June 2022 Sightings

Saw first Hobomok Skipper in the gardens. Surprised to see 4 since most years only see 1 or 2 a year. Also saw first Hackberry Emperor of the year. It was around 65 degrees with clouds increasing during the 2-hour survey through the gardens.

Windy n sunny with dewpoint in the 60s. Temp of 85. First tiger swallowtail butterfly.

Mostly cloudy to partly sunny. High of 80 degrees. The Swallowtail were females. Nectar sources are the wildflowers in bloom.

I walked along this trail from 10:15-12:10 on this sunny day with temps in the low 60’s. On other walks here, I’ve seen up to seven species, but today, other than a few distant white butterflies, one species predominated.

(12-120) Hot and sunny. Checked a couple of mitigation sites and a local city park.

Weather was clear, 68-72°, 4-7mph winds
Surveyed from 11:30am-1:40pm

R. Spink, T. Rutgers

Partly sunny. 62-77 degrees.

Sunny and clear, 74° with a light breeze from 6 to 7:15pm. We’re experiencing a heat wave with record temperatures for these dates in the Anchorage area peaking in the upper seventies over the coming weekend. Conditions have been exceedingly dry too, with very little rain in the past month and a half. Considering the heat, it’s surprising I didn’t have more butterflies as nectar sources were very plentiful along the hillside trail. Wood Tiger Moths were by far the most abundant Lepidopterans observed this evening. I was quite happy for my first ever sighting of a Northern Blue - perhaps odd it’s only my first since from the very limited local data it doesn’t seem uncommon. My photo is awful but the series of orange submarginal spots is unique among Alaskan blue butterfly species so helpfully diagnostic. The Arctic Blue surprised me, as I’ve typically seen them at higher elevations. Several other blues were seen but not successfully photographed or identified.

Sunny and 75.

Stops along Mt. Lemmon Highway and hiking up a couple of ridge areas.

Very dry overall.

I returned to Long Ridge today to see if a Pacific Meadow Fritillary would return to that Oneleaf Onion patch. It did, along with a flotilla of mosquitoes.

Sunny. Low 60’s.
3 hours hiking.

This was my first visit to this location. The Colorado River runs along one side of the park, which has many trails through wooded grassy areas, as well as along the river, a marsh and a creek. I saw many dragonflies and birds, plus two lizards, but only five butterflies, two of which were close enough to identify. Sunny, low 70’s, no wind, 11:10-12:30.

Did weekly survey of forest. Last week was a low of 14 so seeing 58 butterflies this week was treat. weather was 65 degrees and sunny. Out for 3.5 hours.

(25-140). A great morning. Found the first Northern Cloudywing in Pinellas since 1990.

Sunny! 60-82 degrees. The Eastern tail-blue were a purple color.

Increasingly cloudy and 74° with a light wind from 5:35 to 6:50pm. Butterflies seemed scarce considering the hot dry weather and how active this trail was a week ago. I returned a second evening in a row hoping to get better photos of a Northern Blue I saw yesterday but didn’t find one. The highlight of the evening was when I was crouching low to photograph a Mustard White and saw that she quickly oviposited on a stem. It happened so fast I missed the chance to photograph it and wasn’t sure she actually left an egg. I followed the butterfly hoping she’d oviposit again but she flew over bushes and I couldn’t keep up. Returning to the wildflower stalk she had been on, I was surprised to find a tiny egg. I’ve uploaded a close-up photo of the egg and another shot of the entire stalk with flowers and with the egg down near the bottom of the frame. When I got home I discovered that I had photographed a Greenish Blue ovipositing into a clover blossom.

Sunny and 68° at 10:45am as I started and 74° at 1:45pm when I stopped. A beautiful but very warm day to be out, and I enjoyed lots of butterfly activity. My goal was to find and photograph Field Crescents and they were quite visible and sometimes cooperative. I was also hoping for early Sulphurs so was glad to find some Clouded Sulphurs, although they were too active and wary for decent photos.

Mostly sunny, light breeze, 70 degrees. Dun Skippers are out…and a few Juvenal’s Duskywings still hanging around amongst the increasing numbers of Wild Indigo Duskywings.

Perfect weather. 75 and sunny. Red-spotted Purple had some Viceroy in him.

Walked first 2 miles and back. Started out in the mid-50s and cloudy but the sun finally came out.

Conservative count on the Ringlets

A friend was walking her dogs when she came upon an area loaded with butterflies, so she sent me a video. I hopped in my car and drove straight to the trail, counting over 200 puddling butterflies from 1-3PM. All of the Swallowtails and Fritillaries were very fresh. What a great first visit to this location!

Sunny, high 70’s, breezy

Swarthy Skipper seems uncommon here in Bronx County, but might be a bit overlooked, and is not at all unprecedented. This was a poss. first for us at this small public garden, however. Not that many other butterflies were noted, in a short afternoon visit.

Sunshine! 61-84 degrees

Sunny with a light breeze at 74° from 12:25 to 4:20pm, cooler and with occasional gusts at higher elevation. Most snow has now melted from the trail towards Flattop Mountain, although the mountain itself still has a lot of snow on the north-facing slopes and in shaded places. I hiked up Blueberry Knoll (elevation of 2,618 feet) below the mountain and spent my time on its slopes and craggy ridges. It was a pleasure to be above the tree line with alpine wildflowers and hill-topping butterflies. Conservative counts recorded for all species observed. The Old World Swallowtails were especially aggressive in chasing off any insects and other butterflies, especially the Western Whites which were hyperactively patrolling the ridge. A swallowtail flew at me several times as if to drive me away, but then resumed aerial combat with the others. Arctic Blues were seen roaming all over the slopes of the Knoll staying close to the ground and at low densities.

Overcast at 75 degrees

Sunny, 82 degrees, windy.

fog clearing to sun at beginning of hike
65F-75F
I hiked along the east side of the road in the river basin at two stops a few miles apart.

I am unsure whether the majority of the Icaricia were Lupines or Acmon Blues, I did see some dark females that I assume were Acmon Blue.

Admin- this is the complete list, sorry for my fat fingers submitting the other lists accidentally.

Seen during a Butterfly Walk led by Paul Johnson, plus a few more afterwards by me, Sarab Seth, Clark Black, and Erika Harris.

Weather was cloudy, 59°-73°, 3-7mph winds
Surveyed from 10:30am-6:00pm

We went to two sites on 42nd Street and one site on 59th Street

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, J. Belth, S. Belth

Sunny with temps 67-86 degrees

Week ending report. Despite great season, the season in my yard remains slow. Last year was similar heading into June until a week or hot & humid weather brought in higher numbers of individuals & species.

Sunny and 72° from 11:40am to 12:20pm. This is a site of interest for me near our house so I’m trying to get there regularly. Today I took the bog loop trail at a near trot, though, with a horde of unrelenting mosquitos in pursuit that made my visit miserable. I ducked off the trail twice and went into the bog - less water-logged than usual because of our very dry weather - to check the shrubby cinquefoil for any signs of feeding by Dorcas Copper larvae. It might still be too early for them, as I saw no sign that any of the cinquefoil I examined had been nibbled at.

Sunny and 68° with strong wind from 10:20 to 10:50am. I would have stayed longer but the wind was discouraging butterfly activity, and those I saw were mostly hunkered down in the ground cover. Two female Greenish Blues were observed including one ovipositing, plus a worn-looking male missing patches of scales on the underside of his wings.

Many of the Canadian Tiger Swallowtails are being seen here. During the past weeks when our temperatures went above 60 degrees F, Mourning Cloaks, Spring Azures, Brown Elfins, Cabbage Butterflies, Painted Ladies have been sighted.

Rhesus Skipper and Morrison Skipper are lifers for me!

Walked from the based of Greens Peak to the top.

10:30 - 5:30, mid to high 70s, mostly sunny, a gorgeous day. Hoary Edges and cloudywings were out in good numbers. One of the Southern Cloudywings had heavy frosting on its hind wings, which we had not seen before.

Sunny and 68° with mostly still conditions from 6 to 7:10pm. A beautiful evening with a Swainson’s Thrush singing throughout my session from lower down the hillside. Perfect butterfly conditions but less activity than in the past couple of weeks at this location. The flight season for Large Marbles seems to have ended here, and the remaining Milbert’s Tortoiseshells look very faded and worn. Piles of bear scat left near the parking area on my last couple of visits duly noted.

Sunny, 84 degrees from 10-12. Preferred nectar source was Nuttall’s Thistle. The Swarthy & Twin-spot Skippers were very worn. Reversed Roadside-Skipper was a lifer.

Yard butterflies. Julia is a good yard butterfly for this part of Florida. They are moving north!

the majority of ‘Karner’ Blues were seen at Wilton, NY, with far fewer at other locations. We also stopped in to the Albany Pine Bush preserve, in county of same name, where Karners were mostly done for a 1st-brood flight. We did not visit the prime sites for poss. Mottled Duskywing. At Albany P.B. preserve, some very recent burns had temporarily changed habitats. Also seen was poss. Wild Indigo Duskywing (not in our checklist though), and a few grass-skippers too briefly to call beyond family and type, “smaller orange-based skipper sp.” Good amounts of nectaring flowers were available, including types of dogbanes, and Rubus spp. Our weather was variable, not hot, and threatened rain at times. The trip was actually over 2 days, starting on June 6 to reach 2 counties of NY. Most photos were by K. Wallstrom.
Also noted were 4 spp. of tiger beetles (Cicindelidae).

Weather was partly cloudy, 66°-68°, 7-10mph winds
Surveyed from 12:30pm-4:00pm

R. Spink

Weather was cloudy-partly cloudy, 63-67°, calm
Surveyed from 10:00am-12:00pm

R. Spink, D. Dunlap, C. Schaddelee

This power line cutting provides a strip of xeric habitat in the middle of an otherwise moist eastern hardwood forest. Besides butterflies, nesting Prairie Warblers were in the area today. Parking access is from a well-concealed dirt road just past the Hoosac School on Pine Valley Rd. The access road has deep ruts and is not suitable for parking after rain.

Turned out to be a great day for butterflying after a cloudy morning. Temperature around 70-75 degrees and 50% clouds. Saw first Delaware Skipper, Dun Skipper and Sootywing Skipper of the year. Numbers finally going up again after a low 2 weeks ago of 12.

It was sunny, but cold (mid 50’s). My son and I hiked from the peak into the tree line and back from 10-12.

Walked about 3 miles before returning.

Alberta Arctic is a lifer for me.

next to a large fruiting Hackberry Tree.

Sunny, breezy, and 71° from 6 to 7pm. While experimenting with my camera and a new 55mm lens, I spotted a pair of worn Green Commas flying around the street in front of the house. I’ve been seeing a single very skittish comma there for about a week now and was happy to find tonight that there were two. Better still, they were quite approachable and I managed to get some photos even with the fairly short lens - including shots of one of the commas perched on my knee where it sat at length.

Overcast with 68 degrees at 2pm.Monarch visited garden #2490, laid eggs on milkweed. There is 1 Monarch chrysalis a day old.

A short hike today, looking specifically to see if Leanira Checkerspots were flying. They are, about 20 males seen, never stopping in their hopeful search, plus about 2 or 3 females hunkered down playing hard to get.

95 degrees, full sun.

Photos different views of same female.

I spent about 3 hours hiking from Rapid Creek to the top of the ridges using Forest Service roads.

I walked these trails from 10:10-11:45AM on this sunny day under a cloudless sky with temps in the mid-70’s.

Yesterday I finished my weekly survey of the forest. Cabbage Whites were everywhere. Saw 3 new species for the year: Banded Hairstreak, Dainty Sulphur and Least Skipper. The Banded Hairstreak was a good find since lucky to see any in a year and I saw 6.

Clear to mostly cloudy by early afternoon, 85 degrees, mild winds.

Single freshly-emerged male Silvery C-spot in area where I often find first-of-the-season. We will hope for a good year in this park: a species of much concern. Relatively low effort to seek out other butterfly spp. for this visit, of about 2.5 [p.m.] hrs. Forest-flowers for nectar still a bit minimal.

Mostly sunny and 79. The most Gorgones, Karners, and Ringlets I have ever seen.

1PM to 4PM. Partly cloudy for the first hour. Mostly cloudy the last two hours with a few light showers.
Very dry conditions.

Three peck skipper butterflies on a milkweed plant before it began to rain in the afternoon. Low humidity and 66degrees. Cert garden #2490

The Oak Hairstreak was a new state record!

Sunny, 90 degrees, light breeze.

18th and final NABA annual butterfly count. Weather: 79°-91°, winds 9-17 mph, sunny to partly cloudy. Nectar: lantana, salvia, Spanish needles, rabbit tobacco, porterweed, chrysopsis. LCooper, SFarnsworth, PGotter, NPrine.

I saw 38 white butterflies, all of which were flying too far away for me to identify. One of the Western Tiger Swallowtails was on the Zinnias I just planted in my yard. After lunch, I saw a Viceroy in the willow tree in my backyard, my 9th backyard butterfly species.

9:50-10:45, sunny, high 80’s

90 degrees, overcast skies.

Partly sunny skies while observing butterflies around 3pm. A tiger swallowtail and American Lady visited cert garden #2490. There were also 13 monarch eggs on the common milkweed.

Weather was partly cloudy-clear, 81°, 5-7mph winds

Weather was partly cloudy, 79-81°, 7mph winds

16th annual NABA count. 9 am-4 pm Weather: 79°-95°, winds: 7-15; sun all day 80%. Nectar: Spanish needles, thistle, fireflag, pickerelweed, verbena, frog fruit, fireweed. LCooper, SFarnsworth, PGotter, NPrine, DSmith, PStrauss.

Sunny and 79.

Sunny, 82 degrees, breezy at times. Visited 2-4 PM.

Sunny, windy, and warm with temperatures in the high sixties from 3:15 to 4:35pm. I was very happy for a Mormon Fritillary caterpillar, L6 based on appearance and length of about an inch (using Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies, D. James and D. Nunnallee, for reference). I observed and photographed ovipositing by Greenish Blues and suspected ovipositing by Mormon Fritillaries. A very yellow sulphur with solid black borders on the dorsal wing surfaces was seen briefly a couple of times but not photographed so I was unable to identify it with confidence.

Sunny with increasing clouds, light wind, and temperature at 65° from about 12 to 2:30pm. It’s been cooler, cloudy, windy, and rainy most of the week - typical early summer weather here - so this was my first chance out for butterflies all weekend. When I visited this location three weeks ago most of it was still buried under snow. That’s mostly melted now and the area is greening, with lots of wildflowers. Considering the good conditions, butterflies were fairly scarce. After 45 minutes of seeing nothing I thought I might leave without a sighting. Activity picked up somewhat in the early afternoon, and I got good cooperation for photos.

1:30PM to 4PM. Sunny. Low 60’s.
In 2018 I discovered Mottled Duskywings at this location. In the spring of 2020 the power company totally destroyed the habitat of New Jersey Tea which bloomed along the powerline. There was nothing to see in 2020. Last year the habitat had not recovered and I did not find any Mottleds. This year the New Jersey Tea has rebounded and I was able to find two and probably three Mottled Duskywings.

90 degrees, partially cloudy. We’ve had a few rain showers recently and are seeing new butterflies!

(13 spp -235 individuals) June is usually slow in Pinellas. Today was no exception. Not yet enough rain and very little blooming or flying. American Lady was the morning’s highlight.

Lifer

Weather was mostly clear-mostly cloudy, 81-84°, 7mph winds

fairly recently-emerged by appearance.

freshly emerged, on Blue Flag (Iris) in wet meadow area near Hudson River. At least 12 additional butterfly spp. present in a short afternoon walk; temp. well into 70’s (F.) with plenty of sun.

Partly sunny, 80degrees and breezy. The silver spotted skipper appeared for the first time today

(10-47) The park’s butterfly garden and the stand of fire bushes across from the Visitor’s Center are the main draw for Orange-barred Sulphurs. Looked without success for Palamedes Swallowtail and Silver-spotted Skipper, both uncommon park visitor’s.

Explored the Green’s Peak road (NF-117/3123) areas during the afternoon.

Explored areas along Route 260, native land permit required, from Pinetop to Apache-Sitgreaves NF.

Overall, very dry conditions. Faded blooms on iris patches still drawing activity.

freshly-emerged pair mineralizing a bit on preserve ‘track’. At least 14 additional butterfly spp. present, including many freshly or recently emerged Harris’s Checkerspots, and skippers including Long Dashes.

Sunny. Low 70’s. 1PM to 3PM.
Two Pocahontas female Hobomoks.

Mostly cloudy with short periods of sun, breezy, and 64° from 6 to 7pm. Quiet with far more mosquitos than butterflies. I found a pristine Milbert’s Tortoiseshell vibrating its wingtips in shade to stimulate its thoracic muscles in preparation for flight activity. A very worn and faded Tortoiseshell just a few yards away struck quite a contrast. When I walked back up the trail a little later both Tortoiseshells were flying around beside the trail.

Sunny and 95.

Started 3:45pm

Broad area coverage, from Springerville-Eagar areas, down Rt. 180/191 to Terry Flat, Luna and Alpine.

2 azures seen seemed to be of northern ‘spring’ types; we don’t know if ‘cherry-gall’ spring azure types are found here so far-north, and in the boreal habitat. Kept an eye out for Jutta Arctic, which occurs here and elsewhere in a few ADK’s counties of northern NY state, but none were seen, probably a bit late for them. One Mourning Cloak was worn, not the new brood’s emergence yet. Arctic Skippers seen were not esp. worn-looking, and a highlight for both of us in this visit. Almost half of species seen appeared fresh and feisty as well. Fairly good amounts of nectar-flowers seen and used as we observed. This area may be nearing n. portions of Juvenal’s, although we had seen that duskywing in the next county north in NY, close by the US-Quebec border (at a lower elevation). Good odonate diversity on this trail too. All (lesser-quality) photos here by T.F.

17th annual NABA count. Three properties are covered - Bull Creek WMA, Triple N Ranch WMA & Forever Florida. 9 am-4 pm. Weather: 79°-95°, winds 2-4 mph, sun all day. Many nectar sources. Large areas of Bull Creek & Triple N have had recent prescribed burns. Most areas dry. LCooper, SClendenin, PClendenin, SFarnsworth, TPalmer, EPerry, NPrine.

After severe storms the night before I was happy with the number of butterflies and species that I saw. Temperature around 73 degrees, as progressed clouds decreased.

Mostly cloudy with filtered and full sunlight at times from 6:10 to 6:50pm, and 64° with a light wind that made it feel cooler. Not much butterfly activity with the less-than-ideal conditions, but many Yarrow Plume moths flying in high grass.

Sunny and 93.

slightly worn individual, seen under dark overcast skies with a few sprinkles of rain - mild 70’s (F.) with little wind. Sun had been out in morning to mid-day.

The beginning of this trail is a 15-minute walk up a steep gravel road surrounded by towering cliffs and bordered by the No Name Creek, roaring by loudly with snowmelt. Swallowtails and Weidemeyer’s Admirals were flying above the trail and the creek.

Sunny, windy, 76 degrees, 10:20-12:10, elevation about 6500 feet

Sunny, 11 mph winds, 69 degrees
Observed two butterflies on a neighbor’s flowers.
Their wings were fluttering very quickly, so I wasn’t sure I would be able to get a clear photo.

This was my first ever Marine Blue in Wisconsin! This species hasn’t’ been reported from Wisconsin since 2011, but four others were reported on June 16-17. Presumably arrived on the strong warm southerly breezes.

Sunny with a light wind and temperature at 62° from 6:10 to 7:30pm. Sightings data for the area is light, but I was intrigued by reports from the past two years of Common Ringlets along the Coastal Trail on the west side of Anchorage during the last third of June. While I’ve seen Ringlets elsewhere in Alaska I hadn’t known they might be present here in town, and it warranted investigation. Since many of my butterfly sightings have seemed early this season, I figured I’d try at mid-month. After searching for over an hour and finding nothing but Greenish Blues, I headed back towards the car to go home. Then in tall grass a buff-colored flutter caught my eye and - I’ll be darned - I’d found a Ringlet. It was fairly worn so maybe late in it’s flight stage.

Partly cloudy, cooler today at 89 degrees.

Many tiger swallowtails on my lilacs. Many Promethea Moth emerging from their cocoons

Weather was clear-70-75°, 10-12mph winds

R. Spink and D.Dunlap

Been trying for years to see the fritillaries and just happened on them as a storm approached.

Obs. made from 9:15 to 6, Low 90’s P/C to M/C after 3. winds W14-22. Common Milkweed the major draw for butterflies today along with some Buttonbush in partial bloom. Butterfly garden with minimal nectar other than the buttonbush and a few butterfly weeds.

Sunny with partial clouds, 62° and breezy. Alaskan butterfly survey data from July 1965 collected by Dr. Ken W. Philip indicates Dorcas Coppers were found on the campus of Alaska Pacific University. Our house is about midway between APU and Baxter Bog, a location in East Anchorage I’ve been monitoring closely where Dorcas Coppers are present (but not yet eclosed this season at my last visit). I checked satellite imagery and found a bog on the APU campus, and then biked over there this afternoon to have a look. There’s plenty of Shrubby Cinquefoil, host plant of Dorcas Coppers, so the bog looks very promising. I’ll keep checking on it along with Baxter Bog. I saw no indication of larval activity on the leaves of the Cinquefoil but couldn’t stick with it for too long due to mosquitos and irate gulls.

(20-122) Very hot and sunny. Just one Tawny Emp - in the main picnic area.

2.5 hours hiking. Around 70 degrees.
Partly Cloudy — 40% sunny, 60% cloudy
Very windy. Gusts to 40 mph.
Eight of the Hobomoks were Pocahontas females.

Finished up weekly survey at Fontenelle Forest today. It took me 5 hours and 2 days. Here is what I saw for the week. Temperatures above 80.

With help from Mike Rickard and Ginny Musgrave.

Little Wood-Satyr, which was freshly emerged and very common at this site seven days ago, has completely vanished.

Shimek State Forest 4th of July count

A Marine Blue was seen on June 18 at the Nature Conservancy’s Kitty Todd Preserve.

Part of the Christmas NABA butterfly count. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Weather: 79°-95°, winds: 5-8 mph, partly cloudy to cloudy then rain. LCooper, TPalmer, EPerry. Nectar: buttonbush, Pluchea, pickerelweed, thistle, loosestrife, milkweed, mistflower, Black-eyed Susan. Area very dry.

Cloudy start; got partly sunny skies on the return.
Went in 2 miles and back.

Sunny, breezy, mid-70s.

Entrance to Scenic Horse Trail, Soccer Fields, Main Entrance Drive , and path to the Bird Blind at Brooker Creek. 11:30am until 2:00pm

A group of a dozen people rode the gondolas to an area near the top of Aspen Mountain. Then we all hiked further up the mountain above the ski area. There were lots of dandelions along the trail, but few other nectar sources were blooming.

Overcast, low 70’s, 10AM-noon, spectacular mountain views, elevation about 11,200 feet.

A male Monarch came out of its chrysalis late morning. Sunny breezy with temps in upper 60’s. Other butterflies visited certified butterfly garden #2490.

81-degrees and sunny. Male landed on wife’s white cap.

Sunny, 83 degrees, light breeze. Images - California Hairstreak, Coronis Fritillary, Hedgerow Hairstreak, Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak, Mournful Duskywing, Juniper Hairstreak, & Common Branded Skipper.

Sightings for the previous few weeks.