Recent sightings

82 degrees but heavy cloud cover–very humid and biting flies annoying. 5-6 pm. Power line cut has mowed path but ticks anyway. 2 Black ST cats in the garden on fennel.

92 degrees & sunny, 5 pm - 6 pm. Hoping for more activity as all the common milkweed is in full bloom, but was getting late. Possible buckeye, but not a good enough look.

10-11:30am, cloudy and muggy, no sun until the last 10 minutes. Only 1 black swallowtail caterpillar on parsley.
The great spangled fritillary was last seen here on June 2014, so certainly a great treat after four years! There were two - one perfect and one ragged. We also had a new dragonfly species that was never recorded here - a dragonhunter.

[This is also only our second report of spangled frit of the year. Most of our reports of the species over the years have come from SAL. Gochfeld and Burger note that there seems to have been a change in this species' status in NJ (through the 20th century) – as it became much less common on the Coastal Plain than it once was. jc]

With Marilyn and Bonnie. Kind of slow for butterflies.

Found myself in the area and checked on the Dotteds.

During homeschool program in the Smith's Woods butterfly garden, sunny and very hot (90's).
1 black swallowtail caterpillar eating the last of the parsley. The hairstreak landed on a girl's sneaker.

[Good to hear kids are learning butterflies. Keep at it, JB! jc]

[Nice to have our first striped hairstreak of 2018. jc]

Area has become very overgrown and terribly tick infested. The wet area still holding a nice colony of Appalachian Browns.

A few species fewer than on Friday, but still a nice show. Coral Hairstreak numbers doubled since Friday. Mostly males pearching on small Cherry and Winged Sumac trees. No Banded today. Least Skipper numbers increased. Observed a Hackberry Emperor female ovipositing on a young Hackberry tree. Obs made between 2 & 4:20 p.m. sun and high 80's.

Things are picking up at my favorite patch. Good to see. However the European Skippers were apparently short-lived. Heavy rains last week must have done them in, as none were found at this colony site and none have been found at the nearby Lummis Pond Preserve site since the initial sighting about a week ago.

Also odd to think that two Buckeyes are notable, but that's how it's been this season. Common generalists like Buckeyes, Pearl Crescents, sulphurs and ladies have been tough to locate in any numbers.

One Monarch cat on Common Milkweed at the edge of parking area. Spent roughly a half hour here with full sun and high 80's.

Very "Little" to see here. Minimal Milkweed & Dogbane in bloom.

Stopped at several spots in the general Mannington Marsh area. Meadow Fritillary found along Sunset Rd. [Nicely done, Dave, in finding this year's first Meadow Fritillary, a bug that is increasingly hard to find in our area. -jm]

Very little activity here around 11:15 a.m.

9:30am-12:30pm, 80°F, sunny, very little activity early but things picked up late morning. Dogbane not yet out. [Congrats to you all for reporting our first dotted skippers of the year! -jm]

Still ridiculously few bflys here.

There are several privet bushes at the front of the parking lot where all of the butterflies were seen. Surprised not to be either Eastern Tiger Swallowtail or Black Swallowtail here. Flies in other parts of the property were vicious.

Started here at 2:35 with about 70% cloud cover and close to 80 degrees. Was here until 4:35. Conditions improved to 40% cloud cover. Was searching for Satyrium Hairstreaks, still never documented here. 18 species here today bringing today's total for this local Glouco area to 27

Obs.made 2-2:25 p.m. One Red Admiral was imbibing sugar from mulberry.

Obs. made from 11:15 a.m to 1:45 p.m. Very productive today. Rainy spring has provided ample nectar. Coral Hairstreaks nectared on Com.Milkweed, Butterfly weed, & White Yarrow. Also observed three of the Coppers on Yarrow. Common Yarrow is like a convenience store: Food not so great, but close to home. Besides the adult Monarch there was also one cat on Com.Milkweed. [A lovely list Dave! Along with Steve Glynn's report, our log's first report of Coral HS. -jm]

Very few butterflies which was concerning and a surprise.

A late afternoon (5:15 to 5:45pm) return visit. More activity today, with the delight of the Coral Hairstreaks emerging anew this year at this colony. [Along with Dave Amadio's report, the log's first Coral Hairstreaks of the year. -jm]

Glad to finally see a Buckeye.

The list is from the two preserves on north Burden hill road. There was at least one Fritillary flying around the Patterson property to. [Nicely done Brian- our first report of Great Spangled Fritillary this year. - jm]

2:28-3:00pm

1:15-2:15pm

9:00-11:00am, entire 2 mile loop
Very few butterflies for some reason
10 Black swallowtail caterpillars in the host plant garden

Early morning walk thru fields 1-3.
Tawny Emperor's were active along the shell path. [Congrats to Harvey for this year's first report of Tawny Emperor. Nice to see some longer lists. This is only our 4th report of a Painted Lady this year with the last one dating back to May 9. Quite a change from last year.- jm]

I was casually walking on the Middle Township Bike Path just above (north of) Shellbay Avenue around 10:30 AM on Friday, June 15. It was just a quick stop on the way home from the store. I saw very few butterflies on this sunny, warm day where there was lots of nectar, to the point where it was almost scary—but this season has been this way. Then I spotted the Zebra Swallowtail!

After scraping myself up off the ground, I leapt into the grasses along the side of the bike path (getting covered in ticks in the process). The Zebra was working its way along the forest edge, low to the ground, moving south.

The ID was immediately obvious as Zebra ST is unmistakable and I am familiar with it in Maryland. It was in good shape with the tails intact. I got within a foot of the butterfly. She seemed to be testing the tree leaves for her food plant, and lacking Pawpaw, she seemed interested in the Sassafras.

I observed her for about 10 minutes before she disappeared from my sight. I would guess she continued southward, crossing Shellbay Avenue.

I suppose she could have been a release, but Delaware is close and a W/NW wind is favorable for bringing butterflies across the Bay. What an exciting find in this otherwise disappointing butterfly season!

[Congratulations to Cynthia on the superb find – and thanks to her for the detailed and delightful report. I bet I am not alone in my envy! This is only our second find of this species since our log began 10+ years ago. Jim Dowdell also had a zebra swallowtail (missing one tail) in his garden in Villas CMY on July 28, 2014. jc]

Spent 5 hours looking for various natural wonders but only saw one butterfly and it was a flyby! It was warm sunny with plenty of blooms around.

Strong west winds always produce butterflies on the beach. Admiral total could've increased 10 fold, if I was actively watching for butterflies.

[Intriguing! Are we about to have a red admiral irruption? We have had at least two large early summer irruptions in the last 15 years or so that were especially evident along the South Jersey beaches and shoreline: one in early to mid-July in 2001 and another beginning in late June and continuing into early July in 2007. jc]

Nice to see the Monarch. It landed on a Sundrop blossom for a moment and then took off for parts unknown.

A Monarch has been hanging around for several days but couldn't ID male/female. Today got images of her and some of the eggs she placed on the purple milkweed in the yard. The yard has only had 10 species so far in 2018 compared to 16 species by this date last year along with just 1-2 of each species. Overwintered 80 black swallowtail chrysalis with 55 eclosing so far, one wasp and 24 remaining to eclose.

Spent a couple of hours in two different wet lands and did not see a butterfly in either location. Stopped briefly at Head of River where the Brown was seen.

[This is only our second Ap brown this year – FOY was May 28. No others since. jc]

Monarch cat we've been following since May 30 has moved into 5th instar: ~35 mm long. Found another 5th instar on another milkweed 20 yards away, perhaps from same mother.

A short visit in late morning in a fixed location (meadow only), did not walk trails.

[Only our third swarthy for 2018 and our northernmost so far. jc]

79 degrees, sunny, 4:40-6 pm. Variegated frit. cats in the garden on passion vine. C. Milkweed patches just starting to bloom. Un id dark RSP or Spicebush by trail entrance. Possible Tawny Emperor on trail but flew before I could id. Did not leave the trail, but still 2 deer ticks!

[This is the first photo and report of variegated frit cat in 2018, and only our second crossline skipper report so far in 2018. Both are nice to have! jc]

This is my favorite patch and has been a robust spot for the past several years. Last year, I had 17 species and 50 individuals on this same date. The year before, 14 species and 60 individuals near this same date.

This spot also is a secondary colony of European Skippers, a few miles from the larger colony at Lummis Pond Preserve. A large colony of Coral Hairstreaks is also married to this site.

Today's absolute lack of activity is a very big concern. It may still be early, but I'll check this spot often over the next couple of weeks.

Great patch of milkweed and dogbane again this year. Not a lot of activity (yet, hopefully). Multiple Monarchs were a nice sight.

A check on the Sleepy Orange colony and survey of all things leps and odes.

Sleepy numbers keep increasing, with 5 of 6 fresh. Four (presumed) males were doing active patrolling of the host plant field.

Overall, numbers are down with the more broader generalist type butterflies.

Two of 6 first-instar Black Swallowtail cats on Dill.

Found at 9:58 am while exploring a "managed" (thinned) section of the state forest along Magnolia Rd. Only butterfly I saw all morning.

Skies brightened in early afternoon. Enough for a couple of butterflies to take flight.