April 2016 Sightings

70 sunny and windy. The Viceroy was a close flyby.

Eastern Pine Elfin & Henry's Elfin nectared on Garlic Mustard.

Found this fresh male Cobweb Skipper on the powerline cut. The Spicebush Swallowtail was a male that flew over Tom Field Rd.

Moderator Note: Dave's cobweb is our FOY for 2016 for that species – and also our first folded-wing skipper of the year. Get ready, everyone, here they come!

12:50-1:50pm, Red trail & Blue trail.

All species were nectaring on Beach Plum, except E.Tailed-Blue. The E.Tiger ST was FOS in my yard. A male, it nectared briefly on Beach Plum and flew into the woods.

Spent almost 4 hours here. Very windy at times, but very productive. Wild Indigo Duskywing was a very fresh male. Red-banded Hairstreak was photographed high in a white flowering tree. Juniper Hairstreaks were all up high in E. Red Cedar. Last butterfly of the day was Question Mark, the 20th species for this day in Cape May County.

Some lovely white cedar and nectar along 623. None of azures landed.

Biked the loop with Barbara between 3 and 4. Cloudy and 70's. Very active but we did not stop except for a roadkill which turned out to be a sleepy duskywing! Azure and duskywings estimates are conservative.

12:45-2:15, sunny, windy, high 70s. Same spot as yesterday, slightly different mix of species, although again no probable C. lucia – though hb blueberry common along route.

Here is a Cabbage White Egg and the picture of the plant with the egg hidden on the underside of the leave. Plant id? Looks like a ground cover only 2 in tall.

Strong S winds made photography difficult.
Pine Elfins were the butterfly of the day. I had a Sleep Duskywing but could not get a photo I looked for hours for a Cobweb Skipper to no avail. Nice to see Dave found one!

Moderator Note: HT might have missed cobweb, but he got us our first photo of spicebush swallowtails for 2016. That completes the photo documentation of the three swallowtails that have emerged so far this year.

S'tail sp. seemed a black, but too quick a fly-by to be sure.

Moderator note: neat to see that both photos show the Juvenal's two dots on hindwings below.

At least, 8 Orange Sulphurs were there this day.

Saw an Orange Sulphur flying near Dias Creek and another one close to the Mosquito Commission complex.

The "Azure sp." was a total rag, worn so much that you could barely see the markings. My best guess is Blueberry.

Three butterfly species were flying along this road - 2 Falcate Orangetips (Dandelions), 2 Eastern Tailed-Blues and 2 Cabbage Whites.

It had clouded over and the butterflies were hiding; except for a Pearl Crescent, a Cabbage White and a Juvenal's Duskywing.

A fresh tiger nectared briefly on pansies.

Watched some interesting butterfly behavior at LT this day. Two different Eastern Pine Elfins were egg laying on pine seedlings only 3 to 5 inches high.

A Juvenal's Duskywing was so territorial it was consistently after a Blue Corporal and Common Green Darner and came to my face within an inch three times.

Found a total of 8 runt male Common Buckeyes which never sat still for more a few seconds wherever they landed (wind?). Most likely, they all were 'Rosa Forms'. These bugs were the size of a quarter.

Photos of female Falcate Orangetip and probably, a Juvenal's Duskywing - dorsal and ventral views. It had the behavior, flight pattern, perching site selection style and topside gray overscaling which match Erynnis juvenalis. Labeled it Duskywing sp, due to lack of clear dots on the ventral HW. What do you think it is?

By the way, I got great views of my FOY Horace's Duskywing (fresh male). Watched both its dorsal and ventral sides through binoculars - 8 to 10 feet away from me.

With the threat of light rain falling again and no sun, I witnessed 2 male Eastern Tailed-Blues on the wing without being flushed within wet vegetation - 10:20 am.

Zoomed in for a quick visit. My first this year.

Late afternoon walk in fields around parking lot. I think photo is a female Juvenal's Duskywing.

Observed during a short walk in early afternoon after the sun came out.