Filtered sightings

Today, was a great day in the yard. Monarchs started migrating through early, nectaring and continuing southward towards the Point. There were a lot of eyes looking at for the butterflies. Dave Amadio found a mint fresh Hayhurst's Scallopwing which is both the FOY 2021 and my latest record ever for the yard. Also, a very worn Horace's Duskywing was found, along 3 Long-tailed Skippers one with no tails, 1 tail and 2 tails. 2 Sleepy Orange butterflies eclosed. Ocola Skippers are going crazy in the yard though I would trade a few of them for one Clouded Skipper but I keep looking and hoping. I had 15 visitors to my yard today and was happy to see all of them. Many had 1 or 2 lifers and a few had 3 lifers though sadly none got to see the Brazilian Skipper. My gardens have brought me much please over the past 12 years. I would like to extend an invitation for anyone to visit between now and Nov 10th as on Nov 19th, settlement is to be made on the sale of my house and the future fate of the "Magic Gardens" is unknown.

[Not only is the Hayhurst scallopwing the latest for Beth's garden, it breaks the log's longstanding LOY record. The previous record was found by guess who? Dave Amadio on Sept 23 2012!

It is sad that our attempts to purchase Beth's property came up short. Beth's "Magic Gardens" are wonderful because of Beth's magical touch. Much of the "touch" is the result of countless hours of hard labor, gardening skills, and an eye for balance and beauty To the benefit of all, her magical touch extends not only to gardening skills, but to a loving readiness to joyfully and patiently share her outdoor masterpiece. Thank you Beth! -jm]

Just a 2 short visits to the yard as most of the my day was at CM Point. 25 Monarchs tagged in the yard but over all I would estimate that there were at least 75 that moved through the yard while I was there between 11AM & 2PM. Monarchs were tagged and left with other Monarchs replacing them. A Brazilian Skipper eclosed today making 2 BS in the yard with the other also being very fresh and sunning on a canna leaf. Both Fiery Skippers and Ocola Skippers continue to be in the double digits. Don't know if there are any roosts this evening because I went back to the Point.

Great day in the gardens in spite of wind which kept most butterflies lower to the ground.. Started the day with some small Monarch roosts in the cherry Tree. (Est Count 30) Some of the Monarchs left through the day. Brazilian Skipper popped up again today nectaring on sage as did the Long-tailed Skipper. Ocola Skipper's have now also exploded with a count of 11 in the backyard at the same time and 4 of them on one lantana at the same time. I don't know that I have ever had double digit Ocola skippers here. The Pipevine Swallowtail also returned and a Northern Broken-dash stopped by for the first time in weeks which was another surprise. Low estimate of Sachems.
And to round things out 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were spending time fighting and chasing each other in the yard off and on all day.

Walked into the garden this AM to find a Brazilian Skipper on sunning on lantana. 2 continuing Long-tailed Skippers. The yard has Cloudless Sulphur and Sleepy Orange caterpillars and chrysalis with good numbers of Question Mark and Black Swallowtail cats. Explosion of male Fiery Skippers in the yard.

[Exciting, wonderful mix – and the first photograph of an adult Brazilian skipper in New Jersey in 2021, as far as I can determine. There are none on iNaturalist for NJ this year either. Congratulations again to you, Beth. jc]

What a place! The Fiery Skippers now outnumber the Sachems and were hard to count. I probably under-counted.

[This count of 25 fiery skippers and Beth's count of 21 (above) are among the very few double digit counts for that species that we have ever had on our log. Also, this is the second photo of adult Brazilian in NJ this year, as far as we know. Good job, JA and GP! jc]

[Update: JA reports that she and Greg saw numbers of fierys at several stops around Cape May Point.

[Also Jack Miller notes, "We had a report of 38 fierys on 9/1/19 from Brian Johnson at MacNamara's middle impoundment. I remember seeing dozens there myself, but what I remember most was that within a day or two before or after his report he told me had probably seen 100." jc]

Not a great butterfly day due to clouds and later rain but I did have 2 Sleepy Orang butterflies eclose today. Pictured is one of the chrysalis from 9/19. I also just had my FOY Pearl Crescent in the yard which is so unusual. Also my first Brazilian Skipper chrysalis of the year that I've seen.

[Brazilian skippers have been hard to find this year – especially outside Beth's yard. Harvey Tomlinson had cats in his yard on 9-14, and Pat & Clay Sutton had cats and chrysalises in their yard 7/18-8/1. As far as our log knows, no one has photographed an adult in South Jersey in 2021. jc]

FOY Painted Lady in my yard. I think the highest number of Gray Hairstreak ever in my yard with 5 in the backyard on Sedum and 2 in the front yard. The same Long-tailed Skipper continues. I have caterpillars for at least 8 species including QM, AL, BS, SS, Brazilian Skipper, 2 possibly 3 species of sulphur's, and unknown cat from Lambs quarters. And an extremely ratty Red Admiral. And I agree with Jack about numbers in my yard being down along with species. I haven't seen a Pearl Crescent here at all this year yet.

[This is only our 6th report of painted lady this year. They have been reported from ATL, CMY, OCN and BUR. For a down year, Beth's list is still impressive! -jm]

Amazing how much of a rag a butterfly can be and still fly and do their job. Long-tailed skipper seen 3 times during the day. I believe it's the same LTS as 9/14. Sachems is an estimate.

[What a swallowtail! -jm]

Thought I saw a Brazilian Skipper in the Yard a few days ago and sure enough I have over 2 dozen Cat Tents on the Cannas. Ocola Skipper was a treat as was a very bright Fiery. [There have been few reports of Brazilian sk so far this year. More to come? -jm]

Finally, able to get a picture of the Fiery Skipper. Imagine of Summer Azure & Easter-tailed Blue I was trying to show difference in size with the azure larger than the ETB though size is relative. 5 sets of mating Monarchs the past 2 days including one that was most probably tagged by Kathy Horn here on 9/11. Male Sachems mobbing each female that is here.

Was excited to watch and video the metamorphosis of a Sleepy Orange caterpillar to a chrysalis. Pure chance I was there at the right time. First Pipevine Swallowtail here since 2018. Didn't realize what it was until reviewing pictures tonight.
[What an excellent day for Beth! It is great to have another pipevine report from CMY and the experience of watching the sleepy sulphur transition must have been awesome. -jm]

Slower day in the yard due to the winds. Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar & Brazilian skipper caterpillar seen by Theresa K and myself this AM. We also looked at what I believe to be Sleepy Orange caterpillars in my butterfly setup. I had trimmed back a Cassia branch at my neighbor's request as it was extending over the property line. This branch had eggs and a small cat on it. It is not similar to the Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars I had here in the past.

[Very cool find and photo. Lucy Hooper has a similar shot of a sleepy orange caterpillar in her garden last August here:
https://sjbutterflies.org/butterfly/sightings/60549. Keep track of that cat, if you can with all else going on there. jc]

Another day of triple number Sachems. Looked all day to see if any of Harvey's Clouded Skippers visited but couldn't find any. First Variegated Fritillary in the yard for some time. Brazilian skipper, cats and nests here.

Excited to capture some images of the Sleepy Orange laying eggs on the Cassia. I'd love to document their lifecycle here. Tons of Sachems continue. Count is an estimated number. Brazilian skippers are cats though I haven't looked for any eggs.

[Very cool and valuable shot of sleepy orange ovipositing. I believe that is our log's first documentation of them laying eggs in CMY. We have breeding records from CUM (Dix WMA) and GLO (Lucy Hooper's garden), but off the top of my head those are all I remember. Anyone remember others? jc]

[Update: Beth has emailed to remind me that Jim Dowdell has twice posted to the log about sleepy oranges ovipositing in his yard in Villas, not far from Beth's in North Cape May– on 6/15/2018 and 6/4/2019. Thank you, Beth! jc]

Sachem numbers exploded here 8/25 and continue today. (Number is a low estimate.) Yesterday, 3 Sleepy Oranges arrived in the yard and have been patrolling continuously. I am hoping for some eggs on the Cassia Jim Dowdell gave me last year. Amazing numbers of hummingbirds the past 4 days with the sachems chasing the hummers off of the flowers. So funny to see this happen. At least 3 hummingbird moths in the gardens the past few days. First, hummingbird moths I have seen this year.

[Great to hear "Beth's Magic Garden" is still pulling in the hummingbirds, clearwings, and butterfly rarities. These are the first sleepy oranges we have had reported in CMY since last October. Brazilian skippers (egg or cat here?) are not staging the kind of irruption we have had in the past few summers. The only other reports we have had in 2021 have come from Pat & Clay Sutton's garden in Goshen. jc]