Recent sightings

My first intermediate form of a female Eastern tiger swallowtail!

Walk to the river and work in the garden. Caterpillars seen in the garden: 4 black ST on fennel, 1 spicebush, 1 monarch, 1 varigated frit. 17 species in the garden.

Nice variety of bugs this afternoon. A Cloudless Sulphur made a brief appearance nectaring on a couple of petunias and then up and away. Found five 1st instar Black Swallowtail cats on Parsley.

Mexican sunflowers and marigolds attracting most. Purple loosestrife in the water attracting most of the cabbage whites

2:40-4:00pm

Smith's Woods butterfly garden from 1:30-2:15. Looking for the Great spangled fritillary today, no luck. 1 monarch cat and 4 black swallowtail cats.

Went out to pick some tomatoes and found 8 spicebush swallowtails on the sunflowers! I have never seen that many at once in the yard. All but one were mint condition.

Azures looked very pale so IDed as Summer.

After work, 4:15-4:45. Several plots have zinnias –main attractor, also white clover.

[This is only our 3rd report of checker-skipper this year. The other two reports, 6/29 and 7/13, were from SAL. Nicely find Chris! -jm]

Loads of nectar this year. The Joe-pye-weed and the Tall Verbena being the flowers of choice. This was early afternoon.

2 pm, Smith Woods Butterfly Garden.

[A significant find! We have had no previous reports for this species in BUR in August or later. Almost all our Aug/Sept reports of this species come from SAL, including Eric T's just last week. We have had fewer than five reports from any other county after July 30 in our twelve years of logging. The closest I see in our records is Chris Herz's spangled frit in her garden in Audubon, CAM on 8-30-2009. jc]

Smith's Woods butterfly garden only.
3:30-4:00pm.
5 black swallowtail caterpillars & 3 chrysalises
Monarchs were mating.

1:30-2:30pm

10:00-11:00am
All of the red-spotted purples were on a single black cherry tree.

Common Buckeyes too numerous to get an accurate count.

It was a real relief to see the Satyrs flying. The first brood got wiped out by a storm on June 19th that dropped 5 inches of rain. I went up 3 times after the storm and only saw a few. Numbers were down by 60% compared to last year at this spot. Still better than I thought it was going to be. The single bug is about as strongly marked as I have ever seen. Lots of spots.

[Brian, thank you for the careful monitoring of this rare butterfly. Very good to hear this later brood has emerged. jc]

My yard has a "something there is that doesn't love a cat" attitude so I have brought in more cats this year than I normally do. My 40+ Tawny Emperor cats have been reduced to a mere dozen or so and I have not been able to find any Snout, Monarch, Variegated Frit or Cloudless Sulphor cats despite constant egg laying by those species. Other verified eggs and cats in my yard include Sachem, Zabulon, cabbage white, Tiger ST, and Red-spotted Purple. My first Tawny Emperor cat eclosed yesterday after having been in chrysalis for about 10 days. The photo of two Tawny chyrsalises shows one that is getting ready to eclose. The other Tawny photo shows how well they blend into Hackberry leaves. The two Black ST chrysalises both fed on dill but spent their last two days on parsley. The green one settled on parsley while the brown one settled on a stick.

Nice to return home from eight days away to find yard so active with butterflies. All three pipevines fresh and dog-fighting (one apparent female); monarchs our best count so far in 2019; and first little glassywing of year here. Mexican sunflower primary attraction for all species buckeye-size or larger.

late day observations 5:15-6. RB Hairstreak new this season on mt. mint.

From one stationary location on the historic side of Smithville by the Parks office.

Stopped here to see if there was any Harvester action. Obs. from 3:40 till 4:50, mostly sunny and low 80's. The garden here is not what it once was , but still drawing in some butterflies. Purple Loosestrife taking over, but still some nice mistflower & Joe-pye weed. One Tiger was a dark female. As for Harvesters: Only found aphids on one Smooth Alder tree. I found one worn individual partially obscured from my camera angle.

Obs. made between 2:50 & 3:20. Only covered the garden & adjacent field. Nice to see a Monarch enjoying the Tithonia plant. Swarthy is dwarfed by the huge passion vine flowers.

Had a very brief visit from a Painted Lady this afternoon. First one here this season.

Couldn’t ask for a nicer August day in the garden!

Seen while doing yard work this afternoon. The Sleep Orange is new for the yard list!

Sightings during the morning. Fiery Skipper only species added from the gardens as I only had time for a quick check of them.

Obs. made from 4:25 till 5 p.m. I asked the cattle here to kick up a Meadow Fritillary. They did! Unfortunately in a rare instance for me I was on my cell phone. Hung up abruptly, raised my glasses and then got two very poorly focused shots off. Unable to relocate it, but was happy to find my first one this year. Did not count numbers here, only species observed. Sulphurs were the most numerous by far as usual here.

[Congrats to Dave on finding our first Meadow Fritillary of the year. This species was only reported once in 2018 (1 specimen on 6/16) and twice in 2017 (both reports from Featherbed Land in mid-July). -jm]

Obs. made from 3:35 till 4:10, sunny, mid 80's and quite windy. Surprised at the absence of Peck's here today.

Obs. made from 11:50 till 2:20. Partly cloudy, low 80's & windy. Sightings include the main Sleepy Orange colony, mainly roadside obs. along Schoolhouse Rd to Garrison Ln. & one brief stop along Seabreeze to check out some Joe Pye weed. Ratio of Cloudless to Sleepy was much closer today than the extensive report from last weekend's field trip. With only one pair of eyes today this report is likely a less accurate assessment. I spent considerable time observing the nectaring habits of the Sleepy Oranges today. Found them to be using Indian Tobacco ( Lobelia inflata)
much more than anything else. I photographed them nectaring on the Lobelia, Self-Heal, & Fleabane. Also was pleased to find a couple of individuals puddling making for a much easier photograph. Also found with very little effort at least a dozen Sleepy Orange cats on senna.

[Thanks Dave for the super list, the interesting report on nectaring Sleepy Oranges and your excellent photos. -jm]

Obs. made from 10:30 till 10:55. 79 & sunny.Just walked the roadside & also checked the small flower garden at the NWR headquarters. Roadside mowed recently, but ample violets still growing. Mountain mint at the HQ garden attracted 17 of the Buckeyes.

Still restricted mainly to the backyard. Not seeing as many butterflies since the cool front's passage a couple of days back. I did see a pair of Eastern Comma's and managed to photograph one.

Cloudless sulphur laying eggs on senna. Variegated frit new this season.

Obs. most of afternoon while tending to garden/yard work.

11:35-12:20
At least 12 black swallowtail cats, 4 monarch cats.

Watched a R-S Purple lay a few eggs on an Elderberry bush and then fly over to a Red Chokeberry to lay a few more.

Sunny, 88 degrees, light winds. Lots of nectar in my garden. The Tall Verbena was the plant of choice this afternoon.

Conservative counts predominantly on driving loop

10:30-10:57

9:15-10:15am

Noon to 4–working in the garden and a walk to the river. 20 species seen in the garden and just outside. 10 buckeyes in the garden and variegated Frit cat, and one early instar spucebush cat.

Cloudless Sulphurs were laying eggs on Partridge Peas.

Observations between 11:00am and 1:50pm, on both sides of the park. At least 16 black swallowtail cats on the fennel in various instars. Also snowberry clearwing moth. One Polites skipper in photo, likely crossline, but uncertain.

Obs. made between 5 & 6 p.m. Gray Hairstreak & Buckeye obs. earlier by my wife Pat.

We walked the bike path, powerline cut and Organic farm. Pleasant day with lots of Butterflies.

Sunny 9-10 am 75 degrees

Little Glassywing is a first for me!

I never tire of seeing the vibrant lemon-lime colored Cloudless sulphurs fluttering through the gardens.
First day since June 15th with no Broad-winged skippers. One Tiger S-T was dark form. Gray hairstreak appeared to be ovipositing on partridge pea.

This is Spicebush Swallowtail Instar I think. Have been seeing Spicebush Swallowtails. Monarchs seen daily. Uptick of Azures today. I see hairstreaks, not yet able to ID. Today's sightings under mixed trees: Tulip Poplar, Sassafrass, Persimmon, Holly. Sumac and Oakleaf hydrangea understory. Moist sunny late morning, filtered bright sun before afternoon cloudburst.

Obs. made after 5 p.m. One of the Tigers was a dark form female.

Nighttime observations from 9-10pm for UV-induced visible fluorescence photography.
Tawny emperor caterpillars (about 10 on hackberry) were photographed with and without UV flashlight. Tiger swallowtail cat photographed on tulip tree.

[Very interesting to watch Jen discover and photograph things that we are not used to seeing at night. I believe her UV-induced visible fluorescence photos are the first ever posted on this log and hopefully not the last. -jm]

First black swallowtail and monarch cats of 2019!

During guided kayak trip; 3.5 miles from Burlington County College to Hanover St.
Most of the butterflies were on sweet pepperbush flowers.

A brief stop here from 4:25 till 4:45. Always enjoy watching the emperors swirling around the trunk of the old & large Hackberry tree here.

Obs. from 2:30 till 4:15. Garden & fields quite dry having missed any recent T-storms. Most Swarthy Skippers that I have seen in several years.

A very active afternoon here in my garden. Spotted a Tawny Emperor high up in the shade of a Sassafras tree. Later completed an emperor sweep when one came to rotting fruit.

Incidental sightings while birding in the park during the morning.

We lead a tour of the Dix WMA Sleepy Orange colony today and welcomed participants from our butterfly blog and from Citizens United to Protect The Maurice River organization. An amazing day was enjoyed by everyone. Special thanks to Harvey, as well as Armas and Risa Hill, Wendy Walker, Cheryl Howell, Diane Irgang, Dan Morley and Susan Houde. The Sleepy Orange colony was very active and a second colony, replete with senna was also found adjacent to the main Dix WMA area, along Schoolhouse Road. The numbers of Cloudless Sulphurs, another species breeding and expanding with the strong senna and partridge pea growth present, were exceptional as well. Our count also includes numbers and species seen at the Green Swamp Preserve parking area and patches of nectar along Seabreeze Road leading into the main access to Dix WMA.

[Thanks to Steve and all those who participated in this trip. It is exciting to know that the Sleepy Orange colony is not only thriving but expanding. It appears this species is here to stay in NJ (also see the Sleepy Orange colony citing from 7/27 on the NABA North Jersey Butterfly Club). The same appears to be true for Cloudless Sulphurs. - jm]