August 2021 Sightings

Walk the entire Skyline Trail Loop.

9:30AM to 5:50PM.
Partly Cloudy. A rain shower ended the count.
Part of the Dundee NABA Butterfly Count.
Species numbers were down with a good number of missed species.
Observers: Roger Kuhlman, Jackie Riley and Robert Bell.

1330-1335, 93F, Feels 110F, W 9-13MPH, Cloud Cover 38%, Georgia Coastal Plain.

Lake Loretta Neighborhood where few butterflies fly. (Lots of spraying.) 31.597293818192284, -84.20324005825168

This is actually a huge list for our garden which takes up the entire back yard (no grass). It is loaded with milkweed, many flowers, and other nectar sources.

Photo: Our Yard Monarch taking shelter (from the heat?).

Recent sightings.

Partly sunny, breezy and temps around 75 when releasing 8monarchs in certified butterfly garden #2490.

Variable Checkerspot was a Snowberry

Large meadow, Mormon Fritillaries were the main show, but only in scattered moist areas.

Looking for checkerspots, saw just one but found good numbers of hairstreaks and coppers. A few blues were so tattered as to be unidentifiable.

Coneflower is usually attractive but I saw nothing on the flowers. Everything was going to the dogbane.

Weather was clear to mostly cloudy, 72-73°, 7mph winds

R. Spink

I’ve been checking two nearby locations during the past couple of weeks looking for Dorcas coppers (the local subspecies is Arctic Copper, Lycaena dorcas arcticus). They eclose late in our season in Alaska when the flight period of most other butterflies has ended. After several sunny days with 70° highs, I was very happy to find a number of Arctic coppers this evening between 6 and 6:35pm nectaring and resting on their larval host plant, shrubby cinquefoil. The count given is conservative. The coppers were mostly skittish, taking flight and hiding in the bog tangle to evade my approach, although a couple were very cooperative for photos. I also found a moose resting in the bog - thankfully not while I was poking around deep in the cinquefoil looking for the coppers.

Sunny and 74degrees. Ten monarchs released from habitat. Five female and five male

Survey cut short by approaching storm

Walked the Loop

Weather was partly cloudy, 77°- 79°, 4mph winds

Sightings afternoon of August 2 and morning of August 3. Open sagebrush, scattered pines. Nude Buckwheat was present but the butterflies were only going to Rabbitbrush.

During a brief stop to let our little doggie have a break, a Nokomis Fritillary flew past! But no opportunity for a photo.

Most butterflies seen were coming to asters around the lake shore, none going to mud.

The two blues and a few fritillaries were along the Heiser Lakes Trail on past-its-prime Monardella. It seems to be late in the season for almost everything.

Yard butterflies. In-between all the rain; very humid conditions.

Low 70’s, sunny. 7-9 am. The area has corn and alfalfa fields.

First Checkered-Skipper I’ve seen this year.

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All butterflies (except the Woodland Skipper) were seen under or on Harry’s Ridge

An ovipositing female.

A sunny muggy day with light winds. Temp of 88 degrees. Four Monarchs visited the Monarch waystation #2490. A male Monarch came out of pupa, enjoyed the butterfly friendly plants.

On vacation at the Outer Banks…seen at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and just north along the shore…

10:00 till 2:00. Very wet, many nectar sources available.

First Giant of the year for me.

Obs. made from 9:10 to 6:30. Covered most of the accessible portions of the refuge today. Mostly hazy sun, with temps from 77-88 and se-sse winds6-15.Numerous sources of nectar, but the Joe-Pye weed, & NY Ironweed very active. Noticebly absent were both Lady sp. & only a single Duskywing.

4 individuals,two parties, on a section of a fall count

Sunny, 86degrees and hazy. Found 7 tiny Monarch caterpillars and about 20 eggs on milkweed.

Humid sunny and 88 degrees. Had 3monarchs visiting the butterfly garden

Appears to be a chrysalis in the photo of the Gulf Fritillary pair. Time of mating 1400.

Common Buckeye pair was at 1130 (photo).

Three photos/views of the identical female Fiery Skipper on the same perch.

1115-1515, 84-89F, (Feels like 98F), E-SE 2-5MPH, Cloud cover 45-47%. Drove and walked down 4 miles of gravel road through swamps, fields, and pines. Georgia Coastal Plain.

Humid and temps in upper 80s. Breezy and partly cloudy. Had 2female and one male Monarch come out of pupa today.

9:45 till 11:30. Not sure but I believe the Daggerwing is the first one recorded for Brevard.

Overcast, light breeze, with temperatures in the mid-sixties. After finding Dorcas coppers at this location five evenings ago, I wanted to make another visit - especially as some of them had looked worn earlier in the week and with rain in the forecast for the next several days. I didn’t have any confident sightings around the shrubby cinquefoil in the bog - possibly one that fluttered off before I got a good view - but a sluggish copper was nectaring on yarrow along the edge of an open area near the bog. While I was photographing it, a spider suddenly crawled up from under the cluster of flowers and made a grab for the butterfly. Surprisingly, the copper bolted upwards to escape, then landed at the center of the flowers and resumed its sluggish nectaring as if nothing had happened. The spider repositioned itself for another attack, but fortunately the butterfly decided to relocate to a safer yarrow plant.

Cloudy and a bit cooler today; only 82 degrees.

9 am - 12 pm. Sunny and dry. Butterflies attracted to oregano and Verbena.

All 5 Diana’s seen were males.

9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. 82°-91°, partly cloudy to cloudy. Nectar: sida, pluchea, spermacoce, loosestrife, Barbara’s Buttons, mistflower, Polygala rugelii. Not a lot of fall wildflowers in bloom yet. EPerry, LCooper

Walked a couple of miles and found two butterflies. Very little nectar source except a few passion vines with no Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. Sunny and 93 degrees.

Fiery Skipper-2 photos of identical individual; Worn but still flying.

1330-1530, 90-92F, Feels like 101F, SW 3-5MPH, Cloud Cover 35-43%, Field next to swamps, Georgia Coastal Plain, 31.592745140602062, -84.34193509475173

Despite our very smoky conditions, a very fresh Two-tailed Swallowtail showed up in my garden. Conspicuous for its absence was Gulf Fritillary. 1-2 have been present all summer.

Mostly sunny, light breeze, upper 70s. Great day! Monarch numbers are conservative. Nice Skipper variety including a very late-season Hoary Edge. Sleepy Oranges with ongoing strong numbers…

Full sun & 92 degrees with plenty of zinnias, plumbago, heliotrope, buddelia, gallarida, Mexican Sunflower, Abelia & more blooming.

Incidental observations made while visiting various shops & sights. Areas observed included Smoketown, Strasburg, Intercourse, & Kinzers.

Cracker first found/reported by Hawkwatch staff at the Park on August 8, 2021.
Note: Some taxonomic studies suggest Pale Cracker is a subspecies of Gray Cracker.

90 degrees, sunny with a nice breeze.

90 degrees, sunny. Very wet with evidence of recent flooding in this swampy wetland near the Altamaha River. Black Swallowtail is on Few-flowered Milkweed.

Mostly sunny, light breeze, 80s. The Cloudless Sulphurs are back! Overall another day of great variety…

Very muggy with steady winds, temp of 86 at the Monarch waystation.

Weather was mostly clear-cloudy, 86-88°, calm-8mph winds

The 259 Eastern Tailed-Blues is correct!

1pm - 2pm. mostly sunny 90-95 degrees. light wind

8am - 11am, wind 10-15mph 85-90 degrees variable cloud and sun with light showers

Sunny clear skies with high dewpoint. Temp above 96 degrees

Sweltering…mid 90s, partly cloudy, light breeze, very humid

Sultrying hot 90+ degree weather with high dewpoint. Released 4 Monarchs from habitat in waystation. Two male and two female. Found Black Swallowtail eggs in garden.

I counted 8 Monarch caterpillars on 2 Milkweed plants.

Low species count for this location due to rain and a locked gate to a productive area.

1115-1450, 88-91F, Feels like 96-104F, Variable 2-5MPH, Cloud Cover 30-56% to Rain, Thunderstorms ended the day early. Florida Gulf Coast. 29.973497112941438, -83.71279322260082

92 degrees, sunny.

9-11:30 Full Sun. 85-90 degrees. We started at Barbour Landing & then drove wildlife drive. Fogfruit, Helitrope & Thistle were blooming.

Day 1 of 3 of a two-night stay for a family reunion, with about two hours of total butterflying time in the afternoon with observation, photography, and identification. Temperatures were in the low 90s and high humidity apart from when a thunderstorm rolled in bringing heavy rain and cooler temperatures. Most butterfly activity was at a patch of thistle, other wildflowers, and tall grasses near the pond by the swimming pool. Conservative counts. A dark swallowtail was seen at too great a distance for identification.

2:00 to 5:00PM.
Mostly Sunny. 76 degrees.
Mostly at the Langdon West Unit, but also stops on Manor Rd. and the East Unit.

Leaderless walks - 2 participants. Sunny, hot (90’s) and humid.

Hot (in the 90’s) sunny and humid.

Two photos of identical Dion Skipper (Thanks EP). I looked hard for additional butterflies/skippers and found none.

0900-1100, 86-89F, Feels like 90-100F, NE 2-3MPH, Cloud Cover 13-16%, Plank Road State Forest, Upper St. Marks River Corridor, Western Jefferson County, Somewhat swampy, Thick understory with pines (IOW north Florida), 30.315087295385403, -84.0513949290718

89 degrees full sun.

Weather was mostly clear, 72-75°, 7-10mph winds.
We surveyed from 11:30-2:45pm

R. Spink, Jack Reinoehl

Unique sighting of Zabulon and Least skippers coupled. Noon, sunny, hot, humid.

Day 2 of 3 of a two-night stay for a family reunion, with four to five hours of total butterflying time in the morning and afternoon with observation, photography, and identification. Temperatures were in the low to mid-80s with high humidity and occasional rain. Most butterfly activity was at a patch of thistle, other wildflowers, and tall grasses near the pond by the swimming pool. Conservative counts. The Red-banded Hairstreak was found at the forest edge beside the road.

Partly sunny and 76 in afternoon. Slight breeze. A total of 9 Monarchs in a protected habitat released.

Quick stop with the boys. Sunny, 75F, light breeze.

noon - 3pm, overcast, some sun, some rain. 80 degrees

10:30 - 11:30 overcast some light rain.

Brilliant sparkling blue with a semi formed white band fading into sky blue. Could not decide if this was a Red-spotted Purple or a white admiral. After consulting Jeffrey Glasberg’s field guide “Butterflies through Binoculars” I decided that this was a great example of a hybridized version of the two.

Includes Pry Road and Tinker Road. Some Monarch caterpillars and eggs also found.

Seen just north of the town line headed towards NY.

Surprised no Giants there though did see one later on in NJ.

Partly cloudy, light breeze, 70s. Yard butterflies…

Weather was clear, 73-75°, 4-6mph winds

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, J. Reinoehl

Weather was clear, 60-79°, calm winds

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, J. Reinoehl

We had the good fortune to run into Steve Glynn who got us on the Leda Ministreaks and Orange Skipperlings.

Day 3 of 3 of a two-night stay for a family reunion, with one hour of butterflying time in the morning including observation, photography, and identification. Temperatures were in the high 70s and mostly overcast with some patches of blue sky. Most butterfly activity was at a patch of thistle, other wildflowers, and tall grasses near the pond by the swimming pool. Conservative counts. The Red-banded Hairstreak was found at the forest edge beside the road.

Rain in morning, then cloudy afternoon.

Weather was mostly-partly cloudy, 81°, 4-6mph winds

Partly sunny with light winds in the eve. Temp 75degrees. Two Monarchs were at cert butterfly garden when 28 outdoor raised Monarchs were released

Cloudy and very humid, temp 83.

Beautiful, warm day in the field, from 7:30am to 2:30pm
With B.DeWitt

Overcast and breezy, mid 80’s

We checked the roadside but found no Georgia Satyr as we reported last week.

Sunny 86 degrees. Wetlands were flooded, we checked the edges carefully searching for Georgia Satyr to no avail. We did see a nearby Cloudless Sulphur.

85 degrees sunny. We stopped at the trailhead for Airport Perimeter Loop & found the Phaon Crescents & Saltmarsh Skippers, then at Teal Pond we checked roadside thistle & found a few more Saltmarsh Skippers & the Cloudless Sulphur. There is a wonderful stand of roadside beautiful pickerel weed at Teal Pond on but we’ve never seen butterflies on it!

9am-9:45 84 degrees sunny. With all the rain bahaya grass is the main plant in the meadow. Fogfruit and helitrope around the edges were the main nectar sources. The Southern Skipperling was almost missed as it was as tiny as a pencil eraser!

Disappointed in the lack of species diversity.

Sunny, breezy and temp 86 in mid-afternoon. Had 27 Monarchs from outdoor habitat come out of chrysalides. Observed additional ones. Found 8 more Monarch eggs

From Frozen Lake to the 1st Burrough

A short window of butterfly weather between morning and afternoon downpours.

I was photographing a Barred Yellow when it was grabbed by a female Eastern Pondhawk.

1100-1300, 84-90F, Feels like 95-100F, S 2-5MPH, Cloud Cover 21-22%.
Field next to pines and a swamp.
Area had been burned within the past year,
It was weedy and had plenty of nectar sources.
Walked for two hours.
I was careful not to double-count anything,
so count may be somewhat conservative.
Georgia Coastal Plain. 31.501451833902735, -84.35350017964838

Sunny, upper 80s.

Weather was partly cloudy, 84°, calm winds

The flight shot of the Bahama Swallowtail is poor but you can make out the field marks to separate it from Giant. Hot sunny and dry, 4.5 hours.