70 Sunny to partly cloudy
Henry’s Elfin Tennessee state first

The park is currently closed to the public, but as I am an employee there, I was able to conduct a short survey after I spotted a Cuban Crescent.
Two Atala caterpillars were also seen.

Sunny, low 60’s, wind gusts

Spent about an hour at the top of Hook Mountain, from 1-2 PM. Mostly sunny, mid- to high 50s, little wind. The Orangetips included one female.

Start weather: Clear: 58°, 7-10mph wind
End weather: Clear, 70°, calm
Start time: 10:20am
End time: 6:00pm
R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

Mostly cloudy with some breaks of sun, light breeze, mid 50s

Yard sighting

pale blue upper side in flight seems to indicate a summer azure

Periods of strong sun interspersed with clouds and bright overcast. Winds calm, temperature mid-60’s F.

These Butterflies were seen from the Rt 420 entrance of the Refuge

Overcast, with Tim Towles

Backyard find.

we were just out for a walk in the fresh air and sun, never expecting to see anything flying just yet. but a brave little Sheridan’s Hairstreak had emerged and danced around in front of us on a south facing slope. this is the first mountain sighting this year.
temp 57F mostly sunny 8,500 foot elevation.
no photo, i had left my camera home.

Sunny With 56degrees. First (white cabbage) butterfly observed for 2020

Social Distancing Practiced

A sunny, somewhat warm day (59-65º F) while exploring Mercer County Park West Picnic Area & East Picnic area plus two nearby areas along the power lines in that area (Caspersen Rowing Center (40.269491, -74.639406) & the end of Bruntsfield Drive (40.266415, -74.617952). Looking for possible extensions of the Falcate orangetip habitat, I found that neither of the latter two places had any of the larval food plant - Hairy Rock Cress - that is found in the park. The East Picnic area and Campground proved to be an area that had a great deal of Hairy Rock Cress and there was at least one Falcate Orangetip (possibly 2, but I am erring on the side of caution as chances were 50-50 that it was a Cabbage White. The Spring Azure was also sighted in that location (40.263017, -74.622082).

Start weather: Clear, 69°, calm
End weather: Mostly clear, 76°, calm
Start time:10:15am
End time: 6:40pm
R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

Mid-morning when the sun peeked out for fifteen minutes. Best day so far this year.

Shinnery Oak forest.

78℉ and sunny

First butterfly of the year for me flying along edge of the woods.

In suburban garden with pincushion, dianthus, and coreopsis as well as dwarf plum blossoms. Late morning/early afternoon; low 70’s

very dry; few nectar sources

Warm, sunny, breezy 70 degrees. Several unidentified Duskywings made fly-bys as did two unidentified Anglewings

52F

Start weather: Clear, 76°, 5-10mph wind
End weather: Clear, 76°, calm
Start time: 11:25am
End time: 6:10pm
R. Spink and B. Woodmansee

we had two sunny warm days in a row, so i was hopeful that Moss’ Elfins might be flying and they were. more Sheridan’s too.

Sunny, mid 60’s to upper 70’s

also one unidentified anglewing

Start weather: Clear, 84°, 5-12mph wind
End weather: Hazy, 81°, 5-12mph wind
Start time: 1:30pm
End time: 2:40pm
B. Woodmansee and R. Spink

Start weather: Cloudy, 79°, 5mph wind
End weather: Partly cloudy, 84°, 5mph wind
Start time: 11:00am
End time: 1:00pm
B. Woodmansee and R. Spink
Most of our butterflies were along the dirt road leading to the cemetery.

12noon-310pm, 80 degrees, sunny, breezy

Nottingham County Park was hit with a serious outbreak of Southern Pine Beetle that killed most of the Pitch Pines there and now removal of all of the dead trees has a war zone look, complete change!

Mostly sunny, breezy. Temp of 68 when seeing a cabbage butterfly and Red Admiral.

I was surprised to see a Black Swallowtail so early here.

85 degrees, sunny. Seen while gardening.

Partly cloudy, breezy, mid-60s

First sighting of this butterfly in my yard.

One-hour, mid-afternoon walk. Mostly sunny.

This is a supercommon visitor to my butterfly garden, which is rich with corky stem passion vine. The Gulf Fritillaries love my Lantana and Golden Dew Drop.

I overwintered 4 Black Swallowtail pupae. I had one emerge from its chrysalis on Wednesday the 8th. It was released. Not much nectar but I have parsley that survived the winter and new fennel coming up.

62 sunny and windy

60’s to 70’s, breezy, sunny

This is the first time I’ve seen a Zebra in my garden, since I started it spring 2018. So excited. The Orange-barred Sulphurs have always been abundant as cassia was the first host plant I planted years ago.

numerous other species in my backyard—but this one liked posing.

Sunny, near 60 degrees.
Walked 1.5 from closed gate to trail head. Road still covered in snow for over 1 mile. Counted only on the way to trail head.

10+ Satyr/Hoary Commas - didn’t have my camera or binocs to ID

215-440pm, 83 degrees, partly sunny, windy

Just a short mile walk through my woods and edge late afternoon after work. Not one anglewing is seen where others have been lately.

A gorgeous day, around 72 degrees and little wind.Sunny. There have been lots of Spring Azure out so far this year.

sunny, mid 50’s, breezy

yellow sulphurs were present but unable to ID to species

mid 50’s to low 60’s, sunny, breezy

Good while the sun was out. Never had Henry’s Elfin at the Jackson location before in decades of visiting there.

No Henry’s Elfin or Juniper Hairstreaks yet, but it was still a nice day, although cloudy. 66 degrees.

The temperature was in the low sixties, mostly cloudy with rarely bright spots.

Social Distancing on the trail for a few hours 9-12 pm Sunny 90 degrees, heavy breezes blowing the photographed butterflies here and there.

Beautiful day, temperature about 70. Half as many hikers as usual, due to CoronaVirus restrictions and social distancing.

Painted Ladies seem to be migrating, they were constantly flying past. Not swarming, but all going in the same direction.

Social Distancing on the trail for a few hours 8-11 am, sunny, breezy, 90 degrees observed the photographed butterflies riding the winds.😊🦋

It is a very warm morning, dry conditions. This Monarch emerged recently from its chrysalis and it was hanging on to my tomato plant drying its wings. This is the second new Monarch in four days.

(22-198) Mostly cloudy and very humid. FL 102. Hairstreaks on palmetto blooms.

Mostly Cloudy, 76 degrees, we targeted Oak and other hairstreaks as the sparkleberry has started to bloom.

74 degrees, breezy partially sunny. Barbour Boat Landing Meadow was included in this report. Helitrope, Thistle, Pinewoods Milkweed and Sparkleberry were major nectar sources.

Yard sighting - nectaring on purple verbena

Yard butterflies:
So, in my vegetable garden I noticed some turnip leaves getting some caterpillar action. I checked them out closely and thought they might be Great Southern White butterflies. Adults had been hanging around the garden lately, but I also have their native host (pepper grass) in my yard, which I don’t cut or pull up. I see a female lay the odd egg once in a while on the pepper grass; I’ve never had the fun of watching a cat grow up on it however. It turns out Brassica rapa (turnip) is a known host for GSW, and interestingly that the white form of the butterfly uses Müllerian mimicry with other white butterflies that store mustard oils in the body. I am currently hopeful for some chrysalis and am happy to share my turnips with the butterflies! This morning I caught a female laying directly on a turnip leaf! Not just an egg, but 43 of them, before she flew off! Looking at the eggs after using my macro lens, I think I know now what they fashioned the Alien eggs after in the hit movie saga.

50 degrees, partly cloudy, breezy. Numbers likely lower from recent strong winds, heavy rains, and freezing temps. First sulphurs of the year!

Purposely letting back lawn bloom with Spanish needle. Productive.

My backyard

overcast, breezy and very warm.

Start weather: Partly sunny, 57°, 5-7mph wind
End weather: Clear, 75°, 3-5mph wind
Start time: 9:15am
End time: 5:30pm
B. Woodmansee and R. Spink
The amount listed for Salt Marsh skippers is not accurate, we stopped counting and estimated the amount because they were literally everywhere!

Sparkleberry was the only think blooming and it was just outside the gate to Tabby Oaks. It was 72 degrees & sunny but much of Tabby Oaks is shaded much of the day.

I don’t have a lot of flowers in my garden, so it was a nice surprise to find this Silver-spotted Skipper nectaring on the Dianthus.

With John and Jane Lampkin, 10am-2pm, 72-82 degrees, cloudy to sunny, calm

Cool, 50s

Sunny, light clouds, mid 60’s, light breeze

In the field 9-11 am sunny 90 degrees with windy conditions and with dark storm clouds rolling up in the sky here’s what fluttered by. Social Distancing.

75 degrees, partially cloudy. Primary nectar sources were Pinewoods Milkweed, Sparkleberry and Helitrope.

I wanted to see if Olympia Marbles were flying and some were!

a fast flyby around noon, 55 degrees, being pushed along by strong southerly winds. My first “interesting” butterfly species of the year, to quote a friend.

First sighted March 28, 2020. First time I’ve seen this species in Broward County.
Sunny. 90F.

With Bill Evoy. Temperature in the low 90s, breezy. Major nectar source was Nuttall’s Thistle.

I took advantage of the sun before it became cloudy. 59 degrees.

It was around 60 degrees and sunny. I was out for 1.5 hours. On Thursday we had 8 inches of snow so didn’t know exactly what I would see. Earlier in the week we had 4 days with temperatures 25 degrees or lower at night.

Atalas are regularly seen at the Naples Botanical Garden, but this is the first time I have seen them at the zoo which is a few miles to the north. The zoo is closed, but these guys were in the parking lot.

Horace Duskywing on an onion bloom, first time I’ve seen it in another area of my yard. Hot and sunny, a day after a long and rough thunderstorm.

First Giant I’ve seen at park. Sunny and warm. Near 70

Worked different trails at Fontenelle Forest today than yesterday. It is one of the places that is open during this time. Was around 65 degrees and sunny.

The Southern Great White butterfly eggs, all 43 of them, hatched today. I did my best with artificial light (as it was overcast all morning) to try and photograph the process. It took five full days from oviposition by the mother to hatching of the larvae. The eggs were deposited on garden turnip, Brassica rapa. EPerry

In woods across the road.

78 degrees, mostly sunny, windy.

Orange-barred Sulphur laying eggs on Cassia sp.

Partly Cloudy, mid-60s. Elevation: ~6200ft
Walked the 1.5 miles of road to trail head
Road is mostly melted except the last 1/2 mile or so

Sun was out, and the temperature was in the high 50s around noon. The park is still open, but the campground, some parking areas, and the facilities are closed.

Start weather: Clear, 72°, 4mph wind
End weather: Clear, 78° 4mph wind
Start time: 10:15am
End time: 4:45pm
R Spink and B Woodmansee

Fos

Gorgeous day today. I was surprised to see the Pearl Crescent this early in the spring. Also saw Cabbage whites. Around 70 degrees, sunny and little wind

80 degrees, sunny & breezy after 2” of rain brought out some new species. We have never seen more than 1 White M Hairstreak in a season but this year we saw one at Harris Neck NWR and now 3 at this location all within a few inches of each other!

Few grass skippers; dry conditions

Sunny, high in the upper 60s.

Start weather: Clear, 72°, calm wind
End weather: Hazy, 81°, calm wind
Start time: 9:45am
End time: 5:30pm
R Spink and B Woodmansee

215-445pm, 85 degrees, sunny, calm

Ninebark is starting to come into bloom; checkerspots, pale swallowtail & ringlets visiting the flowers. Other nectar sources present now are blackberries and mustards.

At the time of these sightings, 09:30 the temperature was only 40.5°, full sunshine, and very windy.

(15-70). A nice spring season count of Statiras. All were at, or very near, their hostplant, coinvine, but females deposited in an instant and were hard to photograph.

Went to the prairie and wetland section of the forest today. It was 73 degrees and sunny. Saw our first Clouded Sulphur.

Sunny breezy 90 degrees on the trail from 9 am till noon observed the recorded butterflies

76 degrees with gusty wind just prior to thunder storms.

Today was the first day state natural areas were reopened, so we did our NABA count, kept participant numbers small, wore masks, and kept social distancing guidelines. Sorry for the poor quality iPhone pictures.

Partly cloudy, mid-50s. (~6300ft)

Walked 1.5 miles to the trail head and about 100 yards of the snow covered trail. One Mourning Cloak and a Green Comma were found on the trail.

Green Commas and Mourning Cloaks were also found on the road.

With Dusty Rhodes. Sunny, 88-92F, winds 15-20mph. Antelope Horn Milkweed was the most sought after nectar source. Hiked 1.5 mi along the ranch road and surroundings for 2.5 hrs.

76 degrees, sunny, breezy. The Red-spotted Purple is only the third we have seen in Georgia, all in McIntosh County, in 16 years.

74 degrees, cloudy, windy after 2.5” rain. I don’t think we’ve ever seen an American Snout in Georgia!

mid-60’s, slightly overcast

An unIDed Azure was seen, most likely based on date a Spring Azure, in addition to the two definite species

List for the pat week. Butterfly activity remains slow overall due to cooler weather for the majority of April. Weather has been warmer the past week.

I participated in the City Nature Challenge today going around Bellevue recording what I saw. The following are the butterflies that I was able to observe. First Eastern Tiger Swallowtail for the year.

Sunny, 82 degrees, breezy. Helitrope and Pinewood Milkweed were main nectar sources.

We are concerned about this habitat as county mowers go deep into the ditch and mow down the beautiful pickerel lily in mid-May when it supports as many as 40 species of butterflies includling the Rare Skipper and other endangered skippers despite negotiations.

We have never seen a Pearl Crescent in our section of McIntosh County and never seen a Crescent in the woods here at Tabby Oaks. Apparently the blooming Sparkleberry bought it and the American Lady over from the nearby causeway.

74 degrees cloudy, windy.