Recent sightings

Sharing our results of the Cape May 4th of July Butterfly Count. It was a great day for skipper variety and evidence of future potential for butterflies from three species.
Discovered a Spicebush Swallowtail cat, fourteen chrysalides, eggs and ten plus cats of Black Swallowtail and eight Red-spotted Purple cats. The host plants were Sassafras, Fennel and Black Cherry.
Photos of Black Swallowtail Cat on Sassafras, Black Swallowtail Cat closeup on Fennel, a Spicebush Swallowtail Cat on Sassafras leaf and a first Instar of a Red-spotted Purple Cat below a cherry leaf.

Butterfly garden only, from 4:30-5:00pm
Overcast
3 black swallowtail cats
2 monarchs flying near milkweed patch

There was a Common Wood-Nymph which flew high across the width of the Driving Range.

There was a fresh Southern Cloudywing getting nectar from white Echinacea flowers.

A very quick check here today. Two Zab males in pursuit of a female.

Consistent high winds keep the snout count down. Found two male Fiery Skippers in a lawn.

Discovered two Hayhurst's Scallopwings that were hanging out and watched them for the longest time. There are now, at least, 13 Black Swallowtail Chrysalides and a female Black Swallowtail laying eggs on the Fennel plants.

A Common Buckeye seen off and on since July 18. Looks as if a nip was taken when wings closed. Spicebush Swallowtail male.

Smith's Woods butterfly garden only, very brief stop at 1:30 pm

Fresh Tiger on coneflower. Also 4 spicebush cats, 4 black swallowtail chrysalids, 8 monarch cats.

The first of the pepper bush is starting to bloom. It should be good for a few weeks.

Documented 18 butterfly species in this court today. Photographed a perfect female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Found 7 Black Swallowtail Chrysalides and 5 Cats in a 'J' position (with silk girdle).

Saw two female Sachems in the grass near Starbucks.

Trying to use binos only for more secure ID. Was able to observe Gray Hairstreak and Black male Swallowtail carefully. Swallowtails very active for a week. Cabbage ever present.

Big day for Red Admirals here. No apparent migratory component, just a very strong brood. 25 species today including the garden.

Only Duskywings found at this facility were in the garden.

Occasional sun here today brought out a fair number of butterflies. First 2nd brood female Zab already being chased by the males.

Discovered a fresh Red-banded Hairstreak and checking a Sassafras leaf yielded a Spicebush Cat.

It was great to see a fresh Red Admiral. A bird tried to enjoy it since a fresh beak mark on a wing was evident.

Many of the butterflies are getting nectar from Queen Anne's Lace.

Found eclosing luna moth.

Great Dion colony, but quaking bogs make this a dangerous territory.

8-12:30 pm. Cabbage White & BW Skipper numbers are conservative estimates.

Buckeyes continue on the Mountain mint. Had 8 on it today. This seems to be a favorite of Buckeyes even in wild areas. Common Wood-Nymph was flying outside the garden. Only spent 10-15 min. here.

Slightly better for butterflies here. Mimosa trees the main nectar source right now. All but one Tiger on mimosa including a dark form female. Silver-spotted Skippers and Monarch also sipping Mimosa nectar.

Very dry. Mostly mowed to the soil. Walked along the field edges in the shade.

Only walked down to "Hackberry corner" and back. Very dry here, not much nectar.

Four fresh male Zabulon skippers here today. 14 species in the garden, a season high. Eastern Tiger male was imbibing moisture from a leaf underneath garden sprinkler.

Hoping to find Little Yellow and Sourthern Broken-Dash. No on either. Did find 3 Northern Broken-Dash and added cloudless Sulphur to the list from tis location. Little Glassywing also, but I think it was reported.
The Odes along the powerline rule the road and may have impacted a good number of species.
Horace's numbers way down from a week ago.

Found this cat on Senna. Hesitated to report it until I had an idea of what it might be.

[JM's report of what looks like a full-grown or nearly full-grown cat indicates that we should all be keeping a lookout for cloudless sulphur caterpillars already. Although the species is listed by most sources only as a migrant (or a vagrant) in NJ, they are at least a rare breeder in southern NJ, especially in CMY. Could their status be changing here? jc]

As so often happens, returned home at dinner time to find a bfly surprise in my yard; this time a fiery skipper.

1:30-4:00. Mid 90's. To quote Steve Glynn from June 26: "Biting flies still terrorizing the area." I laughed at his photo from the car that day, but now I understand as I was trapped inside my car for most of my time here. One photo of cloudless sulphur from car, but later braved the bugs for another photo. Strange to see so many cloudless sulphurs in mid July. Nice look at sleepy orange, but no chance for photo.

Another Dion in my yard!
Image of Black ST cat showing its osmeterium.

Observations made from the roadside. Milkweed must have been cut at some point so it is spectacular right now. This count would be much higher if one had access to the field.

Observations made from 1:40 & 2:40 p.m. Little Yellow flew along the powerline towards the sports complex before making a hard left into the woods. Never got an image, but followed it long enough to confirm it's identity. [This is our second report of little yellow this year. Our first was also at this location on June 21. - jm]

Observations made between 12:10 & 1:20 p.m. Sweet Pepperbush starting to bloom here.

Dion Skippers very active.

A short once around here at 10:35. Temp already at 90 degrees.

Observations made here between 9:25 & 10:30 a.m. Most of the Rare Skippers were on Sweet Pepperbush. Fresh male & female Zabulon Skippers.

A brief 20 mi. here from 8:25 a.m. Heat had Checkered Whites up and flying early. Saw at least 3 males and 2 females. Likely more as every white that my binoculars fell on was Checkered not Cabbage at this early hour. Did not pay much attention to any other butterflies here.

Brief stop to buy some coneflowers which were attracting a lot of butterflies.

95 degrees and humid. Buckeye first seen this season in yard–photo from my neighbor's –rather a large frog! One Tiger a dark form female laying eggs on wild cherry.

In the early morning, I discovered a fresh American Lady catching the first sun rays,

The best find for me was a fresh and hyper active Common Sootywing searching for a mate.

The Little Wood-Satyrs were common in the wooded section of the dune system.

Dave Amadio and I met in late afternoon here and we found plenty of butterflies around Sweet Pepperbush.

Quick five minute check of the yard after arriving home from work at 6:30 pm revealed 3 species.

90degrees 10:30 - 11:15
I did not see a single Broken-Dash. I didn't stay long so maybe the heat was the cause.
I found a Fiery Skipper adding to the ver growing list of species at this location
Did photograph 2 interesting Duskywing's, presumably Horace's. Note the fairly numerous spots on the female along with the gray banded body. The male was extremely dark and I only got a blurred in flight shot of the dorsal side. See below

Smith's Woods butterfly garden only, very brief stop at noon

9-11am
Duskywing appeared to be a wild indigo.
There is a signficant amount of wild indigo plants at this site.

97 degrees, 4:45-6 pm. A pecks skipper caught by a spider, 1 monarch cat and a number of eggs on c. Milkweed. A number of red admirals and commas in the woods due to the heat?

May have seen a Southern Broken-Dash. When I release the shutter, it flew so; instead of, an underside image the result was a fascinating flight image.
Photos of Broken-Dash species in flight, a Viceroy, a Southern Cloudywing and a Variegated Fritillary.

Even with excessive shoulder mowing of the bike trail, it is a great place for butterfly variety!
Photos of Crossline Skipper, ETS and Spicebush Swallowtails.

The swallowtails have been appearing almost every day since April. It has been a great year for them.

Discovered 9 butterfly species in a back yard.

Yet another, new high number was obtained for snouts. A very conservative count yielded 43 American Snouts!!

Female Black ST laying more eggs on Fennel. Many large cats are about to go in to chrysalis.

No sign of the 7/17 Zabulon Skipper, but more should appear in South Jersey soon.

Mid-afternoon visit. Specifically went to check on the recent mowing and clearing work that has been done again. Thankfully, the field that has held the Sleepy Orange and Cloudless Sulphurs has not been cleared or intruded upon, however extensive clearing has been done on other nearby areas.

The elusive Sleepy Orange put in an appearance and was calmly nectaring along the preserve road on red clover. Very little other butterfly activity. Heat was less tolerable than the biting flies today.

Saw another single Rare Skipper at this site.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtails continue to be noticeable and in smaller numbers than the spring and early summer.

Snouts are everywhere this year in my travels.

Broad-winged Skippers and Sachems can be found almost anywhere. Cement and Asphalt jungles are no barrier.

During the hot afternoon, I did not see any broken-dashes for sure.

Found Dion Skippers even a mated pair close to Acme Market.

I was so intent on chasing down a couple of checkered whites that I was not counting other species. I can confirm Steve Glynn's July 18 discouraging report that this colony seems to be struggling. One photo is of a dead checkered; I could not find anything wrong with it, nor did I notice any predators around it. All of the checkered whites I saw were males.

9:00-11:00. Because Steve and Harvey submitted excellent photos yesterday of possible S. broken-dash, and my little point and shoot has its limitations, I spent my time observing rather than shooting. Two bflys that I studied looked like S. broken-dash. They acted differently from the N. broken-dash I was observing, especially in that rather than moving from flower to flower, they tended to explode away and disappear. Nice to see Dions here.

[moderator's note: I have temporarily marked "S. broken-dash." The intent is to make it easier for others to see where these bflys under question are being reported from in hopes that additional searches will be made. The listing can be changed if necessary. - jm]

This large milkweed patch had incredible activity. It is private property but I walked along the road and scanned from there.

Although Dions have been reported in this general area, this is a previously unreported Dion location.

Tiger Lilies and common garden Phlox are the major attraction to butterflies in my garden now. These sightings casual, from out of the window or on the way to mailbox. Buckeye on grassy path.

89 sunny [This is our first report of S. cloudywing since June 23. - jm]

First Hayhurst's Scallopwing of second brood. Each of the last three afternoons, Question Marks have visited the Hops. [This is our first report of Hayhurst scallopwing since Cynthia reported one in her yard on June 13. -jm]

There is still plenty of Broad-winged Skippers at this location.

Found 18 butterfly species at this site today. Had a total of thirty American Snouts today - High's Beach Area (28) and Sand Barrens golf course (2).

A new record number for American Snout individuals - at least, twenty eight!!
A new site for Dion Skipper was Gus's Beach Road. It was amongst the Broad-winged Skippers.
Photos of American Snout, Dion Skipper, a female egg laying on a young Oak and two eggs it laid.

A fresh looking RS Purple had signs of an encounter with a bird.

Nice showing of Peck's Skippers at lunch today. Of the 21 individuals 10 were on one small Swamp Milkweed plant, and 6 were on a root bound potted Buddleia.

Checkered White colony may be dying out. Last year at this same week in July more than five dozen Checkered Whites were counted. The primary "center" of the colony was plowed, graded and replanted this year, as were other sections of this private growing farm. Today's count marks a high count for the year on this property, and first males found.

Overall, activity on this property is down, as evidenced by the changing land use.

Surveying the parking area and the nectar along the dike to the new boardwalk. With Marilyn Henry. Partly sunny, 85 degrees.

Exceptional activity in the area. This report supplements the separate report by Harvey Tomlinson on the Broken-Dash sightings.

Yesterday Steve Glynn and I were butterflying the Powerline here and our eyes were drawn to a very small, bright bug. We believe it is a possible Southern Broken-Dash. There were 3 Dashes in total that were very different in color and brightness from the other Northern Broken-Dash we had found earlier.
I have attached some pics below. The pics include a shot from Steve on his camera and a shot from mine. I include them both to eliminate any questions about lighting ect . They were taken at the same time side by side. Note the color of the fringes. Gray FW-Buff -HW. There is also a shot from a Dash I found at Brigantine (Forsythe NWR) last Year that is essentially the same as the 2017 butterflies. A full report from the Powerline coming later
Thoughts are really appreciated.

[Moderators' Note: Exciting! Good going, HT and SG! If butterflyers most experienced with the subtle differences between the two dashes agree that the ID is correct, this is a very significant find. Harvey's discovery of an apparent SoBD at Forsythe last year might be considered a fluke – a result of a straying flight not to repeated – but a second find almost exactly a year later suggests something more meaningful may be underway. Southern broken dash, if accepted, would be a new butterfly species to New Jersey. All observers are urged to take careful looks at any broken-dashes they see and photo any suspiciously reddish ones. (Spotted knapweed the nectar source in both cases.) Thank you, Harvey and Steve, for the alert and for the good documentation. jc and jm.]

4:45-6 pm just after thunderstorm and light rain, cloudy conditions but very humid. All red admirals fresh and on the dirt road to the river. Monarch around c. milkweed patch just outside of garden fence. 3 black swallowtail cats on fennel in garden.

2 fresh Question Marks around the Hops. 2 female Black ST laying eggs on Fennel and Queen Anne's Lace. Male Dun Skipper.

Spicebush Swallowtails are in my mind so varied and such a treat. It is a great year to enjoy them.

Counted 22 butterfly species at my favorite place this day. Have two locations for Dion Skipper here and four sites for Dion Skippers this year in CM County (all in CMCH locations), so far.
Photo of Red-spotted Purple egg on a cherry leaf. [This is our first report of White M since June 2. - jm]

Great butterfly diversity in a yard on Woodland Drive.

Have surveyed this area for ten years and I got two new butterflies for my list here this day! One was really startling, there were two Dion Skippers getting nectar from Mimosa blossoms. My macro lens reveals a small image of one of these Dion Skippers.
Photos of Dion Skipper and a male Fiery Skipper (other new addition to my life list for HBA).

[Moderator's note: In talking with Will yesterday, he said that he believes that this is shaping up to be an exceptional year for Dion skippers and wants to urge people to join in the search fun. Who will be next to find Dions in areas where they have previously not been seen? - jm]

Mid-afternoon visit.

Found a fresh male Zabulon Skipper tonight in the garden. The start of Zab's 2nd brood is 4 days earlier than in 2016.

I have a "postage stamp" backyard. ( 100x20) I plant for Hummingbirds but also Butterflies to some extent. Every year now since we moved in Broad-winged Skippers Dominate the Summer months. The estimate,with Steve Glynn's help, is 450 -500 Skippers. Just 3 of my Blue Fortune Agastache hold over 100 bugs per plant.

Southern Purple Mint Moth, Silver-spotted Skipper

Images: 1 Rare Skipper continues. Red-Spotted Purple egg on tip of Black Cherry leaf. Top of Gray Hairstreak.

Surprised to see that Little Wood-Satyrs were common here.
A Red Admiral came off the ocean onto the beach and a Monarch flew out into the ocean from Avalon.

Horace's Duskywings continue a strong showing.

Discovered the most American Snouts in a butterfly field day ever - 14 individuals!
A Mimosa tree was covered with swallowtails and there were, at least, five other butterfly species.

For more than three hours, on and off from ~12:45 to past 4 pm, a female pipevine swallowtail inspected our pipevine plant, mostly above 10 ft. Nearly non-stop flitting all that time – apparently tasting leaves with her feet more than ovipositing. Rested briefly on Geranium for photo. We have not yet found eggs. Need to check with ladder.

4 monarch cats, 4 black swallowtail cats. Monarch and black swallowtail released

Least Skipper threw me off, as the white ray on the wing and amazingly tiny size had me thinking Southern Skipperling.

Action light here. Found a 2nd tree with small amounts of Woolly aphids. Observations made between 3:40 & 4:30 p.m.

Found 42 individuals of 14 species in the garden. The Wood Nymphs ,Eastern Comma,and Orange Sulphur were in the parking area and pathway. Also walked the short path to the green building. Spent about 1/2 hour here. At one point I counted 8 Buckeyes on the Mountain mint!

Property has been sold and access may change. Spent time in the mid-afternoon doing a full survey. Great activity once again. Peck's Skippers were a fresh brood and dial counted.

A very active afternoon here. FOY adult Monarch.

Good activity in many spots. Sleepy Orange was fresh and a nice surprise. [Steve's long list includes our third report, all from Steve, for sleepy orange this year, and our first from Salem county (the other two reports were from Cumberland county). -jm]

On Thursday July 13, my yard had 14 rare skippers. Today, multiple searches did not produce a single one. How does this happen? Sachems and broad-winged sk's are beginning to fade.

Observations made while birding with friends.
I went VERY conservative with my Monarch count. They were moving around a lot and I was often pre-occupied with the birding.

1 Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

Red-Spotted Purple was laying eggs on Black Cherry (photo). Fresh Gray Hairstreak. Question Mark at Hops, first in some time.

The Spicebush Swallowtail seems to be easy to locate almost anywhere this season, so far.

The snouts are reliable at this location.

The Praying Mantis are laying in a Knapweed patch devouring Broad-winged Skippers and other butterflies.

Observations made after 5:10 p.m. after returning from Hunterdon County. Still in the 80's but garden mostly shaded at this point in the day.

The best find on this trip was two Northern Broken-Dashes. The butterflies are quite diverse within this territory which is not far from Mechanic Street in the heart of downtown CMCH, NJ.
Photos of American Coppers and a Northern broken Dash at rest.

We went to a sedge habitat and found 42 Dion Skippers this day along with an Appalachian Brown. Four male Dion Skippers were chasing one female amongst ferns and I managed to get a flight image of two males chasing an upward spiraling female (088. JPG - click to enlarge) in this situation. Cynthia and I saw two Dion Skippers in another area getting nectar from Knapweed flowers.

At Smith's Woods butterfly garden, during my public butterfly program, 1:00-3:30pm.
We saw 4 different instars of black swallowtail caterpillars on fennel. Tons of milkweed tussock moth caterpillars on the milkweed, and what looked like monarch eggs on another milkweed. One of the buckeyes was missing an entire hindwing. The painted lady stayed feeding on the purple coneflower the entire time.

Female Black ST laying eggs on Fennel. Many cats of all stages there as well. Dion Skipper came in to nectar on Echinacea flower when it became cloudy before the storms.

Found a fresh, male Dion Skipper on West Hand Avenue in a Knapweed patch. Discovered a Spicebush Swallowtail using Sassafras leaves in the Knapweed patch, also.

American Coppers, Silver-spotted Skippers, a Common Buckeye and Gray Hairstreaks were getting nectar from Queen Anne's Lace blossoms.

There were plenty of meadow fritillaries flying, but as I have experienced in the past, they were imitating falcate orangetips and not landing. The fields were loaded with sulphurs and cabbage whites, which when seen in such numbers, is amazing sight.

A few butterflies here on this damp & cloudy day.