March 2020 Sightings

At work today. Also saw my FOY Fence Lizard and Tiger Beatles.

The QM was sunning on the ground around mid-day.

Butterflies seen between 10:30-11:00am. [Congrats on our first reports in March. Nice to have commas instead of lions. - jm]

At work today. Nice to see the Azures. I was very surprised seeing that many Snouts. [The first azure is a thrill for most of us. Nicely done Brian! -jm]

Red Admiral was flying through the yard about 12:30 PM.

10:15- 2:15; mid 50's with full sun and light winds. Today's highlights included eagles, harriers, meadowlarks, a 1000+ assorted waterfowl, full chorusing Atlantic coast leopard frogs, a new location for marbled salamander nymphs, and some bflys. One of the azures was so fresh it could barely fly. Another one showed signs of wear that made us think it might be more than a day or two old. We both thought that the lucia form was one of the finest we have seen. Up until today, wintering snouts, two of which were dog-fighting, had not been reported from Mac.

Sunny, 49 degrees. My FOS for NJ.

Sunny, 53->55ºF, winds W/SW 10mph. Red Admiral sunning in open patch along blue trail; Am. Snout flushed from a sunny patch in holly forest along yellow trail.

It appears that snouts overwintered across much of south Jersey.

Early afternoon walk around the Goosekill trail system. The bugs were all in one small area.

Our first yard butterfly of 2020.

[It is likely we will see more of these as year moves forward, but the first of the year is always fun. This is our 4th earliest FOY for this species. Well done!- jm]

Mid-50s, sunny, and breezy.

Conducted my first search for butterflies today. Always wondering which species will cross my path first. To my surprise this day not only my first butterfly, but my first three were all American Snouts! I have never watched three snouts in a dog fight here in March. Sunny skies 65-70 degrees from 12:45 to 4:30. A breezy 14-17 mph SW-WSW wind. Only one Azure cooperated for an image. Only saw marginata & violacea forms.

Marilyn Henry and myself exploring. Sunny, Light SW winds, 70 degrees or so. Afternoon.

Surprised to have not one but 2 butterflies here today and several anglewings along the beach when walking.

Early afternoon, sunny and 66 degrees.

Neither landed but flew by us 2-3 times each. Calling azure a blueberry by date.

The Year of the Snout in 2019 has become The Winter of the Snout in 2020 (if we can call the last 3 months a winter).

Butterflies observed during daily bird migration count from dune crossover, all after 11:00am with temperature 53->55ºF, winds W/SW 10mph, sunny/cloudless. The two anglewings and Red Admiral were both quickly moving west through dunes, with one anglewing apparently departing w/nw across Delaware Bay and the Admiral apparently arriving from the bay. The Monarch arrived from the south at 12:08pm, traveling over the bay about 100-150 yards off the beach. I saw it briefly at 8x and then again in the scope at 30x until it dropped low against the waves and I lost track of it; appeared to (expectedly?) be a faded individual. Sadly, no photos given the distance.

[This is an amazing report. In the log's history, monarch FOY has been reported 3 times in May and 7 times in April. We have at least 3 reports in January, but these reports are usually thought of as LOY's. Where did this butterfly come from? - jm]

[Mind-boggling! The flight described indicates this was not an over-wintering monarch and the Mexican mountains are too far away (it seems) for a migrant to have reached us already. As of this morning, 3-10-20, Journey North has only a handful of 2020 reports for monarchs having crossed the border into the US – mostly in southern Texas and all well to the South.

Is it possible that Tom's monarch wintered in Florida? Most Florida monarchs are believed to be non-migratory, year-round residents. However, recent research has discovered that some – more than previously understood – are migrants from elsewhere, in other words, members of the "Methulselah" generation that lives for eight months and ordinarily migrates to Mexico.

It seems an outlandish possibility – a monarch flying south to Florida in fall, surviving there, and then attempting a return north and reaching Cape May Point in early March – but any explanation will seem far-fetched, I think. Also, interestingly, the monarch report closest to us on Journey North at the moment comes from Jekyll Island, Georgia, on 3-3-20. You can see on the map at the site that sighting is way to the East of other March reports – and much, much closer to Florida. jc]

10- 2:00; full sun, upper 60's, winds nearly calm on roads through the woods. We spent most of first hour viewing waterfowl, but once we started looking for butterflies we found snouts scattered about on every mile of road in Mac. A number of times we saw pairs dogfighting. I am now surprised that I did not see snouts here in Jan. or Feb. All azures were marginata or lightly marked.

Hard to believe I had 3 species in my yard so early in March!

Beautiful day as I checked this area this morning. Sunny, 59 degrees during my time. American Snouts are everywhere!

15 Blueberry Azures (12 "marginata," 3 "Lucia"). Found freshly dug "Ground nesting" bee nests.

A nice surprise as we unloaded the car! 4:30PM.

Mid afternoon stop. I was surprised to see a very worn azure. The wear was uniform and looked to be the product on longevity rather than attack. This is the second tattered azure I have seen in the past week. It makes me wonder when they first appeared this year.

[NJ NABA proclaimed last year the "Year of the Snout." Last year we had 162 reports for a total of 303 individuals which was considerably above our ten year average of 77/162. So far this year, we have had 23 reports for a total of 77 individuals. - jm]

Had my lunch at Shaw's Mill Pond and checked for butterflies here and into the Bevan WMA.

Flushed from Rhododendron as I walked by, flew out across yard, finally alighted in bushy area.

[Our second cabbage white of the year. - jm]

Afternoon, sunny and 69 degrees.

Single anglewing flying east through dunes around 12pm.

Both Red Admirals arrived from the southwest over Delaware Bay and continued inland, noted at 1145 and 1203.