December 2021 Sightings

Our first New York State butterfly sighting in December. Sunny, breezy and 50 degrees.

This is the latest that I have seen butterflies in this area. Yesterday I saw an Eastern Comma and today an Orange Sulphur

(10-36) Early morning fog made for a slow morning.

Also saw an Orange Sulphur south of Bethel on SR 133.

78 degrees and sunny. Our warmest day in a couple of weeks.

High was 86 degrees. Mostly sunny. Mosquitoes – but spray is available in the Nature Center. We did not venture into the Thicket. 10 species. Very pleasant.

55 - 60 F, sunny, breezy

Observed in the land fill area - 1:00 PM.

Only partly sunny. High of 87 degrees. 16 species. The Mexican Bluewing was a bit shy.
It and the White-patched Skipper are primarily found in the Rio Grande Valley (and South).

Observed one Queen mated pair that flew into the swamp area.

Queen and Monarch numbers are conservative best estimates. I expect some Queen butterflies and a few Monarchs will overwinter here.

1415-1515, 74-76F, Wind 10-19MPH, Cloud Cover 86-96%, Field with mustard next to swamp, 31.470204259095787, -84.37649789585056.

A few butterflies from 12/10 and 12/11

There is a robust local population of Tropical Buckeye that some very helpful local butterflyers directed me to. I would not have found them if not for this fortuitous meeting. Thank you. I saw twenty but the habitat went on further and they were plentiful.

We haven’t had a freeze in South GA yet so we still have nectar sources. Temperature 78, sunny. The Sleepy Orange was unmistakable, very orange but too fast for my camera!

The Nature Center was closed but in the late afternoon we looked in the butterfly garden in the front. 81 degrees and partly sunny. 8 species.

Just off the bay, in the rear of an apartment complex.

85 degrees and partly sunny. Somewhat windy. 33 species. The Mexican Silverspot was laying 3 adjacent eggs.

Best butterfly was the Southern Dogface (uncommon here), but only got a distant shot before it flew off into the swamp.

Observed at least 3 Queen mated pairs.
The other Gulf Fritillary (that I could not photograph) looked very fresh, unlike the the one I photographed.

Queen and Monarch counts are conservative estimates.

1330-1530, 63-68F, Wind NE 6-8MPH, Cloud Cover 2%, Mustard field next to swamp.

A few butterflies seen while birding. A small patch of weeds including some smartweed still in bloom has been very productive in the past few weeks. Temp. in upper 50s F.

I was hoping to find another late Southern Dogface. I photographed one here a few days ago. (14 Dec 2021, https://sightings.naba.org/sightings/20750 ).

A stink bug photo-bombed the Long-tailed Skipper.

I photographed a Cabbage White mated-pair. The top individual seemed more interested in taking nectar.

I observed 5 Queen mated-pairs on this date. (A pair was photographed here on 14 Dec.)

Numbers for Queen and Monarch butterflies are a conservative estimate. The vegetation appeared to be dripping with them.

1400-1600, 73-76F, Wind SE 4-8MPH, Cloud Cover 96%, It was cloudy but warm. Habitat was a mustard field next to a swamp.

Photo by Mattie Jacobs. Found on driveway, crawled onto her hand

12:45pm to 3:45pm

9am to 4:30 pm. Sunny low 70s, no wind. Happened upon Dan Jones who guided me around and did most of the IDing. Counts are my best estimate.

77 degrees and sunny. Breezy. Highway 1732 is under construction but park is open and accessible. 12 species.

Christmas Day & we still have not had a freeze! 74 degrees, sunny. We also went to Townsend WMA but and saw only 1 Little Yellow while Common Buckeyes were common!

The numbers and species on this list look unusual for late December for SW Georgia (at least to me).

Again, the vegetation (mostly mustard), appeared to be dripping with Queen and Monarch butterflies. Numbers are conservative estimates. I saw one (1) Queen mated-pair.

1300-1400, 70-73F, Wind SW 13-21MPH, Wind made photography challenging, Cloud Cover 25-35%. Habitat was a large mustard field next to a swamp in the upper coastal plains (Dougherty Plain) of southwest Georgia. 31.470647083018523, -84.37639592801261

Yard butterflies on a warm day.

Latest date for me to see butterflies, both were in the emergency spillway on Slade Rd.

One Quadrus lubrigus (Lugubrious Skipper or Tanned Blue-Skipper) found by Dennis Vollmar which maybe a first United States record. A Pale Sicklewing (Achlyodes pallida) was found by Mike Rickard.

8:30 - 5:00 Mostly Sunny. Windy in the am but once the wind died down it became an epic day. 70 - upper 80s.

I found a US first record Lugubious Blue-Skipper and Mike Rickard found a Pale Sicklewing.

Best butterfly was a Southern Dogface (new late date for Georgia?) which I chased, but could get only a long-distance photo of it.

Observed 5 Queen mated-pairs. I saw them all shortly after I arrived.

Queen and Monarch counts are conservative estimates.

1330-1515, 75-77F, Wind SE 13-24MPH, Cloud Cover 61-67%, Field with mustard next to swamp.
31.47035511262636, -84.37643697626415

86 degrees. Latter part of the afternoon. Partly sunny to cloudy. 43 species seen. The Goodson’s Greenstreak with gray eye (when seen close up) and no tail is a very rare stray from Mexico. Exceptional warm weather in recent weeks, and days of strong Southerly winds, invited it here.

8:30 - 5, Started of very overcast, started clearing about 10am. 75-85 degrees. Cloudy early and late, sunny mid day. It was another epic day at the center with some realy good rarities being found.

Yesterday, at this same location, I located a Southern Dogface and was able to get only a long-distance photo. Today I suspect I re-located the same Southern Dogface and have included a couple of photos.

The weather and the butterfly count was similar to yesterday. Yesterday’s Sighting Report has photos of some of the other butterflies here: https://sightings.naba.org/sightings/20772

1345-1445, 76F, Wind SW 12-21MPH, Cloud Cover 73-79%, The light kept changing quickly and dramatically, Light Rain at the end, Large field next to swamp, Upper coastal plain. 31.47035511262636, -84.37643697626415

Weather was clear, 75-77°, 5-7mph winds

Surveyed from 12:00-3:30pm

Found three Little Metalmark caterpillars

This female OBS was laying eggs on Senna bicapsularis on New Year’s Eve. Yard butterflies.