June 2021 Sightings

All photos by Dean Hansen.

The Monarch was a fifteen-second sighting and gone.

Partly cloudy, 75

Did see a swallowtail- dark and yellow, perhaps Palamedes, no picture proof though

Walked 2 more trails in our weekly survey. Saw for the first time this year a Banded Hairstreak, Peck’s Skipper and Hackberry Emperor. It was around 73 degrees with 75% cloud cover.

A number of ants are in one of the Coral Hairstreak photos. Only 1 (if any) Coral Hairstreak found per milkweed patch-no big groups located.
One large field was loaded with Checkered and Cabbage Whites.
72-85F, NE 6-9MPH, Cloud Cover 28-46%.
0900-1500: Walked, drove, took over 300 photos of most of the species on the list. Took time to get good looks and observe behavior with the butterfly binoculars.
General habitat was the ancient sandhills of Burke County, just south of the Fall Line.

plus one unidentified anglewing

Two parks south along the Delaware from Easton, PA. Brood X of the 17-year Cicadas are in full swing, and the forest is deafening with their chorus…’Summer’ Spring Azures have emerged. FOY Hackberry Emperors…

(15-98) Sunny & temps at 82-86.

With Mary Collier

Both Giant Swallowtail and Common Checkered-Skipper are rare at this location. Continue to find unusual species despite both numbers of species and individuals being extremely low for early June.

This distance is about three miles, disecting the park and Crossing over the White Clay Creek, while driving through in less than ten minutes, from an errand.

Near Marriottsville

sunny midday time

Extreme drought, and erratic cold with late frosts have left almost no nectar sources except in dense woods, blueberries and bearberries almost totally desiccated. Only major nectaring seemed to be on Common Lousewort. Out from 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. 68 to 74 F.

The large Broad-winged Skipper is common here. Its slow floppy flight is distinctive. Most individuals observed today were flying through the reeds beyond the reach of my camera.

3 of the 4 Broad-winged Skipper photos show a probable female cleaning her proboscis and face. The other BWS photo is of a male (I think).

74-80F, SE 3-5MPH, Cloud Cover 95%, 0930-11:45, Constructed Wetland Habitat.

The thick overcast probably kept the observations of other species low.

Spent 6 hours walking & driving Wild Horse Prairie Road then almost to the end we found one of our targets a Soapberry Hairstreak seen here on June 1, 2020 by a friend.

Did weekly survey of Lauritzen Garden. Temperature in low 70 with little wind. Mostly sunny.

AR03
E.05L

Sunny but very breezy late afternoon. I selected “Western White” because an option for “Margined White” isn’t available. I’m referencing Butterflies of Alaska by Ken Philip and Cliff Ferris, which includes Pieris marginalis but not Pontia occidentalis. I’d welcome correction on the Polaris Fritillary. I was leaning toward Freija Fritillary based on reference to the Butterflies of Alaska guide but of the options provided here Boloria polaris seems closest in appearance. Unfortunately I didn’t get a view of the ventral side of the fritillary’s wings.

Cherokee, Oglesby & Flanagan Prairies all connect in Franklin County. We spent 2 hours photographing Gorgone Checkerspots on Pale Prairie Coneflowers & Coreopsis! Arogos Skipper is not listed here but locally known to be at this location.

Walked & drove the main road for 1 1/2 hours. When we were here a month ago there were acres of wild indigo blooming! Cherokee Prairie, Oglesby Prairie and Flanagan Prairies all connect in Franklin County, AR.

partly cloudy, 1:45 to 2:15.
one unIDed Azure and one unIDed grass skipper

80 degrees, mostly sunny, very humid. The Azure was ovipositing on deciduous Hollies.

Sunny, highs in 90s

Both Strecker’s Giant Skipper and the Saltbush Sootywing are lifers!!

100 degrees! Very dry.

Walked the last of the trails at Fontenelle Forest for our weekly count today. by the time we were done it was 90 degrees and sunny. Saw first Red-spotted Purple of the year

1st Monarch caterpillars

Landed on our milkweed but left.

Warm sunny day in mid-sixties. The Mourning Cloak was very tattered looking and missing most of its outer margins, presumably an adult that emerged last year and hibernated through the long winter we had. In contrast the new tiger swallowtails looked splendid.

Starting Weather: Mostly clear, 75°, 16mph wind
Ending Weather: Clear, 81°, 16mph wind
Start time: 11:50am
End time: 1:30pm

We went to four different locations.

Ronda Spink, Dennis Dunlap, and Jack Reinoehl

The second Monarch that I saw here. Almost half of the Cabbage Whites seen were on Catmint in bloom.

15th Annual NABA BUTTERFLY COUNT. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 78°-91°, sun a.m.-20%; p.m.-95%, light winds. Three teams inside, one team outside park. Nectar: mostly thistle but also loosestrife, pluchea, pickerelweed, Blackroot, Spermacoce. LCooper, SFarnsworth, DFraser, JLampkin, JaLampkin, TPalmer, EPerry, NPrine.

Around 11 am amongst chocolate flowers and winterfat

88-90F, S 8-10 MPH, Cloud Cover 69-73%, 1430-1600, Swamps and upland planted pines.

This is only the second Oak Hairstreak I’ve seen, and the first was 3 years ago. They’re quite uncommon (or they hide well).

With Steve Walter. Harrisii just coming out. Had same Common Checkered-Skipper as two days ago in exact same spot with mallow.

With Lance Verderame

(2-23)

(4-15) Parking lot butterflies. One Dina met a spider.

(16-69) in just over and hour. Soldiers were guarding the northern perimeter.

Sunny, warm, and windy day with a small number of skittish butterflies. The adult Greenish Blues have been active at this location for about ten days, I think.

Los Poblanos area around 8 am. Alfalfa and corn fields roughly .5 miles from river. Sunny, temps around 70 F.

Most of the Spicebush was seen in the woods. The Monarch is #3 here and it did not stop or even slow down. There is a lot of milkweeds here almost in bloom.

Sightings for the past week.

Sunny, near 80, light breeze.

Sunny, breezy and 90degrees. Saw first painted lady visiting the certified garden.

Out for a short hike with the kiddos in the afternoon heat, which made stealth mode difficult. Also included a few yard sightings upon our return…

(11-155) Visited several sites.

Warm sunny day with temperatures in the mid sixties and a light breeze. Sightings were from along a bike trail in the northwest corner of the park, with small numbers of butterflies found in some patches of wildflowers. An orange-brown butterfly fluttered past a few times while I was at one spot photographing the silvery blues but didn’t rest so I didn’t get close views - maybe a fritillary of some kind.

First Coral Hairstreak seen at this location.

Morning count. Sunny. 81F after two days 90F+. Handy to see a female Zebulon & a Dusted Skipper for the comparison. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a photo of the Dusted but saw the white chin & eyebrows. Exciting to see multiple Ringlets at once. The Emperor was very fresh.

(8-30) Late in the day, missed Bartram’s.

(13-105) Always worth a visit.

Leanira Checkerspots are having a good year. Two-Banded Checkered Skipper was the surprise of the day, many miles from where they might be expected. No photograph, it settled for a bit but took off before I could get my camera ready.

A sunny day with dewpoint of 69 today. There is an increase of Peck Skippers. Saw first tiger swallowtail, but no Monarchs. Rain showers later, but butterflies returned.

Two days with Mary Collier

Variegated Fritillary uncommon here; seen on large open field with some parts unmoved recently. Silvery Checkerspots just out here, & as every year here, the localized population is of concern, as it seems to be in much of the region. Good to see Hackberry Emperor again at this park, fairly regular in recent years but not at all common. Another good year so far for Red-banded Hairstreaks. A bit too soon for the Satyrium hairstreaks.

Yard butterflies. I’ve only seen Sleepy Orange in my yard on one other occasion. Good yard butterfly.

Very muggy day with heat index of 92 around 3pm. Saw 2 Monarch caters, put them in a cage -which is outdoors to maintain the Monarch’s natural life.

Sunny, calm, 90 degrees. Both spring and summer form Eastern Commas were out simultaneously (see photos)! FOY Great Spangled Fritillaries, Dun Skippers, and Least Skippers…

Things are picking up a bit. The rain and heat seem to have helped. Decent year for harrisii, Southern Cloudywing and Long Dash at least.

Weather was clear to partly cloudy, 72-84°, 3-4mph winds
Surveyed from 9:15am-5:00pm

Ronda Spink, Dennis Dunlap, and Jack Reinoehl

Sunny, super windy and temps in low 50s when I start around 3:15.

During weekly survey of the forest we saw an eclosure of Hackberry Emperor. It has been hot and dry here, in the 90”s. Number of butterflies is increasing.

After walking for over half an hour along promising weedy patches with flowers (mostly dandelions), I finally found a single butterfly - my first Western tailed blue of the season. While photographing it, I saw the blur of a white butterfly flit nearby but didn’t get a good look. Presumably a margined white but not listed because I didn’t get a good look.

Still and damp this morning after early rain, temperatures in the high fifties, mostly overcast with moments of sun. More mosquitoes than butterflies as is typical for early June in Anchorage, but with the cool temps a couple of silvery blues including a female were especially sluggish and cooperative.

Sunny and with temp of 86 in the late afternooon.

Flying through. Didn’t stop at milkweed

Cloudy. Temps in the high 60’s.

(13-158). Super hot and very dry.

Sunny breezy late afternoon with temperatures in the mid-sixties and a good mix of butterflies. I selected “Mustard White” because an option for “Margined White” isn’t available and Pieris oleracea seems closer to Pieris marginalis than Pontia occidentalis. The fritillary is also challenging as it appears more like Boloria freija than Boloria chariclea based on reference to Butterflies of Alaska (by Ken Philip and Cliff Ferris) but Arctic fritillary seems the closest available option. Unfortunately I didn’t get a useful photo of the underside. It was surprisingly battered for so early in the season. I welcome any corrections. A second fritillary was observed but no photos were obtained. Likewise for a light-colored swallowtail.

Sunny, upper 40s when I started just after 9am. Finished it was 67 degrees.
Walked 2.25 miles of trail.
The Relict Frits were in amazing numbers - at least relative to what I’ve seen in the last 9 seasons! Had 6 in my field of vision at one time. Ringlets were equally abundant.

In addition to most of the same butterflies posted in my sighting from the previous day, today’s yard butterflies also include a Julia Heliconian.

Seen in the backyard in the garden.

Melissa Blue lifer

Bog Copper habitat is dwindling along with numbers of this species. All butterfly numbers alarmingly low for a beautiful sunny day in June in classic locations.

17th Annual NABA BUTTERFLY COUNT. 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; 80°-92°, sun all day, breezy. Two teams. Few nectar sources due to drought. Second lowest species count in 17 years. LBork, CConk, LCooper, DFraser, NPrine.

A beautiful day with temperatures in the upper sixties and a mix of bright sun and clouds. Conservative counts given. The fritillaries were a challenge for me as always with a toss-up between Boloria freija and Boloria chariclea butleri (Arctic fritillary), and I ultimately decided on Arctic - although more than one species may have been present. All species were very active and skittish. Most observations were well above the treeline at about 3,000 feet and higher in alpine habitat, especially near the peak of Mt. Baldy, but the margined white (logged as mustard white) and the Arctic and Grizzled Skippers were found lower down during our descent.

Very nice gardens

The first 2 butterflies I’ve seen this year.

Warm breezy day with a nice hike a couple of miles up the Crow Creek Trail. While there were lots of small moths, bees, wasps, and other pollinators, not many butterflies were observed. I was hoping for some activity up above the treeline but didn’t see any butterflies higher up - although with limited time couldn’t search at length.

Sunny, with high in the low 80s.
Elevation 8700-9450

Saw several Western/Two-tailed Swallowtails but could not ID

Between 7 to 9 am. Sunny with recent temps ranging 95-100 F.

Silvery Blue Lifer

(9-39) Mostly overcast and very few butterflies roadside. The satyr pictured is an Intricate.

Partly Cloudy, breezy, 80 degrees. Two locations 5 miles apart in Plainfield and bushel Townships…mostly open meadow/prairie. Good variety of Skippers out today!

Sunny and 87 today, following 3 days of cooler temps and rain.

First Monarch of the year!

Partly sunny for the 1 1/2 hours I was there. Unfortunately, there are few flowers in bloom right now.

FOY Phaon Crescent, Bronze Copper, and Common Checkered-Skipper, and Checkered White.

Weather was clear to mostly clear, 66-75°, 8mph wind
Surveyed from 10:45am-4:00pm

Ronda Spink, Dennis Dunlap, and Jack Reinoehl

Silvery Checkerspots flying for about ten days by this time… concern as has been for years, the population here seems very isolated, & this species may be gone from some adjacent states, by all accounts. Tailed-Blue on a 2nd ‘summer’ brood, just starting here. Satyrium hairstreaks just getting started here, with Red-banded Hairstreaks out for some time. Hackberry Emperor seems regular, if a bit scarce - ? - here in recent years. A look in a few areas here for grass-skippers was not fruitful, will try again at some point - much of former small habitat patches for those has succumbed to rank weeds such as mugwort, bittersweet, and other pushy plants; native bunch grasses have suffered greatly. The first of Little Wood-Satyr, which here seems to have only 1 brood, in the summer season. Nectar sources still a bit minimal, other than on open & not-all-mowed fields, but some patches of dogbanes have been in bloom, and some common milkweeds just about to bloom. Weather has lately been much more conducive to emergences.

Overcast and rainy, but when breaks of sunshine came, so too did the activity in sudden, short bursts.

Very dry here, so someone placed a small bowl to catch overflow from the drinking fountain for benefit of thirsty chickadees. One Echo Azure was taking full advantage.

It was finally a good day for hairstreaks, not in quantity but a nice variety. Three Whites seen in a wooded area may have been Mustard Whites, could not confirm.

A beautiful evening for a walk with clear skies and sun, temperature in the mid-sixties, and a light breeze. Lots of bunchberry, wild roses, and forget-me-not in bloom. Plenty of mosquitos too. Apart from the butterflies, we had a nice sighting of a cow moose and small calf.

First time for tiger swallowtail to visit cert bitterfly garden #2490. It fluttered the wings and flew around, preventing a picture to be taken. First Red Admiral visited also. Temp 75 & low humidity late morn during observation. There is an increase of Peck Skippers. Around a dozen now.

Walked the first half of our weekly survey this morning starting at 9 so we could beat the heat. We were done by 12:30. The Hackberry Emperors were thick along the road going to the one trail. Saw our first Delaware Skipper and Northern Pearly Eye of the season.

Located numerous Common Buckeye together taking nectar from Queen’s Delight, Stillingia sylvatica.

Observed several aerial dogfights between Goatweed Leafwing, one fight just a few inches from my head. A couple individuals perched in trees.

09:35-12:00 Noon, 80-92F, NW 5-10MPH, Cloud Cover 4-10%

Partly cloudy, light breeze, upper 70s. Milkweed starting to bloom…finally a decent nectar source. Should be a great show from here on out! FOY Variegated Fritillary, Meadow Fritillary, Hoary Edge, and dark form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (see photos below)…

9:00-10:45am. 79-84 degrees F. Mostly overcast. Walked 0.75 mile. Observers: A. Naccarato, C. Nagele, + 6 more volunteers. Also observed 3 unidentified checkered-skippers (tropical and/or white) and 16 unidentified sulphurs (likely cloudless and/or statira).
Photo of female Statira Sulphur laying egg on coinvine (Dalbergia ecastaphyllum)

First Pinellas record! Found in a shopping center parking lot perched on the trunk of the photographer’s (Christina Evans) vehicle. Photo used with her permission.

Gray Copper is a Lifer

16th annual NABA Butterfly Count. It covers three properties - Bull Creek WMA, Triple N Ranch WMA & Forever Florida. 9 am - 4 pm. Rain cut count short. Weather: 77°-84°, winds 8-13 mph, sun all day: 0%. Nectar ranged from plentiful to scarce depending on the site. LCooper, SFarnsworth, TPalmer, EPerry, NPrine.

Still no Satyrium Hairstreaks, and still low numbers of all native species.

Low humidity, temp of 72degrees when female monarch visited cert garden #2490

Hike with my daughter, so sightings were more incidentals. Multiple Azures, however 3 individuals were really large in comparison and more blue…Appalachians perhaps? I wasn’t able to look for black cohosh in the area, so I didn’t count them in the tally. Surprised to see a very tattered Juvenal’s Duskywing…

The white mangroves are blooming along the coast, and attracting a myriad of butterflies

was around 85 degrees, little wind. Saw Little Wood Satyr for first time this year. Also lucky to see 2 Gorgone Checkerspot mating.

(18-74). Mostly overcast, but a very large and well-planted, mostly-native plants butterfly garden makes this park a must see if in the area.