May 2019 Sightings

Sunny, 66 degrees during my late morning visit. Strong flight year apparent for all "key" species in the area.

All "key" species found easily, as they were all actively dogfighting and/or nectaring.

Explored the area from 1:40 till 5:30. Mostly sunny and low to mid 80's. Very high water levels. Muck boots would be helpful. Found a nice first brood of Junipers. 30 nectared on a patch of Cypress Spurge. 1 on Autumn Olive, and 6 flying around their E.Red Cedar host. Very poor and highly cropped images of a Painted Lady. American Ladies went from mint fresh to well worn migrants.

[This is our log's first report of painted lady in 2019. May there be many more to come! jc]

Spent the day looking for Hessel's. We have some good White Cedar groves on the preserve but I did not find any.

10:30am-5:pm, sunny, 72˚F

[Our log's FOY red-spotted purple is in this nice mix of species. Good work, JS! jc]

While conducting bird survey of the park. Butterflies seen from approximately 10:30-11:30am.

Tried another spot for Hessel's after work. Success!

Sunny, 78 degrees, light winds.

A very worn Henry's at the entrance to overgrown field.

Clouds & Fog gave way to part sun after 10:15 a.m. Temps. 74-80 degrees between 10 & 12. A fresh male Spicebush Swallowtail flew along the powerline. Likely a few more Horace's DW, but only two confirmed.

[Only our second Horace's for 2019 and the first photographed. Good shooting, Dave! jc]

Birding and dragonflying were primary pursuits, but noting butterflies as well.

The sun came out and the temperature jumped 15 degrees just as I was getting ready to leave for the day. I decided to try for some Cobwebs before I left. No luck with the Cobwebs but the Dusted were flying already. Definitely the earliest that I have ever seen them.

[Yes, this is the earliest report for dusted skippers that we have on the log. Previous: 5/6/12. Also this report includes a second FOY report for red-banded. Good to have! jc]

1:15 - 3:15. Sunny and low 60's. As you can see in the photo, the Zab spent most of its perched time combing its front legs on the plant. Had one good look at the cloudywing before it tussled with some Juv's and flew into the woods. Nice to see one survived the annual burn they do here.

[Our first report of southern cloudywing in more than ten months (6/17/18). Two FOY reports of red-banded hairstreak today. Good to have! jc]

Another try for Cobweb Skipper

With a few afternoon sunny breaks, out came a male Zabulon Skipper. No surprise that it spent most of its time patrolling. Did nectar briefly on French Lilac.

I was surprised to see these. Overcast, 70 degrees. A late afternoon birding trip. They were all males.

Visited from 9:45-11:30 am in the 60s when I visited. Sunny with very little breeze. Bugs everywhere. Dragonflies and butterflies. Frosted Elfins photographed. Buckeyes and Ladies were the most common. Plenty of duskywings, which I thought were all Juvenal's.

Sunny and approaching 70 degrees in the early afternoon. Photos of Hessel's Hairstreak.

Pat had our first Silver-spotted Skipper earlier in the day. E.Tiger made a quick pass through after 5:30

With Lori. Sunny, 68 degrees. A mid day walk here.

Took a brief look around at lunch to see if Peck's Skippers were flying. No luck. Very little nectar due to poor land management. Pearl Crescent was a fresh female.

Mostly spent time looking for Cobweb Skipper with success. Only spent about 30-45 minutes here. Sunny and near 70 degrees.

2:15pm-4:00pm, sunny but clouded up at end of day

11:00am-2:00pm, sunny, 70˚K

Obs. from 2:00 till 3:30 p.m. Extensive fire scar since last year along Long Causeway Rd. Normally many puddling duskywings and elfins would be seen here, but very dead today. The fire apparently stopped before doing too much damage to the Atlantic Cedars. Found a fairly concentrated area of nectar and Hessel Hairstreaks. Was pleased to be able to photograph more than one on their White Cedar host. Ended up seeing at least 13 Hessel's today. Another butterflier told me of at least 3-5 more at an additional Woodland Twp location. Nice flight. The best that I have seen since 2011.

Obs. from around 12 noon & 1:30 p.m. Sunny, mid 70,s and S-SW winds 8-10. Hoary Elfin numbers & quality dropping off after a very good flight.

Ended my day here around 3. The common moth in the photo (I will work on the ID) with the dusted added challenge to identifying species. Happy to have found dusted in 3 locations today but worried that once again I could not find a SJ cobweb. Pine Barrens tree frog was calling.

The day was supposed to be near 80, but from 9 until 12 the temp stayed below 60 with clouds and mist. I started my day here and returned mid afternoon. I am only reporting the afternoon numbers.