March 2017 Sightings

Found a hiding Orange Sulphur at 9:30 am.

Shielding my face from the sun to watch a circling Question Mark, it landed on the tip of my left index finger and looked me over!!

Amazed to find 16 fairly fresh Orange Sulphurs, within a field, which were exposed to high winds and upper forties.

It was cold and windy today so it was a nice surprise to see some butterflies.

These Orange Sulphurs must have some unique genes at this location. There was a slight breeze and the ambient air temperature was 37 degrees when two of these sulphurs came out to laterally bask. One, upon approach for a photo opportunity, flew wildly all over the field for almost two minutes before landing!

With Marilyn Henry. 53 degrees, light south winds, mostly sunny. I saw this well in flight. Close. No orange. It's a fresh individual. The small size, lemony color, and narrow dark border are also all indicative of Clouded.

[Moderator's Note: Congratulations to Sandra and Marilyn on the excellent find and good photo. It is the first clouded on our log since 12-22-16 and our 2017 FOY. (We did have a few reports of sulphur, sp in early January.) Dave Amadio has pointed out that if we discount the 1-3-16 record as a survivor from 2015, this is our earliest-ever record for this species in our ten years of the project. jc]

After two mornings in the low twenties, Orange Sulphurs were emerging from the chrysalides. Two were actually mating!!

Visited my fruit dish 3 times this afternoon under mostly cloudy skies.

Discovered two very active Eastern Commas in the forest.

In the middle of the afternoon, I counted 23 different active Orange Sulphurs in a field. Two were coupled.

I also photographed an anglewing sp with the top showing a Comma pattern and the bottom showing Question Mark. The photos attached were taken only seconds apart. How common is this?

[Moderator's Note: thanks to Chip and Jack Miller for pointing out this sometime-pattern. See the blog for some info about it. jc]

Orange Sulphurs were freely flying around in the lawn grasses. Spent most of my outdoor day documenting my first Tufted Duck.

Warm windy and Sunny

Back yard fly by,

I walked the tracks some back to my car. Sunny, strong SW winds, 64 degrees. I think the Azures were Holly, but not the best of looks. I am not sure what is flying now in this strange winter. I want to be sure.

I was able to ID one Comma; the other angelwings were "fly-bys"

There was a fresh Cabbage White flying all over the place in a wide grass strip just before 2 pm.

Just after 9:30 am, I flushed 6 Orange Sulphurs in a field.

The butterfly flew across the street in front of me. I pulled the car over as I saw it land in my neighbor's front yard. Saw that it was a cabbage white.

Found 3 Blueberry Azures on the forest trail leading away from the trailhead.

Two sightings, 9:45 am and again at 3:15pm in sunny warm garden spot sheltered from high wind by holly grove. Approaches, lingers, alights close at feet. Light fluttery flight. Feeds on dog scat.

1-2 PM, sunny, 64 degrees. Azures very active.

The Blueberry Azures were quite active just after 10 am. The only other butterfly was a lone Eastern Comma. Photo of female Blueberry Azure basking in the sun.

Found active butterflies under the coldest conditions during any of my field trips through the years of recording them in Montana and New Jersey this day!! It was 32 degrees with WNW winds around 10 mph and a wind chill in the low twenties. One of the Orange Sulphurs flew out of sight.

Sunny and about 43 degrees. All 7 Orange Sulphurs were freely flying. 5 were in the big field on the main loop and are the first I've seen there this year.

Early afternoon, sunny, mid 50's. The anglewing was probably a qm which have been regulars at Mac this spring.

Just after 10 am, I found 14 different Orange Sulphurs in a field. Failed to find butterflies, later in the day, at Beaver Dam Road and Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve.