Recent sightings

Banner day in the yard with a record 31 species!! My son and I made observations on and off throughout the day from 10-6. Cool to see a Red-spotted Purple egg hatch and caterpillar emerge on Black Cherry.

[Wow, what a day of observations! Congrats on your new yard record. -jm]

Obs. after 5:15 p.m. Found what I believe to be an Ultronia underwing moth. ( Catocala ultronia )

New yard butterfly Northern Broken-Dash species #51 which gives me 29 species in the yard for 2019 that I have observed. American Snout laying eggs on the hackberry tree. These eggs, if they hatch will make the 10th species of caterpillar in the yard for 2019.

I just scanned from the trails and roads. River was kind of high! Although I am told from Brian that it was normal waist high! Partly sunny, 90 degrees, afternoon.

Obs. made between 2:15 & 4:25. Part sun and over 90. Covered the whole refuge this afternoon. 10 species recorded in the garden. Powerline cut has not been cleared this year so vegetation is very high. Also areas past the pumping station along the river are tough to navigate with high vegetation. No ticks today but plenty of chiggers. No Snouts! that is a surprise.

[Thank you Dave for what I believe is our first report of chiggers this year. Please take care! jm]

Obs. made from 12:30 till 2 & 4:35 till 5:45. Another active day in the garden. First Dun Skipper here so far.

Topped yesterday's total of 10.

It's good to see a lot of Tiger Swallowtails on the Bottlebrush Buckeye. Last year I didn't see any on it. All 9 were on it at the same time. We have been seeing the Variegated Fritillary Caterpillars on the Passionflower for about a week.

Incidental sightings in yard, most seen at Mountain Mint patch.

My first snout in Burlington County!

A high species count for this garden. Tiger ST in and out of the garden in the am, but not sure if more than one. Snout, Buckeye on Mt. Mint; ETB on blue mist flower. ETB and Pecks new.

More fresh Red Admirals again. Best number ever of American Snouts in the yard. Egg-laying on Hackberry tree. I am seeing 1-2 AS daily whereas last year I saw many less and never every day. Dog fight between 2 Horace's Duskywings. Stopped counting Sachems at 30. Many Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars on the Partridge Pea.

Obs. made from 4:15 till 5:20 and include the NWR HQ garden. Found some nice Common Milkweed still blooming here at the refuge. A very nice showing for Monarchs for this time of the season. 33 species this afternoon in Salem County including 2 Common Wood-Nymphs that I may have failed to report from Thundergut WMA.

A brief stop at this location that lies between the Alloway municipal garden & Marilyn Patterson's garden. I maybe incorrect in my reporting this as part of Thundergut. Brian Johnson would be able to correctly locate this site. Nice amounts of Swamp Milkweed in bloom.

Obs. made from 2:45 till 3:35. Hard to walk away from this small but very active and beautiful garden. The large drift of Mountain mint drew in all of the Buckeyes as well as all three Hairstreak sp. Enjoyed a "cloud" of 6 Clouded Sulphurs swirling around the garden before settling down to resume nectaring. Peck's & Sachems no doubt under counted here as they were simply everywhere. Two mated pairs of Peck's observed.

Obs. 1:55 till 2:30 Still sunny and near 90.

Obs. 12:40 to 1:45 Sunny & temps in the high 80's. Mainly walking the roadsides here. Extensive mowing since last week. Always a let down to see such great roadside nectar wiped out. Some white clover escaped the mower's blades and was the primary nectar source. There were several roads with abundant Red Clover that I passed up for the sake of time. Bronze Coppers showed considerable scale wear. Rare skipper found on Pickerelweed in a location that I have never found them before.

Obs. 12:15 to 12:30 Sunny and 83 degrees.

[The common checkered is only the second reported so far this year – both by Dave in SAL County. jc]

Obs. made from 9-11:30 a.m. & 6:15 -7:30 p.m. The real show here today came after 7 p.m.. Watched a Red Admiral air show in the last sunlit areas of our tulip Poplar. I am reporting a count of 6, but I watched between 8 & 10 individuals swirling in 3's & 4's dog fighting. Couldn't rule out possible anglewings joining in on the fun. Going on GISS they all appeared to be Admirals.

Lots of Monarchs in the meadow.

[This is another 25+ count for monarchs today, both in BUR. Good to see. jc]

7 to 10:45 am. Special permission to enter this area for a birding census. I also tallied butterflies seen.

[This is our high count for monarchs so far in 2019. Nice to see! jc]

This area has undergone some land use and ownership changes. The west field is no longer viable, as it was recently sprayed with a herbicide and nothing is flying there.

The east side field has been heavily posted as "no trespassing" and permission was needed to walk the field. The only portion not planted with corn now is the old nursery planting field and the deep holes are still present and still quite dangerous. I chased what I thought may have been a Whirlabout (photo attached), only to lose it when I fell into a hole and needed to leave soon after. This butterfly had the heavy dots and it would not sit still, leaping and jumping as I tried to move for a better look. It was much larger than Fiery and more straw colored, than orange. The whitish eye band was also a curious feature.

The Checkered White colony persists, but deep within the private land. Three females and two males seen and photographed.

I was able to put my dial counter work today with the number of Common Buckeyes. All of the Black Swallowtails were males. Excellent diversity and activity.

[We have never had a whirlabout in our 11+ years of logging. Thoughts on the field marks here, anyone? Meanwhile, Steve: be careful out there! We need you. jc]

during children's nature program, 10-11am

incidental sighting at 4:30pm
first painted lady I have seen this year in Burlington County, on Rose of Sharon by the parking lot

Was home most of the day. A break out day for this garden. Highest species count this year. In addition to at least one adult Monarch, a 1st instar cat found on Common Milkweed. Nice to finally see some folded wing skipper action here.

Trail maintenance day. Most of the Butterflies were in the private garden. I didn't spend enough time in the garden to get a accurate numbers count. The Sleepy Orange came out of the garden and circled me on its way down the trail.

[This is only our 4th record of sleepy orange in SAL in our 11+ years of the log. Previously: one in 2009 and two in 2017. jc]

10:48am-12:25pm

I will not repeat list I reported on 7/9 as that whole gang is still present. A late afternoon stroll revealed 24 species and about 300 butterflies including a female Fiery.

[This is our first female fiery skipper of 2019. jc]

I thought I would demonstrate how I am involved in the proliferation of Cabbage Whites.

Took a short walk up the river on my way home from work.

[Nice walk! Our first dions of 2019. jc]

Attracted to a mercury vapor lamp while attracting moths at night.

[Interesting! There have been other reports of hairstreaks being attracted to night-lights in our log's history. -jm]

This area was packed with butterflies today -the rare skippers were a real treat and the buttonbush is at its peak. Saw many butterflies while paddle boarding on the lake and then walked down the road to catch a glimpse of more. Since I forgot my camera, my binoculars, and was just wearing a bathing suit most of the time I felt it was a pretty good list!

[Agreed! jc]

Walking on street looking into the garden. Monarch yesterday and today. Cabbage whites always here.

I have monarch eggs! I counted about 11, possibly more. It’s hard looking when I have about 40-50 bumble bees hovering on the Echinacea tied in with the milkweed. I know they don’t sting, but they do get annoyed easily. According to my butterfly journal. The monarch eggs are approximately 2 weeks late. I did not plant tropical milkweed this year and I’m afraid I made a mistake with all native milkweed for the monarchs sake. I’m trying to stay with native only plants, but maybe I should get a few tropical milkweed since the benefit outweighs the problem. The monarchs seem to favor the tropical MW over the native. I had a female black swallowtail touch down for a few minutes, but she lost Interest fast.

This area is normally mowed, but when left alone the dogbane and other nectar sources abound. This is the third time I've found Bronze Copper here (when the area is left unmowed). Surprised though not to find Rare Skippers, as this has been an excellent location for them previously.

The Peck's was in a flowerbed at the side of one of the residences at Lumberton Leas. All others from the meadow.

Saw the Black Tiger Swallowtail through the window and went out for a picture. Took a quick walk around the rest of the yard after that. Karen saw the Rare Skipper in the morning. The Skipper lives up to its name in our yard.

[Both forms of tiger in one shot – very cool! jc]

10-11:30am

[Only our second Appalachian brown in BUR this year – following Tom Bailey's on 67/8/19. jc]

Pipevine swallowtail, perhaps the same individual as two days ago, now very worn. Today tapping leaves constantly, tasting them, but did not lay eggs (as we watched, at least) though she returned to the vines again and again for more than an hour. She rested only on other plants' leaves, briefly; mostly, just flapping, tapping, flapping on the Dutchman's pipe's leaves.

While home-bound with jobs, I took three 15 minute strolls through the yard at 12, 3 and 6. On one walk I tried to count sachems and broadwings, but had to stop at 100 for broadwings and 80 for sachems (there were more of each but their constant relocating made counting impossible). High counts are not day totals, but rather the numbers from a single stroll. I was surprised to find the fiery in the cloud of sk's and could not get a photo of it by itself. If you look closely you can see 6 sk's in the photo.

[This is our northernmost report of fiery this year – all from CMY so far. jc]

Have been looking for Cloudless Sulphur cats on Partridge Pea as CS laying eggs everyday. Found >10 extremely tiny ones today. Also found a cat in a nest on the partridge pea that doesn't resemble a cloudless sulphur cat and has a black head.

All from the meadow. They seem to like the Monarda (Wild Bergamot) which is prolific in our meadow and Whorled Milkweed.

[I believe this is our first two-digit count of tigers this year. It hasn't seemed like a good year for them so far. Are we about to see a new brood emerging in numbers? jc]

1:00-2:00pm

9:30-10:30am
1 monarch caterpillar

Obs. made while at the bank.

Female monarch visiting milkweeds all over the garden and laying eggs.

Red Admirals and Spring Azures on woodland trails. All others in the meadow.

Obs. made from 4:30 till 5:15. Partly Cloudy. Only checked out the butterfly garden, and adjacent fields. 10 species in garden.

First Sachem for this garden this year. A fresh female.

86 degrees, sunny & humid. 30 or more Black ST eggs on fennel. Stopped counting red admirals at 51.

[The apparent push north of migrating admirals continues! jc]

Buttonbush was attracting everything on the roadside leading into Dix WMA.

Tried to check the entire area and walk the colony patch, but the weather was threatening and the fields were flooded from the heavy rains last evening. None the less, the activity was very good and signs are excellent for a big emergence next month. At least three female Sleepy Orange were ovipositing in the primary senna patch. Some fresh and some tattered individuals seen. The biting flies were a fraction of prior visits that were unbearable.

Cloudless Sulphurs also gaining in numbers and ready for a big emergence too.

Plenty of dogbane pulling in other species to nectar now.

Beautiful morning, with great activity and diversity along the road full of blooming buttonbush and other attractants.

Brief visit to remove gypsy moths from the arbor. Garden and parking lot only. 6 red admirals puddling on dirt parking lot as well as 1 tiger ST.

I was mainly birding. SW winds, partly sunny, muggy, 85 degrees or so. The gardens looked great. But butterflies all over the area. This was late morning.

First monarch spotted, but looked to be male. So no eggs on my milkweed sadly. This is a really slow year so far. Especially for monarchs in my area. Spotted my first skipper, but I can’t identify it since I’m an amateur and still learning.

12:30 to 3:15 pm. Very hot & humid. Got chased out by a fierce thunderstorm.

[This is our 4th report of great spangled in 2019 – two from BUR and two from SAL; none elsewhere so far. jc]

A brief stop here and at the HQ building after 4:40. Cloudy and little activity. Roadside has not been mowed recently. Found a fair amount of violets, but no sign of any Meadow Fritillaries yet. More sun would have given us a better picture as to whether they are flying.

Obs. made from 3:25 till 3:50, Cloudy but still in upper 80's. As usual Zinnias & Mountain mint the main attraction.

Pat & I did some fairly casual butterflying this afternoon, some of it observed while driving slowly. Roadsides were very active today. Observations from car no doubt missed many of the smaller species such as ETB, etc. Wanted Pat to see Bronze Coppers again. The area did not disappoint as we had at least a dozen Bronze Coppers without exploring all of the known spots. Obs. made from 1:30 till 3:10 with part sun and 87 humid degrees.

RSP laying eggs on Pin Cherry.

First pipevine s'tail in our yard this year. As seen in past years, she laid eggs on the vine itself (Dutchman's pipe) rather than the leaves..

[Welcome to the South Jersey Butterfly Project, Will! jc]

Fields have tons of bergamot and common milkweed.

Threatening skies and thunder kept me in the garden and nearby field. 4-5 pm. 3 red admirals in the parking lot and one in the garden

Very nice improvements made to the "colonial garden" in front of the Ann Whithall house. Tithonia, Agastache, eupatorium, as well as various herbs. Red Admirals were topping the Purple Coneflowers, with several seeking out the shade of a nearby Red Cedar

Mostly cloudy and hot while here from 2:25 till 3:05. Great right now if you happen to like Cabbage Whites. E.Tigers were both imbibing mimosa nectar.

It’s finally picking up here in Marlton! Although I haven’t witnessed one monarch sadly. By now I usually have several monarch caterpillars. I noticed that Claire Campbell in Marlton has few sightings as well. Maybe it’s our area and they’ll start showing up in higher numbers soon. I’m worried, because everyone has worked so hard to attract them with lots of milkweed and flower gardens across the country and now the numbers seem smaller at least in New Jersey. I’ll be positive and say there’s still lots of warm/hot days left for them to lay eggs.

A brief half hour from 1:45. Very hot & oppressive. Only checked out the butterfly garden and adjacent fields. Pathway was being mowed leaving it pretty much void of clover. Fresh Viceroy was nice to see in the garden.

Fresh male & female Horace's today. Monarch laying eggs on C.Milkweed.

7:10 am to 1 pm. Hot & humid.

Paint stripping a chair, so taking breaks and walking around the garden. 7 black ST cats, 5 monarch cats, one WI duskywing cat.

The best spot was the South end of the middle impoundment. Lots of knapweed blooming. Thought I was going to miss Rare Skipper until I saw two clumps of Swamp Milkweed at the far north end.

[Our third fiery in three days. Be on the lookout, everyone! jc]

Scouting for next weeks CMBO walk. The Rare Skippers were on Buttonbush and Pickerelweed.

Red admiral, just emerged from chrysalis, expanded and dried wings for nearly an hour, hanging from stinging nettle leaf. Several cats mostly hidden in same plant.

Obs. made around 5:20. Still mostly sunny and 88 degrees. Breeze kept biting insects tolerable.

Stopped here just after 3:30. Salt Marsh Skippers & Snouts drawn in by Mountain Mint.

Finally stopped here after passing it by many times on previous trips. They were closed but the owner graciously gave me a tour of the gardens, nursery, & large property. Great selection of Perennials, Trees, & shrubs. Also just alive with Butterflies!!. Did not count or take pictures, but did take note that there were at least 7 Variegated Fritillaries. I am just reporting one for most species observed with a couple of exceptions.

A nice variety of butterflies here this afternoon from 12:45 till 1:45. Waited a what seemed like a long time for one of two Pipevine Swallowtails to settle down and land. A female finally got down to business depositing eggs on Dutchman's Pipe.

[This is only our second report of pipevines in 2019 and our first photo. jc]

Always a pleasure to visit this active garden. Echinacea, Helianthus, & Wild Bergamot the main sources of nectar. Obs. made between 11:20 & 12:20. Sunny and hot. I stopped here again on my way home at around 4: 30 and while it was still hot and very active no Rare Skippers to be found. They must retire early?

Obs. made from 9:25 till almost 11. Sunny,hot,&humid. Most of the action here today was in the open fields with Thistles.

a few additional species added in the afternoon.

[Our second fiery for two days, both in CMY. jc]

[Sleepy orange in CMY again – at JD's garden anyway. Probably now breeding in the county. jc]

The whole trail loop covering both Smith's Woods and historic Smithville side, from 9:20-11:30.