March 2016 Sightings

Sunny, windy, 60 degrees at least. We were out of the wind on a section of dirt road through the woods. With Marilyn Henry. Photo by Marilyn.

Can you find the Question Mark in the bundle of dead deciduous leaves hanging in a Holly Tree?

A walk with Pat & Clay Sutton and Jesse & Jack Connor. Photos here by Pat & Clay. Commas differentiated by wing pattern differences – found by Pat in photos. Azure a fly-by, probably a blueberry (by season).

A brief stop at this field yielded two active Orange Sulphurs then bicycled on to Beaver Dam Road. Had no luck finding a Blueberry Azure even though the weather was ideal.

Bicycled up to the field where Orange Sulphurs recently have been recorded and I saw one flying immediately (1:54 pm). It was sunny and 36 degrees! One minute later another Orange Sulphur was seen flying.

Found 3 Mourning Cloaks and an Eastern Comma on and along this road.

first yard butterfly of the year.

Janet Crawford told me that she saw a spring Azure and a Mourning cloak today.

Found a Mourning Cloak on this road, as I found a parking spot. Did not discover Blueberry Azures.

Sunny, strong SW winds, 60+ degrees. The anglewings would not settle down close again after they flew from the dirt roads as I drove slowly along.

Stopped to see the bugs reported from here recently. I had a Orange and a Clouded Sulphur…I think.
The butterflies seem like runts. Very small. Blurry in-flight pic shows the border and "floating" spot.

Stopped for two minutes at 2:08 pm at this field and I recorded two Orange Sulphurs.

Flying through yard

The first QM was flying high in the pines, but later flew down on a trunk and basked. The second was also basking on a trunk.

Flying over the house

Found 3 Blueberry Azures and got photos of two of them. There was an Eastern Comma, a Mourning Cloak and possibly, a Question Mark basking on the sandy road.

The find of the day were the 3 American Snouts at this location. One flew by me waist high within three feet!

Attracted to Snow Drops. I do not know of any blueberry plants nearby.

The sulphurs were at Reineman and the others were at the RR tracks in Bear Swamp.

I had 6 sulphurs in the air at one time this afternoon.
I did not go onto the property so they are all sp.

There were, at least, 5 Orange Sulphurs in this field.

Walked the 1.83 mile stretch of this dirt road from 1:50 to 3:50 p.m. All 4 of the Azures DID NOT cooperate. Each one was glimpsed as it spiraled up, up, up, and away.

While bicycling through town on Rte. 47, I had a Mourning Cloak and an Eastern Comma fly by from the east to the west. Also, there was a sulphur in someone's yard that appeared to have the lemon yellow of a Clouded Sulphur.

Mourning Cloaks were everywhere. I counted 11 on the roads alone.
I had 1 Question Mark. lousy pic attached as my camera is on the fritz and one anglewing sp. moving at light speed. No azures

72 degrees

Found active overwintering butterflies - Mourning Cloaks and Eastern Commas.

6 Orange Sulphurs. I made these ID's by call.
Whatever Will K. calls them is good by me!

Moderator's Note: Can "Butterflying By Ear" be coming soon to our field guide shelves? ;-)

There were 8 Orange Sulphurs flying during one sweep of the binoculars through the field.

A quick fly-by while scanning for waterfowl