Recent sightings

Sunny, mid-60s, breezy. Lots of nectar here now; butterfly numbers low except for monarchs.

Dead looking plants responding (after the severe drought) to recent rains are sending out new growth, including some new wee little Common Milkweed plants. Watched a fresh female Monarch laying eggs on some of that fresh growth today. 2nd Monarch in the yard was a mint fresh male (probably emerged from a chrysalis somewhere in the yard/garden).

Incidental sightings in the morning while birding

Partly sunny with NW winds, our first big movement of monarchs finally hit and several other species of migratory butterflies with them. I did a quick 5-min count when the biggest push came through and 406 monarchs passed during that time. Our road census for the MMP produced a tally of 93 monarchs per hour passing through Cape May. Many of those were missed from the road, predominately they moved through dunes, northbound up the bay, out of sight from the road. With them, nice numbers of ladies, fritillaries, and dozens of a buckeyes at a time stopped to nectar on groundsel blooming in the dunes.

[Thank you for the detailed report of this movement and the very cool action shots. jc]

Fresh female Monarch in garden, plus 2 large and 2 medium Monarch caterpillars on Common Milkweed.

Mostly incidental sightings while conducting bus tour.

There are still 3 Monarch chrysalises attached to the kiosk and one looks like it is will be emerging soon (pictured). Found 4 Monarch cats on the swamp milkweed.

Obs. from 3:35 to 4:30, sunny 70 and winds W10-12. Unusual to come here this time of year and not find a Buckeye or two. Nectar mainly Camphor Weed & Lespedeza sp.

Sunny 68, Winds W9, Obs. from 2:35 to 3:30. Minimal White Snakeroot in bloom, some very dry and some over- whelmed by stinging nettles.

I believe this was only the 3rd RBH in the yard this year.

The two ladies were chasing each other but never landed for a good look to make a positive ID.

3 large Monarch caterpillars on Common Milkweed.

Sunny and very breezy today. First Gray Hairstreak I've seen at Lumberton Leas this year.

Incidental sightings while birding in the park.

Incidental sighting between 8.00-11.00 am.
An ETB was very cooperative. I was able to shoot multiple shots with my macro lens early in the morning. These pictures are stacking images.

Butterflies have been very scarce recently.The Orange sulphur is on New England aster. The Spicebush swallowtail cat is on a Sassafras sapling and is the later instar of the one posted about 9 days ago. (Found using a UV flashlight and taken at night with a flash.) Black swallowtail cats were found on Golden Alexander (pictured) and fennel.

[Lucy's delightful nighttime shot of her spicebush cat is a good reminder that caterpillars can be as beautiful as adults. jc]

1:30-4 pm. American Snout on Late-flowering Thoroughwort, then late in afternoon respotted it up in Hackberry Tree (looking to lay eggs?). Fruit dish finally brought in a Red-spotted Purple. I think our garden is producing the Monarchs we're seeing daily. Today's was a fresh female. 5 large and 1 medium-sized Monarch caterpillars on Common Milkweed (& Swamp Milkweed). Long-tailed Skipper was a treat.

4:30 pm.

Sunny and warm. Sightings throughout the day in the gardens.

Sightings from 12-12:30. 4 Monarchs emerged from chrysalises this morning. I stopped by at 9:00 and the chrysalises were black and when I came back at noon they had already emerged and all 4 butterflies were still in the garden (3 are pictured-the 2 on Whorled milkweed are still pumping their wings).There are still 4 chrysalises on the kiosk-2 are pictured (there were 12 originally, some emerged in the past few days and some are not viable).
The variegated fritillary has reliably been in this garden since late June.
There was an American lady cat on the sweet everlasting a few days ago but forgot to check to see if if was still there.

Took a quick stroll at 1:30 pm to admire some stinging rose caterpillars on the bayberries. 75, SE at 9 mph. Checkered Skipper was a female hanging around the grass by the bathrooms.

Day 1, NJ Butterfly Club Field Trip, sunny, 75-80, breezy. Black Witch Moth was a highlight at the blind at the CMBO Northwood Center, as were the recently emerged Stinging Rose Moth caterpillars on bayberry.

[Welcome to the team from the far north and thanks to them and our local team members, who are joining them, for the great list! jc]

Happy to finally hop on the Ocola bandwagon!

Obs. 1.55-3.05, sunny with temps around 80 degrees. Lot of Sulphurs in the fields. I didn’t see the Cloudless S, so no Grand Slam. Monarchs were nectaring on Canada Goldenrods.

Obs. 2:00-2:40. Warm and humid. On my way home from the Scenic trail, I decided to have a brief stop on the 9/11 memorial trail and check out the Harvesters. There was one Harvester and she made my day. Also nice to read on the signs at the butterfly garden that they are making improvements to this area.

[Nice to see harvesters still active at this spot. We are closing in on our latest-ever date for the species – Sept 22 (2018). jc]

Obs. 12:30-1:30. Warm and humid. Temps in the mid 80’s. Catch was very poor.

Breezy day with lots of Variegated Fritillaries and Common Buckeyes in our meadow.

Sunny, around 1pm - a very gray looking buckeye, only second long-tail I’ve seen this fall.

Highlight was an Ocola Skipper

Incidental sighting in mid-afternoon.

Obs. 12.30-1.40. Sunny and breezy. Temp. 78 degrees. Low activity.

9:30 am to 1:15 pm. Sunny, breezy, 82 degrees.

Thank goodness for Ruby-throated Hummingbird action. Butterflies are still scarce, despite nectar. Have never seen blooming Sedum so quiet. Did find an empty Cloudless Sulphur chrysalis near some Partridge Pea. Two large Monarch caterpillars on Common Milkweed.

FOY Painted Lady for me. Monarchs are still laying eggs on tropical milkweed, with 5 Monarch cats visible.

There representing the MMP for East Point’s monarch festival. Observations were casual from 11am-4pm. White M was northbound through the dunes earlier in the day. The monarchs did not stop to nectar, but were also busy heading north (fairly high at about 20-30ft). Gray hairstreak was nectaring on goldenrod and Junipers were hanging around the cedars there. Sunny, light NE winds.

Obs. made from 12:30 to 2, 79-82 degrees and mostly sunny. Plenty of nectar but not nearly the quantity of butterflies normal for this time of year at this location.

Sunny and warm, 1:20 in the afternoon. Incidental sighting while running. Butterflies were within 20 feet of each other, alighting on grasses and weeds near reservoir.

Obs. 11.00-12.00, Sunny and temps in the high 70’s. Variegated Fritillary’s were at pollinator garden.

Sparse nectar due to drought. And what nectar is available (abundant blooming Sedum) does not seem to be drawing in many pollinators.

Black Swallowtail cat on rue

On bed of Butterfly Weed (on E side of south end of Lily Lake) found 18 large Monarch caterpillars. Plus a steady movement of Monarchs low, medium height, and high drifting over.

Full sun and lots of butterflies. The most Ocola and Monarchs I’ve seen so far, observations around 10-11am. Did see a brief Clouded Skipper again, but wasn’t going to add it to my list without a photo. I suspect there’s still the same few wandering around. Stopped by the Triangle Garden after mid-morning and Jesse Amesbury soon found a C. Checkered Skipper. Believe he’s going to report a full list from there. Looking forward to seeing what the next new butterfly of the fall season will be.

Private property with permission.

Most of this report is an echo of Jack McDonough's 9/15 report, but is being made to benefit the participants of the upcoming NABA field trip to the Cape. Jack was with me for part of this outing. Monarch number is way low as they were passing through all areas all day.

Joined by Jack McDonough for majority of observation period. On the hunt for Clouded Skippers. No luck, but Common Checkered-Skipper was a nice surprise.

Sparce nectar due to drought.

Winds switched from N to NW mid-day. Sunny in low 70s. Observations made throughout the day. Seen at Triangle Garden, gardens we tag in along Lighthouse for the MMP, and Harvard Ave. Clouded female? Michael O’Brien said he saw a Clouded in his yard yesterday and I ran in to Harvey and he said he had one in the Triangle Garden (so I put down two for MOB and myself). Mine was on a private residence. First movements I’ve seen of snouts at the Point and the Sleepy Orange are a delight. Lots of American Ladies around today.

[Thank you for the detailed report from the Point, congratulations of the excellent find and photo of clouded skipper, and keep up the good tagging work! jc]

[Only the 4th report for Tawny Emperor this year, all from Cape May County - TB]