Recent sightings

Black Swallowtail cats and eggs on Fennel.

This report is abbreviated due to computer issues. More details when computer issue is resolved.

The Red-spotted Purples are enjoying the Pawpaw harvest as much as we are!

Windy day.

Butterfly sightings from apprx 10-12.

Enjoyed another Southerner today, Ocola Skipper. One of yesterday's large Monarch cats was hanging limp with strings hanging out of it (Tachinid Fly larvae inside). Though found 2 other large Monarch cats and a beautiful chrysalis in our mini-meadow. Finally had a White M Hairstreak (and it was on Late-flowering Thoroughwort, always a hairstreak magnet).

FOY Long-tailed Skipper here. Pipevine Swallowtail returned.

More grandson duty this week so just a few incidental sightings while whisking through the garden to grab any weeds quickly!’

I don’t have much time these days for butterflying but keep seeing these amazing butterflies! A long tail skipper was trying to nectar on my neighbors roses!! I tried to shoo it towards my garden across the street! Around 11 o’clock this morning with very light winds.

Thought I saw a Brazilian Skipper in the Yard a few days ago and sure enough I have over 2 dozen Cat Tents on the Cannas. Ocola Skipper was a treat as was a very bright Fiery. [There have been few reports of Brazilian sk so far this year. More to come? -jm]

Finally, able to get a picture of the Fiery Skipper. Imagine of Summer Azure & Easter-tailed Blue I was trying to show difference in size with the azure larger than the ETB though size is relative. 5 sets of mating Monarchs the past 2 days including one that was most probably tagged by Kathy Horn here on 9/11. Male Sachems mobbing each female that is here.

We never get Orange Sulphurs in the garden anymore, but when a smaller-than-a-Cloudless-Sulphur yellow orange butterfly appeared, I assumed that's what it was. Luckily it nectared repeatedly on our pond Pickerelweed and I got a few photos of a Sleepy Orange (NO we did not bring it back from SC). Sad ending to yesterday's Monarch cat metamorphosing into the chrysalis stage. Today it had dark spots and a fine string dangling down from it (tell tale signs that Tachinid Flies laid their eggs on the cat and they'll emerge instead of a Monarch). Much Cloudless Sulphur activity in the garden today: a pair mating, plus 4 others chasing each other around, a sizable cat, and a female laying eggs.

8:45 to 2:30 pm. Sunny, hot, humid, & breezy. 86 degrees when finished. Horace's Duskywing fresh. Also one hairstreak sp. and half-dozen skipper sp.

[A fine list from Greenwood Forest. -jm]

From apprx 9-12:00.
The new meadow had orange sulphur, peck's skipper, 2 sachem, and monarch, all on mistflower and smooth blue aster.

Incidental sightings during the morning while birding in the park.

The Skipper pictured below is yet to be positively ID'd.
It's GISS and a number of markings point to female Cloudless Skipper. Female Zabulon was considered but a number of field marks are absent. To my knowledge there are no skippers with 4 dashes in the dorsal FW apex. Any thoughts please send out to Jack C or Jack M. Cloudless Sulphur had just eclosed. Very few butterflies were observed.

[Ah, worn skippers…. Harvey's GISS comment carries weight as anyone who has been afield with Harvey knows. All comments are welcomed! -jm]

Just back from 10 days running 2 butterfly cts in SC and the garden has flopped from strong winds. It was lovely to see a southerner visiting our gdn (Long-tailed Skipper). Also spotted a large Monarch caterpillar on our chain link fence behind the Common Milkweed garden on 9-11-21 at 5:45 pm, that by 9-12-21 at 8:38 am was in a "J" position, and by 3:55 pm the filaments had gone limp (so I knew it was about to go into its chrysalis), which occurred over a 4 minute and 50 second period (4 PHOTOS included). Also spotted 3 other large Monarch caterpillars (and hopefully many more "in hiding").

[Interesting to note that besides being 1 of 3 locations to report our first long-tailed sk's of the year, it was also the second report of the day with photos of a metamorphizing cats (See Beth Polvino's entry with metamorphizing of a sleepy orange cat). -jm

Although Tawny emp. cats are common here, I rarely see the bfly, so it was nice to see one hanging on the side of my house. It even waited for me to get some pics, but due to computer problems I cannot load them. A few other species not seen recently also showed up.

[This report and one from CMY today are our first two long-tailed sk's of 2021. -jm]

Was excited to watch and video the metamorphosis of a Sleepy Orange caterpillar to a chrysalis. Pure chance I was there at the right time. First Pipevine Swallowtail here since 2018. Didn't realize what it was until reviewing pictures tonight.
[What an excellent day for Beth! It is great to have another pipevine report from CMY and the experience of watching the sleepy sulphur transition must have been awesome. -jm]

Obs. made from 2:40 to 4:35, sunny 85 & winds SW16-21

[Congrats to Jackie for reporting our first long-tailed sk for 2021. Last year we had dozens of reports of this southern migrant. Will this year be the same? - jm]

Four white m's clustered within three feet of each other on Sedum and a fifth with ragged wing on another Sedum clump 50 yards away gave us what may be our yard's record high count.

Milkweed tussock cats so tightly clustered and thick it looked like one of our milkweeds had grown a cattail top.

PVST coming to Phlox paniculata, their much preferred nectar source in our yard.

[Wow! I would think that 5 white m's at once would be a record for any small property. White m's are having a great September in SJ -jm]

I watched the Sleepy fly in and thought it seemed small for an Orange Sulfer, glad I chased it and got pics. Very few skippers today compared with the last few weeks. Pearl Crescents are always on the Stick-tights (Hackelia virginiana).

[This is only our 2nd log record ever for sleepy orange in ATL. Good find!]

2:45 to 3:30 pm. Quick stop at Salem River WMA off of Country Club Rd. This section of the WMA is a former golf course. Monarch count conservative. All were nectaring on thoroughwort.

[Good list in just 45 minutes, including our first report of white M in SAL in more than two years. Last found there by Dave Amadio at Alloway Municipal Garden 7/13/19. jc]

12:45 to 2:40 pm. Sunny, pleasant. PSE&G Estuary Enhancement Program site at the end of Money Island Rd. Above & below photos of same Aaron's Skipper.

Disjunct section of the WMA on the west side of Alloway Creek Neck Rd near Pancoast Rd, Lower Alloways Creek Township. 12 to 12:30 pm. Sunny, breezy. Photo of cooperative Sleepy Orange.

[This is our first report of sleepy orange in SAL this year. We now have reports for the apparently increasing species for half our counties – SAL, CUM, GLO, and CMY – in 2021. jc]

Main area off of Alloway Creek Neck Rd. 8 am to 11:30. Sunny, breezy. Mostly birding the first hour or so.

9:15-2. Cool and slow start–didn't think I would see 10 species at first and only a few sachems! One Monarch was high in the sky–migrating? Crossline skipper was very worn. A. Copper was fresh. Patch of blooming Chinese bush clover was profitable and the A. Copper was here. The helicopter fly over reminded me what day it is.

I walked the powerline cut west of Rt 605. The Liatris is in full bloom. That was the Eastern end of my annual Leonard's Skipper search. Started on the same powerline cut at Hesstown road last week and ended at Rt 605 today. Lots of good looking habitat but no Leonard's. The Buckeye Caterpillar was on Fern-leaved False Foxglove.

[Thanks for doing this survey, Brian. Sad to think about Leonard's disappearing, apparently. The Ocola is our 3rd from CMY this year and 5th overall for 2021. jc]

Sachem numbers steadily decreasing.

Obs. made from 11 to 1:30

Karl emailed me that they had a Giant ST in their garden. I asked if I could post for them. C. Herz.

[Thank you, Chris, and please send our log's congratulations to Karl & Gale on this exciting find! This is our 2nd giant this year and the first from GLO since you found one at Wheelabrator 8/21/17. Delightful! jc]

Butterfly sightings from 10:30-12:00.
Strong wind was definitely a factor, otherwise there would have been a lot more here with all the wildflower blooms.

Obs. made from 3:45 to 4:45, 76 degrees part sun and winds NW 10-21. Against better judgement I entered the closed path down into the Harvester habitat. This excursion gave new meaning to "bushwacking". The Beech forest has been totally devastated by the tornadoes that ripped thru this area on Sept.1st. I was unable to capture images of the devastation having only a macro lens installed. Not sure when if ever these trails will be opened again. Breathtaking to see the extensive and wide spread damage. Sightings today were from the butterfly garden and the wet area adjacent to the parking area

[Sad! Thank you for this significant report, Dave. How long will it take for these woods to recover? Can they? jc]

Obs. made from 2:35 to 3:30, 75 part sun and windy.

Obs. made from 1:50 to 2:30, 75 degrees part sun but windy, NNW18. Very active dredge spoil sight today, not butterflies but heavy dump truck activity.

A few strolls around the yard produced a very cooperative white m and a less cooperative fresh m. fiery. The numbers for the yard for this time of year are way down.

Slower day in the yard due to the winds. Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar & Brazilian skipper caterpillar seen by Theresa K and myself this AM. We also looked at what I believe to be Sleepy Orange caterpillars in my butterfly setup. I had trimmed back a Cassia branch at my neighbor's request as it was extending over the property line. This branch had eggs and a small cat on it. It is not similar to the Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars I had here in the past.

[Very cool find and photo. Lucy Hooper has a similar shot of a sleepy orange caterpillar in her garden last August here:
https://sjbutterflies.org/butterfly/sightings/60549. Keep track of that cat, if you can with all else going on there. jc]

After living with southern butterflies for a week in SC, I almost didn't make note of "another ocola."

[Glad you did. That's only our second report of the species in CMY in 2021 and only the fourth overall in SJ for the year. Good find. jc]

Overcast and humid this morning. Not much to report as far as butterflies, but we don't survey this park that often.

Westwinds bringing in some diversity!

Three White M hairstreaks again at Higbee, and again resting on sumac and sassafras in the early morning sun but not anywhere in sight 30 minutes later.

[Kathy has asked for help with the ID of her faded anglewing. Is it a worn q-mark with misshapen "punctuation mark"? Or something else? jc]

Always enjoy this time of year for some good butterfly/birdwatching in the yard.
Tiger ST was a dark morph.

A very nice day to be in the fields. 1.45-3.30 pm
The Common Wood-Nymph made my day. My first sighting ever.
Sachems count is probably an under estimate.

Sachems still abundant but declining in numbers. FOY Gray Hairstreat at Lumberton.

12-1:30pm
Black swallowtail caterpillars: 7

Today, I had Cloudless Sulphur's, Sleepy Orange and my first Orange Sulphur since either late April or mid-may. All were laying eggs on the cassia. Brazilian Skipper caterpillars, Question Mark caterpillars and Spicebush caterpillars on their host plants. Large numbers of Sachems continue making it hard to see if there are any other skippers in their midst.

A brief half hour spent here from 4-4:30. 84 degrees part sun and windy W17-20. Covered only a small portion of the area, but was rewarded with a White M Hairstreak. Commas and Red Admiral were fresh looking.

Obs. made from 2:35 to 3:55, Part sun, 83 degrees and windy W10-20. Also observed either Crossline or Tawny edge. A sachem was attempting to mate with it. Zabulon Skipper's 2nd flight winding down in this area.

Several hour's observation today. Action extremely light for this time of year here.

Incidental sighting while driving.

12:30 to 3:10 pm. Sunny, breezy, temps in the mid 80s. Thoroughwort in full bloom and was main nectar source.

Common Buckeye and Gray Hairstreak on Mountain Mint. Sachem count is an estimate.

9:15 to 12 noon. Cloudy at start but mostly sunny when finished. Breezy & temps in upper 70s.

My first sighting of a Cloudless Sulphur in this park.

CCS is FOY at Lumberton.

[Good find, RK! That's only the third report of the species this year – one from GLO (D Amadio) and one other from BUR (J Bulava).

Limited obs. on this damp afternoon.

Wow good butterfly sighting while playing mini golf with my grandson! My first ocola of the season.

[And it's the first Ocola reported in CMY this year – and only the third in our area in 2021 (the two others were found in GLO.) Maybe more of us should take up mini-golf?! jc]

Incidental sightings while birding in the park this morning.

I was planning to go on the Harvester-trail. This trail was closed due to several fallen trees, caused by IDA.
Spent a while at the Butterfly garden.
It seems that the White M Hairstreaks are showing up in GloCo.

The bright blue of two Pipevines brightened up our day.

[Excellent find. These two are only the 4th and 5th adult PVSTs found in CMY since 2019. It seems to have become a scarcer species there over the last decade. jc]

[Thanks for the count. Sachems have exploded in recent weeks throughout our area. Maryland also having more than can be counted. jc]

A beautiful afternoon to be in the park. One stranger in the midst of Sachems and Peck’s Skipper.
Nice to see here some Hairstreaks.
No Whites and Sulphurs.

[This is the first white M reported from GLO in nearly two years – since Dave Amadio found one at Riverwinds on 10-12-19. Good find, WH! jc]