Recent sightings

Cloudy, mid-70s. Spotted butterflies as soon as light rain let up.

With Tropical Storm Ophelia imminent, we made sure to spend some time in the garden and it was hopping with surprises. The baby S. Gray Treefrog was on the same plant marker, but its patterning was different.

Obs. made from 1:30 to 3:50, Cloudy 70-73 with winds E17-20 Most butterflies were on New England Asters in garden, and goldenrod in the field. Frost Asters only about 10% in bloom.

Morning observations, part sun reaching into the mid 60's. Actually, had a fresh Red Admiral come to my fruit dish seconds after I put it out with temp. only 57 degrees. I take it in at night due to raccoons.

Ragged Spicebush Swallowtail in the garden … maybe the last for our garden.

Sunny. Mid-70s. Incidental sightings throughout the day.

Obs. 11.50-1.25. Temps in the low 70’s. A very nice day to be outside. I had a very nice talk with Jim, a 85 year old volunteer. He was working in the woods, to realize a Frisbee Golf Course. It was the first time this year that I didn’t see any Cabbage Whites during my walks.

OK, I admit it, the highlight of the day was the baby S. Gray Treefrog sitting on one of my garden markers. We have S. Gray Treefrogs (Cope's Gray Treefrogs) breeding in our wildlife ponds (their call is very different from N. Gray Treefrog). Visually they can't be told apart, but their calls are unique.

Almost didn't stop here as I stopped on 9/19 and had only 3 species. It was mid 70's with less wind than the 19th. I was delighted to find a Long-tailed, Ocola and Fiery almost immediately. A few minutes later a pretty fresh Giant Swallowtail came through, not nectaring on the front sidewalk lantana but the first grouping on the side behind them. I thought I got at least ID pictures but they were not good so I am not counting it. I relayed this information to the North Jersey butterfly group so they could stop there also. Happy to see 3 southern strays.

Obs. 12.30-1.30. Temperature was 74. Partly cloudy.

Out from 10-11:15. Sunny, low 70's and little wind.

[Painted lady seems to have surged in late summer. We had only six reports for the year before Aug 1 but have had more than two dozen reports since….and counting. jc]

Observations over the 19th and 20th during the Club's annual Cape May expedition. The group of 16 included several South Jersey butterflyers as well. We couldn't have asked for more glorious weather. Jack Miller served as our tour guide to many of the traditional butterfly sites. Teresa and Jim Knipper provided a sumptuous "potluck" dinner at their lovely home to top off an excellent trip. Most numbers reported here are estimates.

[Congratulations on the spectacular, butterfly-filled expedition and thank you for the report and photos. Come back again! :-) jc]

The "Magic Gardens" aren't so magical anymore. Invited to visit my former home's yard. I was grateful to see both Long-tailed and Fiery skippers. The gardens are 40-50% gone in the backyard. Black mulch everywhere and looks to have been placed on all annual self seeders before they could get started. 7 stands of swamp milkweed all gone. Many perennials gone. Sachems estimated count.

[Welcome back to South Jersey, Beth. We miss you! Sorry to hear your wonderful garden is not what it was while you were its master. At least the long tailed paid homage. That's only our 2nd all year in CMY and 4th in total for 2023. jc]

3 Black Swallowtail Cats on my Parsley.

Obs. 12.10 - 14.20. Partly cloudy and temps in the high 70’s. Tuesday, mating Tuesday.

Obs. from 4-5 after the rain, cloudy with some breaks of sun. Skipper numbers were down today. There were lots more yesterday earlier in the day. Fritillary is on Aromatic Aster and Orange Sulphur is on Showy Aster. Eastern Tailed-Blue on Smooth Blue Aster. 4 different aster species in bloom in garden and butterflies were visiting all of them.

Dale Watson planted Coral Honeysuckle to grow up and over her porch railing. This has resulted in her easily spottiing frass on her porch deck and knowing where to search for Snowberry Clearwing caterpillars. She's been finding them ever since I showed her her 1st one on August 20.

By the time we reached Lynn's gardens clouds had rolled in, but a lovely Ocola Skipper entertained us.

Brief wanderings through 3 different gardens. Teresa spotted our garden's first of the year Fiery Skipper!

Obs. on and off from 1-4 p.m. Just before showers rolled in a Pearl Crescent appeared, uncommon for this garden.

Obs. 12.10 - 14.55, Partly Cloudy. Covered most of the two fields. Sleepy oranges were everywhere!

[See WH's 9-1-23 report for several photos of sleepy orange at this spot. He also had 20+ then. A developing story! jc]

Cloudless Sulphur quick fly through. One Monarch released and one visitor.

Briefly checked out this area hoping for a Meadow Fritillary, but the roadsides were freshly mowed again and the farm fields had also been recently mowed. Obs. made from 2:50 to 3:20.

Obs. msde from 12:35- 2:25 & 3:35-4:35, Sunny 73-77, NW7-13 winds. Primary nectar sources were various Goldenrods, Frost Aster, & Field Thistle. E.Tiger was a well worn dark morph female. Also had another Swallowtail, likely Black that got by me. Ocola is a fairly tough find in Salem County. I have only ever seen 2 or 3.

[Yes, we have had only nine previous reports of Ocola in SAL all-time on our log, and six of those came in 2016, an irruption year for the species in South Jersey. We haven't had any SAL reports of the species at all in close to five years, since Brian Johnson found one on 10-2-2018. Excellent find, Dave! jc]

Observations throughout the day while gardening.

Mostly sunny. Wind 10-14 mph NW. Temps between the high 60s and mid 70s. Good diversity of butters during our birding outing! The Ocola was on sunflowers on the sandy path next to the hawk watch platform and the Aaron's was in the freshwater/brackish marsh on the yellow trail.

[Nice – and the numbers of buckeyes at this bottom of the state site suggests they are migrating. jc]

2-3 pm, sunny.

The first photo might be the Orange Sulphur (a bit of orange coloration on the forewing by the leading margin of the hindwing). My neighbor released over 20 Monarchs in the last two weeks. Most of the ones seen today are probably from the release.

[Interesting which-sulphur-is-this puzzle. Possibly a hybrid? jc]

Ocolas gone crazy!!

[Yes, fun to witness, their fall push seems well under way. jc]

Ahhhhh! Northwest Winds.

Obs. made between 1:45 & 4:20, sunny 74-76 with 13-15 N winds. Powerline area mowed to the ground. Areas south of the pumping station required climbing through waist high vegetation, but Viceroy & Hackberry Emperor was worth the effort…..I think.

Obs between 10 & 1 p.m while working around the yard.

Observations from about 1:30 to 2:15. The Spotted Horse Mint is particularly beautiful.

Fun day with the northerly wins! The primary nectar was sunflowers, mistflower, and Lobelia. A few of the Groundsel Bush were at peak.

Woodland Trails: Least Skipper (19 of 20), Eastern Comma and Pearl Crescent.

Sunny, cool breeze, 72 degrees - 3:10-3:30.

2:15-5:25 sunny and 80's with a breeze. White M Hairstreak is my New Jersey butterfly species #100! It's been an amazing journey!! I covered most of the wildlife drive in the car, but walked about a half mile near where the Hudsonian Godwit was reported. There were 7-8 Gray Hairstreaks feeding on Chinese Bushclover which had me on the lookout for the White Ms. A short distance away I spotted a hairstreak on a Groundsel tree with many Buckeyes and it turned out to be a White M! I stayed with the butterfly for some time and 2 others joined it, feeding in very close proximity (see photo). Two looked very fresh and one was just slightly worn. They remained stationary for long stretches but did fly several times and the blue flash was absolutely stunning to see. Eventually the Buckeyes and other bees/wasps chased off the hairstreaks but I did relocate 2 of them on Groundsel trees nearby. This would likely be a good place to check for higher numbers of the species. First Fiery Skipper of the year for me as well.

[Congratulations on your number 100, Dave, and thank you for sharing the info and the thrills of the chase. jc]

4:45-6 pm. Pollinator garden and 2 mile path. Sun low in the sky so numbers of bugs much less. Found a Spicebush cat on Sassafras. Sulphur either a Clouded or Orange female.

Sunny, N winds around 9mph. A disappointing day. A duskywing with white hindwing edging passed through a garden along Harvard Ave and was chased away by a pair of Sachem before I could grab my camera. With a good initial look through the binoculars, it appeared to be a Funereal Duskywing. I spent many hours looking for it afterwards in the surrounding gardens, but on a day with the first real northerly winds of the fall, things were busy moving. I have the small hope that perhaps I’ll see it again in the morning. If identified correctly, they are dominantly a southern species on the east coast, but have shown up during the fall in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other nearby places (including in recent years)

[Good luck, Jack! By the numbers and good finds on this list, I am not sure everyone would call this a disappointing day ;-) jc]

1:15 to 3:30 pm. Sunny, pleasant, temps in the upper 70s. Abundant Blazing Star and Purple Gerardia. I could only find two different skipper species amongst the horde of Sachems. Also one polites skipper sp. (likely Tawny-edged).

The garden is exploding with warblers, hummingbirds, bees, and, of course, butterflies! New England Aster, are just starting to bloom and bringing in all the goodies!

[Our 5th Ocola this year and the first from a backyard. jc]

Late in the day observations. Orange Sulphur new for the season. One early instar Spicebush ST on Spicebush. One dark spread wing possibly a Hayhurst Scallopwing also but didn't get a good ID look.

Woodland trails: App. Brown, Least Skipper (19 of 20), P. Crescent and Silver-spotted Skipper (1 of 7). FOY on Common Checkered at LL (meadow area). I think the Sulphur is a female Clouded.

[Impressive late-summer diversity at Lumberton Leas. jc]

Observations made around 1 o’clock. Hot with south winds. The Cloudless Sulphurs always favor the native honeysuckle.

1 full-size Monarch caterpillar lounging on Common Milkweed. Only a few brief swings through the garden. Tawny Emperor was actually nectaring on Climbing Hempweed. Common Checkered Skipper was nectaring on Maryland Golden Aster.

Obs. 10.50 - 11.55. Temps in the high 70’s. No Harvester activity.