December 2015 Sightings

Teresa Knipper

Knipper Cape May garden
Cape May County, NJ

Monarch with crumpled wings but alive. Five swallowtail caterpillars on fennel.

  • Black Swallowtail 0
  • Monarch 1

Beth Polvino

North Cape May ~ my yard Monarch Waystation #8318
Cape May County, NJ

plus 5 Black Swallowtail cats

  • Black Swallowtail 0
  • Monarch 1

Chip Krilowicz

Dog Park
Gloucester County, NJ

Dandelion in bloom

  • Orange Sulphur 9
  • Common Buckeye 1

Teresa Knipper

Knipper garden
Cape May County, NJ

This late blooming chrysanthemum has been a magnet for bees and flies . But this morning look at this beauty it attracted! It was hard to ID from the top because I didn't see the white dot in the cell end. However, the bottom side clearly shows the white dot. And I had a second Am lady a little while later.

  • American Lady 2

American Lady

American Lady (same individual)

Chip Krilowicz

Compromise Rd
Salem County, NJ

Drive by

  • Orange Sulphur 1

Steven Glynn

Cox Hall Creek WMA
Cape May County, NJ

Sunny, calm and 57 degrees. Photos taken with cell phone.

  • American Lady 1
  • Common Buckeye 5

Common Buckeye

American Lady

Chip Krilowicz

Gloucester County Dream Park
Gloucester County, NJ

49 and sunny with dandelion and aster in bloom.

Moderator's Note: this is only our second December record for variegated frit in our eight years of logging. The only other is from 12-4-09: two worn individuals recorded by Will Kerling at the Rea Farm, CMY. Chip's good photo shows this individual looks in surprisingly sharp shape for the first week of December.

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Orange Sulphur 2
  • Variegated Fritillary 1
  • Common Buckeye 2

Variegated Fritillary

David L. Amadio

Riverwinds Community Center
Gloucester County, NJ

Observed 2 males and a female. Still a fair number of dandelions providing some nectar.

  • Orange Sulphur 3

Orange Sulphur

Orange Sulphur

David L. Amadio

Riverwinds Community Center
Gloucester County, NJ

Photographed a very uncooperative Clouded Sulphur

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Orange Sulphur 3

Clouded Sulphur

Pat & Clay Sutton

Cape May Point State Park
Cape May County, NJ

on path behind dune, between State Park and SCMM. One of the Common Buckeyes was quite worn, as the photo shows. Another had a stunning rosy underside.

  • American Lady 1
  • Common Buckeye 8

Common Buckeye

Common Buckeye

David L. Amadio

Wheelabrator Refuge, Westville
Gloucester County, NJ

And now we have a December record of Eastern Comma. This is likely the same individual recorded here on 11/26.

Moderator's Note: Dave's comma find gives us our 15th December species for our eight years of logging, 2008-2015. Good going, Dave!

His red admiral at Riverwinds (report below) gives us our 8th adult species for the month (in just five days). During the very warm December of 2011 (one the warmest NJ Decembers ever recorded) we found 10 species – our current high count for the month. Could that record fall this year? (See the blog for the full list.)

  • Eastern Comma 1
  • Common Buckeye 3

Common Buckeye

Eastern Comma

Roberta Ferro (fide Pat Sutton)

Cape May Point State Park - Yellow Trail
Cape May County, NJ

  • Red Admiral 1

David L. Amadio

Riverwinds River Trail
Gloucester County, NJ

I do not remember ever recording Common Buckeyes here in December. The sulphur image is reported as Clouded. In the field this was more convincing than the digital image. It could be a hybrid.

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Red Admiral 1
  • Common Buckeye 2

Common Buckeye

Red Admiral

Clouded Sulphur

David L. Amadio

Wheelabrator Refuge, Westville
Gloucester County, NJ

Two of the three Buckeyes appeared to be runts. Lost track of them and was unable to get any images of the runts.

  • Common Buckeye 3

Common Buckeye

David L. Amadio

Riverwinds Community C enter
Gloucester County, NJ

More Sulphur activity today. Images are of Orange Sulphur & a Clouded in flight.

  • Clouded Sulphur 2
  • Orange Sulphur 6

Clouded Sulphur

Orange Sulphur

David L. Amadio

Riverwinds River Trail
Gloucester County, NJ

One of these Red Admirals is the same individual photographed yesterday.

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Orange Sulphur 1
  • Red Admiral 2
  • Common Buckeye 2

Common Buckeye

Red Admiral

Red Admiral

Beth Polvino

Cape May Point State Park
Cape May County, NJ

  • American Lady 1
  • Monarch 1

American Lady

Tom Bailey

Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Burlington County, NJ

  • Sulphur sp. 1
  • Common Buckeye 1

Chip Krilowicz and Jean Gutsmuth

Floodgates
Gloucester County, NJ

  • Orange Sulphur 4

Chip Krilowicz and Jean Gutsmuth

Gloucester County Dog Park
Gloucester County, NJ

  • Clouded Sulphur 2
  • Orange Sulphur 8
  • Common Buckeye 3

Clouded Sulphur

Chip Krilowicz & Jean Gutsmuth

Gloucester County Dream Park
Gloucester County, NJ

  • Orange Sulphur 9
  • Common Buckeye 4

Orange Sulphur

Chip Krilowicz and Jean Gutsmuth

Riverwinds restaurant
Gloucester County, NJ

With Jean Gutsmuth for the day. Little wind and made it to 55 degrees. Dandelion was the flower of the day.

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Orange Sulphur 1

David L. Amadio

At work in Cherry Hill
Camden County, NJ

  • Orange Sulphur 1

Chip Krilowicz & Jean Gutsmuth

Raccoon Creek WMA
Gloucester County, NJ

35 total number of butterflies seen for the day!

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Orange Sulphur 2

Steven Glynn

Areas near Salem City and Mannington marsh
Salem County, NJ

Partly cloudy, 55 degrees.

  • Clouded Sulphur 2
  • Orange Sulphur 6
  • Common Buckeye 1

Common Buckeye

Clouded Sulphur

Orange Sulphur

Orange Sulphur

Jack Miller

Sunset Beach, Cape May
Cape May County, NJ

50 and cloudy. My first December butterfly, despite spending time at lots of locations.

  • Common Buckeye 1

Will Kerling

Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve
Cape May County, NJ

It was sunny, calm and barely 50 degrees. Found 2 Common Buckeyes - digital images of both.

  • Common Buckeye 2

Common Buckeye

Common Buckeye

Will Kerling

Field at intersection of Rte. 47 and Woodcock Lane
Cape May County, NJ

Found 4 Orange Sulphurs even though it was chilly and barely 50 degrees.

  • Orange Sulphur 4

Orange Sulphur

Steven Glynn

Cedarville area fields
Cumberland County, NJ

Checked out area remnant vegetable farm fields and waste/service areas. Mostly cloudy, 55 degrees.

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Orange Sulphur 2

Chip Krilowicz

Wheelabrator Wildlife Refuge and Butterfly Garden
Gloucester County, NJ

I only had time for onw stop today. The temp was 55 and only an hour of sun.

  • Common Buckeye 2

Common Buckeye

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