Recent sightings

81 degrees, 4:45-6 pm. 3 Black ST cats on fennel in the garden. 3 Monarch chrysalises, 3 cats and 10 adults were near the pump house by the Del. river starting to roost in the trees and shrubs around 5:30 pm.

Butterfly garden, noon

One Monarch was busy ovipositing on this beautiful afternoon in the yard.

A fresh male Black Swallowtail this evening.

A brief look at a weedy patch

[Our first white-m in CUM in 2018. jc]

Last stop around 2:00 (I had been moving in and out of torrential downpours for the last hour). I have been checking this spot out for a couple of weeks. I had seen what looked like cat damage, but until today I had not found any Brazilian cats.

Sixth stop. This site, a dentist's office, is just north of Fulling Mill rd. There were three areas of cannas which all had cats present.

Fifth stop. I only walked the ponds and once again no yellow butterflies.

I found one Brazilian cat at the Triangle garden and a couple of eggs. These cannas have changed very little in the past few weeks and it appears that predators have worked over the cats. Once again, this place was spookily quiet.

Third stop. This is a private dwelling that has cannas growing along the road. I pulled over and did not get out of my car or stay long. I could see at least 6 leaf rolls and one adult buzzing around. I am sure that closer inspection would have revealed many more cats.

9:00-11:00am; starting off in overcast and light rain conditions, and ending with sun and extreme humidity; just before storm.

Stopped here briefly around midday. Beth and I dodged scattered showers and watched at least 4 Brazilian skippers plus other bflys Beth will post.

First stop. 10:00. Mostly sunny and near 80. This location has been a major breeding ground for Brazilian sk's since mid-August. There were at least 30 cats present and plenty of eggs.

Interesting day in the yard. While Jack Miller here, a minimum of 4 Brazilian Skippers seen in the yard including 2 together on a canna leaf. While they were there, it started to rain heavily and they moved together to another canna leaf across the sidewalk. My wonder is, are the increased numbers of Brazilian Skippers in the yard, ones that are staying after eclosing there or new ones coming North? Of course there's no way to tell. All 5 species cats or chrysalis continue

I know Northern Crescent is a Unicorn but check Swift pg 209.
Garden here loaded with nectar but slow on Butterflies.

Seen while biking in clouds and some light rain.

Mostly cloudy with some drizzle late afternoon. Winds 13-15 MPH. Some butterflies having difficulty with the higher gusts of wind. All cats and chrysalises continue. Finally a Question Mark chrysalis. Long-tailed skipper not refound. Short observation time today.

Over 60 Sachem on Lantana in front yard (about 30 plants)

On and off observing, 1 - 5 pm. First sunny day w/o a monarch in weeks.

Our first white-m appeared yesterday; today they were hard to count because appearing in various spots around garden and yard, but agreed that it was at least six – most looking very fresh.

[6 White M's! Only 5 White M's have been reported outside the Connor's garden this year. -jm]

Lots of butterflies today. Had Somerset County Audubon group here and leader found Long-tailed skipper in the front yard about 11 AM while I was in the back with 1/2 of the group.. Not found again by me, so not counted and hopefully will find again tomorrow. Courting behavior by 2 Brazilian Skippers in the front with #3 in the back. Brazilian cats and chrysalis now in the yard. All other cats continue. #2 Horace's Duskywing plus finally able to get Cloudless Sulphur images. Orange Sulphur a nice surprise.

[Whew, what a list! jc]

Briefly explored only the garden & adjacent fields. Fresh "intermediate rosa" form Buckeye found here. Obs. made from 3:48 till 4:16, part sun and 83 degrees.

4:50-5:20pm
Quick walk on the pollinator trail

4:12-4:40pm

3:50-4:00pm
Searching in vain for Brazilian skipper. Found empty chrysalis instead. Tiger swallowtail was black form.

2:32-3:40pm

A brief check on the garden and nearby field off parking lot. Obs. made from 3:14 till 3:31, Mostly sunny and 84 degrees.

Most of the action here is on Eupatorium.

1:20-1:35pm
most species nectaring on sedums

Commas & RSP's sharing fruit dish with Giant Hornets today. Found a Monarch chrysalis attached to Common Milkweed leaf. A lazy caterpillar?.

Warm and sunny. First variegated frit seen in this garden this season–it didn't stay long. One monarch released.

the same sleepy orange has been patrolling my senna plantings weather willing since aug.29. Had a female ovipositing on senna back on june 15.

[This is the first report of sleepy orange in CMY (or outside CUM, mainly Dix WMA) this year. Harvey Tomlinson had one in his garden in Del Haven in CMY last September, and Jim Dowdell had a previous one in his garden in October 2012. There are only about a dozen other reports from CMY on our log since 2008. jc]

Brazilian and Fiery Skippers during a late afternoon tour of the garden.
The Brazilian seems to have an preference to sitting on the fence posts.

Nice sunny day.

Beth gave us a fantastic tour of her yard. Observations from about 10:30-11:30am. Sunny. Long-tailed Skipper quickly visited the Lantana in the front yard and was not seen again. Beautiful garden! Spicebush caterpillar, Black Swallowtail cats, Question Mark cats.

[This is our first report of long-tailed skipper in South Jersey in 2018. (One was found at the very early date of July 29 at Duke Farms in Somerset County.) Could this be our last FOY for the year? Let's hope not! jc]

Steven Glenn led this CUMaurice River tour. His sighting list for the day records combined counts.

3:20 - 4:40, red, blue trails, not the beach.

9:40-1:20pm while birding
buckeyes were very fresh

was there 3-3:pm and 4:45 -5; wanted a white M picture but no luck with that. Also was hoping for a brazilian…just got a leaf roll.

11:15 - 11:45 am. Our yard's FOY white-m.

Obs. made from 3:47 to 4:37 p.m. with Cloudy skies and 77 degrees. Most activity here was on Eupatorium & Lespedeza species.

With 100% cloud cover my expectations were limited. Obs. from 1:05 to 3:35 p.m. 78 degrees. Was somewhat surprised to find this level of activity. Conducted a fairly thorough search of the refuge this afternoon. Monarchs continue to be impressive this year. Found a dozen cats without hardly trying. Observed a female still laying eggs. My first NJ Ocola for the year highlighted this day in the field. A truly gorgeous IO moth ( Automeris io) was on a Lespedeza sp. At least two of the E. Commas were fresh winter form individuals.

[Dave's Ocola in GLO gives us a 2nd county in South Jersey for this species this year (and 4th county in the state in 2018). Apparently, none yet seen in CMY, however. jc]

Most activity here in over a week. Fresh winter form E.Comma & Q-Mark (two views in photos). Found 4 previously unseen Black Swallowtail cats on parsley.

A monarch tried to emerge from its chrysalis and expand its wings, but was unable to break free and complete the process. (see photo) I checked online for some causes and the most likely, for me, seems to be that, because the warm sun was shining directly on the butterfly, the butterfly's wings dried out too quickly. So ironic because the past days have been so cloudy and overcast.

FOS Fiery Skippers in the yard today. Sunny and warm, winds 12-14 MPH. Butterfly numbers up for Common Buckeyes and Sachems. 5 types of caterpillars continue in the yard.

[Browsing through all the reports for 9-15-18 makes it obvious that it was excellent butterflying day. Among other things, we had three separate reports of fiery skipper – our first of the year – and they appeared in three different counties: CMY (Beth's here), CUM (Steve G) and BUR (Tom B.) jc]

Helped lead a walk for Citizens United into the Sleepy Orange colony and then to some areas along the bayshore.

Numbers are guestimates from personal observations and info gathered from the group.

[Looks like an wonderful excursion, including a FOY fiery skipper for our log – on the same day Tom Bailey found one in BUR. jc]

12 to 4 pm. Party sunny, @80 degrees. Photos of Painted Lady, Am. Copper, Fiery & Ocola Skipper.

[One day after finding our log's first Ocola, Tom finds our first fiery skipper of 2018 – and lots else! jc]

A GCNC botany field trip. We look at everything. Partly sunny, 77 degrees, light east winds.

[Good job by Sandra and company providing only our third little yellow report of the year – and the first away from Dix WMA in CUM. It is also the first little yellow found in GLO since 10-30-16 (by Dave Amadio in National Park). jc]

Warm, Rain or drizzle most of the day with clearing on and off in afternoon. Some sun by 4 PM when butterflies came out to nectar. Images obtained. Surprised to see my first Common Sootwing in a while.

A flyby

Occasional obs. today. Both Monarchs were mint fresh.

A brief look at the gardens @3 pm.

[Very nice find by Tom: our South Jersey log's first Ocola of 2018. There have been four reports in North Jersey, the first on Aug 22 in Somerset County by Ben Barkley. jc]

V Frit caterpillar was found on pansies

during bird survey, overcast and light mist at times.

During bird survey, 8-10am, overcast and humid.

Only one walk around the garden at 4 PM - 4:30 PM. Cloudy with peaks of sun with winds 12-16 MPH. Surprised to find a fresh-looking Horace's Duskywing. Still have 4 varieties of butterfly caterpillars that I see along with some moth caterpillars.

2 monarchs released early am, and 2 flying late in the day when some sun appeared! 82 degrees and humid. 3 early instar black STs on Rue, and the 3 Giant ST chrysalises haven't emerged. Still seeing monarch eggs and early instars on c. milkweed.

[Those giant swallowtail chrysalises are exciting! Let us know what happens, Chris! jc]

3 Monarch cats. Male and female Monarchs seen flying together. Garden full of all kinds of life, plenty of grass skippers. Butterflies seen between each of many rain showers all day. 1 Monarch rose heavy-wingedly from sheltering shrub to Phlox. This Monarch photographed from porch window.

Sunny, hot & humid in the low 80's little wind. All cats continue. Brazilian Skipper laying eggs on Canna leaves but unable to get images as gardening.

Cloudy & damp when I got home from work, but found a few butterflies. The E.Tiger & Silver-spotted found by Pat earlier during a sunny period. Monarch cats rapidly devouring Milkweeds.

I checked out a very small patch, maybe 8' X 10' of Late flowering thoroughwort & Goldenrod around 2:30. Was surprised with the level of action. Mostly fresh looking bugs with the exception of the Comma. This property has been extremely poor this year due to frequent mowing & herbicide spraying.

3:30-4:30 pm. Party sunny, humid ~80 degrees. Most species nectaring on Sedum. One rsp laying eggs on black cherry (not photo'd individual). At least three large monarch cats nearing pupation. One skipper a mystery.

A lovely day in the 70's with sun and light winds. First White M here in two years. Caught the mantis laying eggs.

Did a full walk through of the WMA from the roadside, but the full overcast conditions weren't ideal and my time spent was ended with a full thunderstorm.

Strong numbers of Sleepy Oranges flying, with at least 14 females ovipositing. My photo of one female ovipositing also captured a Sleepy Orange caterpillar doing its thing on the same small senna plant.

Good numbers of very fresh Cloudless Sulphurs today, as well as good activity overall.

[Yikes! Check out Steve's sleepy shot! Very cool documentation of breeding success in this site. jc]

FINALLY….after weeks of checking my Cannas I have my very own, mint fresh, Brazilian Skipper!

[Very cool find, Harvey! Gives hope to all the gardeners still checking their own Cannas! jc]

Mist and drizzle early, clearing mid AM with sun until about 4PM when thundershowers arrived. Temp 82 with winds 8 MPH. Saw 3 Question Mark Butterflies laying eggs on the same Hackberry at the same time. There are more than 100 eggs and at least 40 QM cats right now of varying sizes. Still have Brazilian cats, Spicebush Swallowtail cat, Monarch and Black Swallowtail cats. Another Carolina Praying Mantis in the yard today. FOY Eastern Comma seen but unable to get photo.

Nice to see the sun for an hour today.

The Monarch & Cabbage White were obs. earlier in the day by my wife Pat. At least 10 Monarch cats.

8:00-10:20am
Overcast and misty rain for most of the morning, did not expect to see butterflies (while birding). Also found a transparent monarch chrysalis.

Cloudy and misty.

Drizzle in the AM and cloudy in the PM. Winds 12-18 MPH. There was a sachem attached to my window screen all day yesterday and again this AM that flew once the weather was better. Lots of wind damage to the garden from the storms over the weekend. 2 Brazilians flying all over the yard this afternoon. I wonder if one is the Brazilian that eclosed here on 9/7.

Two monarchs braved the rain! The one on the flower (see photo) clung to it for just over 1 hour and 15 minutes through a constant drizzle and breezy winds. The rain stopped and after 10 minutes, or so, the monarch left and flew around the yard.

Weird to see this bug flying from flower to flower in the rain as if it was no big deal.

Rain did not stop one monarch.

No adult butterflies observed here on this cool & wet September day. I did go out to look for and count Monarch cats. Found 11 today including 5 on Tropical Milkweed, 4 on Common Milkweed, and 2 on Swamp Milkweed. This was the first obs. of Monarch cats on the Swamp Milkweed this season here. One had just shed its exoskeleton.