March 2021 Sightings

Landed briefly for a very poor photo.

Flushed from the road.

Mid afternoon and mid 60's. The snout was doing a test flight. Its steering was apparently ok as it cruised down the road, but I did not get to see if the landing gear were functioning properly.

[FOY Snout. Could we have a third good year in a row for this species? jc]

Hazy sun, 64 degrees, between 2 and 3pm.

[Exciting to have three reports for the day. Has the butterfly season begun? jc]

Basked in bare sandy spots on the ground in between the masses of leaves. 2:20pm

Flushed from a sunny spot on tree trunk.

Mourning Cloaks were seen together in same area of our woods. The Anglewing was fluttering high in the canopy.

Seen flying from east to west in my yard with a stop on one of my hummingbird feeders. This feeder is where I normally have my fruit out for the butterflies in the summer though it's probably coincidence. The feeders are out as today was day 110 of an adult male Ruby-throated hummingbird in my yard. No images of the Red Admiral but really exciting for Jenny and me to see.

[Nice. Our log's FOY for red admiral. jc]

and so it begins……

"not with a bang but a whimper"

Midday. I spent an hour here but the comma was the only bfly I saw.

In addition to the unid'd Anglewing that landed all too briefly on the road, we had an unidentified butterfly (anglewing or Mourning Cloak) high up in the tree tops floating through (beginning-to-flower) Red Maples.

Mid afternoon; 70 and sunny. The Henry's took off from the road before I could get a photo. It flew to tree-top level; I followed until I lost it. I ran into Jim Dowdell who showed me the qm in the leaves where he had watched it settle after jumping it. A good day for camo bugs (see Mac report from 3/11).

[This is our earliest-ever Henry's elfin report, three days earlier than last year's record date of 3/14. jc]

Beautiful, 72 degree day. Mourning Cloaks very cooperative. C's & Q's anglewings not so much. Nice to have the season start anew.

Spent about 2.5 hours walking and/or driving from Whitehead Road access, down to Shaw's Mill Pond area.

2 individuals basked in different areas of the forest, one in a tree and one on the ground beside the road. 11:20am

Mid morning, upper 60's, full sun. I rediscovered the snout reported on 3/9 near the same hackberry tree (ventral photo). For a bug that must have overwintered, snout #2 (dorsal photo) is in perfect condition. I spent 5 minutes laying on the road trying to get an eye-level shot of a mourning cloak. It flew loop after loop over me and kept buzzing my blue hat and landing on the back of my red sweatshirt (I could hear it and see its shadow). Last year, Tom B would wear a similarly colored blue shirt which also attracted butterflies.

12:34pm - FINALLY saw my first butterfly of the year! After searching every Burlington County park to no avail, all I had to do was essentially walk out my backdoor. The mourning cloak flew back and forth over my head 5-6 times, as if taunting me, since I had my camera out and it wouldn't land for a picture.

Fluttered around for quite some time, tried extracting some minerals from a pile of raccoon poop on the side of the road. Basked in several places across the ground and up against the beech tree with the NJ Fish and Wildlife sign on it. 69 degrees at 3:30pm

Railroad tracks alongside Atlantic Cape CC.

Surprisingly, I was met by a half fluttering, half gliding Mourning Cloak out in the middle of the marsh. It came in from the southwest and headed over the road and towards the bay, being directed by the wind. Around 1pm, partly cloudy, but mostly overcast.

Along Batona Trail near Carranza Memorial.

Single Mourning Cloak basking on sand near gravel boat launch. Appoximately 12:00.

The sugar bait that I put out was busy at midday and for a hour and a half after sunset. The moth is a Speckled Green Fruitworm Moth.

getting sap from YB Sapsucker holes, possibly a 2nd one.

[Nice! Our first butterfly report from GLO in 2021. jc]

none of these butterflies stoped to be photographed- mourning cloak went about 40ft up in a tree :(