May 2021 Sightings

Tom Bailey

Greenwood Forest F&WMA
Ocean County, NJ

10:15 to 12:45. Temp 50 to 63 degrees. Sunny & windy.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
  • Brown Elfin 1
  • Eastern Pine Elfin 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 9
  • American Lady 8
  • Monarch 1
  • Duskywing sp. 2
  • Sleepy Duskywing 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 9

Tom Bailey

Stafford Forge F&WMA
Ocean County, NJ

9:10 to 9:45. Temps in the upper 40s. Very windy.

  • American Lady 3

NABA-NJ Field Trip to NJ Pinelands

Warren Grove
Ocean County, NJ

17 Intrepid butterflies met outside Lucille's at 9:30am with the temperature at 51°F and winds 20+ mph. However, when we got to our first stop, the butterfly were aleady flying in protected places, no doubt assisted by the full sun we had all day. The sand roads west of Warren Grove have never been that great but and we were surprised by the number and depth of the road spanning craters. filled with water. People driving cars parked them along the side of the road and everyone piled into the vehicles with higher clearance and 4WD. This got us further down the road but then we ran into water hazards that we didn't want to chance getting stuck in so those vehicles were parked and we walked from there. All photos from MIke Newlon.

[Thank you for gathering the group, pushing over the challenging road, and giving us the report. Thanks also to Mike Newlon for the nice shots. jc]

  • Brown Elfin 3
  • Hoary Elfin 25
  • Eastern Pine Elfin 2
  • Azure, sp. 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
  • Sleepy Duskywing 5
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 5

American Lady

Hoary Elfin

Sleepy Duskywing

Juvenal's Duskywing

Keith Richmond & Jim Springer

Franklin Parker Preserve
Burlington County, NJ

3:15-4:30pm, sunny, less wind than earlier, 63°F

  • Azure, sp. 2
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 4

Wijbren Huisman

Alcyon Lake Pitman
Gloucester County, NJ

Just for the record.
I saw my first Monarch on May 1st this year. I didn’t expect the monarch butterfly so early in spring.
Posting now, as I’m new in this group.

  • Monarch 1

Monarch

David L. Amadio

Backyard butterfly garden, West Deptford
Gloucester County, NJ

On French Lilac. A male

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1

Jennifer Bulava

Crystal Lake Park, Mansfield twp
Burlington County, NJ

While leading a botanical walk, we happened to see a few butterflies in the afternoon when the wind was not so strong.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
  • Cabbage White 3
  • Sulphur sp. 3
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 1

Dolores Amesbury

My yard in CMCH
Cape May County, NJ

Admiral was hanging around blueberry patch in our woods.

  • Cabbage White 1
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
  • American Lady 1
  • Red Admiral 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 1

Juvenal's Duskywing

Red Admiral

Red-banded Hairstreak

NABA-NJ Field Trip to NJ Pinelands

Woodland Twp.
Burlington County, NJ

Temperatures finaly made it to the low 60's
Photos from Mike Newlon.

  • Hessel's Hairstreak 2
  • Brown Elfin 1
  • Hoary Elfin 1
  • Eastern Pine Elfin 4
  • Azure, sp. 4
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 3

Hessel's Hairstreak

Eastern Pine Elfin

Azure, sp.

Tom Bailey

Oswego River Preserve
Burlington County, NJ

1:15 to 2:30. Sunny, windy. Temps in mid-60s.

  • Eastern Pine Elfin 4
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
  • Spring Azure 2
  • American Lady 2
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 21

Pat & Clay Sutton

Sutton GDN in Goshen
Cape May County, NJ

Fun sighting while gardening

  • Pearl Crescent 1

Pearl Crescent

Tom Bailey

Franklin Parker Preserve
Burlington County, NJ

Quick stop from 3 to 3:45. @65 degrees, sunny, breezy.

  • Brown Elfin 4
  • Hoary Elfin 3
  • Eastern Pine Elfin 1
  • Spring Azure 3
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 3

Pat & Clay Sutton

Sutton GDN in Goshen
Cape May County, NJ

Fun sightings while whipping the garden into shape. E. Comma was interested in the Hops. Red Admiral laying eggs on Stinging Nettle.

[Can't remember when we last had a photo of red admiral laying eggs on stinging nettle, though it's a primary host for them. Good shot! jc]

  • Cabbage White 3
  • Question Mark 1
  • Eastern Comma 1
  • Red Admiral 1

Red Admiral ovipositing

Eastern Comma

David L. Amadio

Backyard butterfly garden, West Deptford
Gloucester County, NJ

Tigers were male & female both on French Lilac. Brief visit from A.Lady also on the Lilac.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 2
  • American Lady 1

David L. Amadio

Riverwinds River Trail & Community center
Gloucester County, NJ

Only a quick half hour tour here this afternoon.

  • Cabbage White 11
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 13
  • Anglewing sp. 1

Beth Polvino

my yard NABA #1151 & Monarch Waystation #8318
Cape May County, NJ

Question Mark and American Ladies laying eggs on their host plants

  • Black Swallowtail 1
  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
  • Spicebush Swallowtail 0
  • Cabbage White 2
  • Question Mark 1
  • American Lady 2

Jack Miller

my yard Petersburg
Cape May County, NJ

Late afternoon. Yard's FOY monarch.

  • Cabbage White 2
  • Monarch 1

Jack McDonough

Garette Family Preserve
Cape May County, NJ

Around 10:30am, full sun. It was really exciting to see my first NJ monarchs of the year! Especially to see so many arriving off the SW winds

  • Monarch 4

Karen Thompson

Higbee Beach WMA
Cape May County, NJ

  • Cabbage White 2
  • Orange Sulphur 2
  • Henry's Elfin 1
  • Spring Azure 3
  • Pearl Crescent 3
  • American Lady 5
  • Monarch 2

Henry's Elfin

Meredith Koenig

My garden East Vineland
Cumberland County, NJ

Very windy, bright sun 12:52 pm. Milkweed in garden up 6-8 inches.

  • Monarch 1

Monarch

Tom Bailey

Palmyra Cove Nature Park & adjoining private property
Burlington County, NJ

Incidental sightings while birding in the park today. Cabbage White numbers are an estimate.

[Tom's sootywing and wild indigoes are both FOY's for 2021. Nicely done. - jm]

  • Cabbage White 30
  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 7
  • Pearl Crescent 1
  • Eastern Comma 2
  • Mourning Cloak 3
  • Silver-spotted Skipper 3
  • Wild Indigo Duskywing 3
  • Common Sootywing 1

Jackie Parker

Belleplain State Forest
Cape May County, NJ

Incidental butterfly sightings while doing a bird sound workshop.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
  • Spicebush Swallowtail 1
  • Cabbage White 5
  • Falcate Orangetip 2
  • Orange Sulphur 1
  • Henry's Elfin 1
  • Eastern Pine Elfin 1
  • Juniper Hairstreak 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 4
  • Spring Azure 10
  • Pearl Crescent 2
  • American Lady 3
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 5

Cynthia Allen

My yard in CMCH
Cape May County, NJ

Recently, Am. Ladies have been moving through yard and laying eggs on Pussytoes. FOY Juniper Hairstreak.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
  • Cabbage White 2
  • Juniper Hairstreak 1
  • Azure, sp. 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
  • Anglewing sp. 1
  • American Lady 2

Brian Johnson and Jack Miller

Beaver swamp WMA
Cape May County, NJ

Brian and I each independently and unknowingly walked the whole powerline cut today and it is strange that we missed each other. The wind made things challenging. A Juvenal's was seen ovipositing on baptisia.

[Jack M modified this report to eliminate repeating data. -jm]

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
  • Sulphur sp. 2
  • Orange Sulphur 1
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 4
  • Frosted Elfin 1
  • Gray Hairstreak 1
  • Azure, sp. 2
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 15
  • Pearl Crescent 12
  • American Lady 2
  • Duskywing sp. 3
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 2
  • Horace's Duskywing 1
  • Cobweb Skipper 2

Cobweb Skipper

Jack Miller

Union rd powerlines
Cumberland County, NJ

3rd stop; 12:30- 1:15. Cloudy with rain sprinkles.

  • Spicebush Swallowtail 1
  • Orange Sulphur 2
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 14
  • Spring Azure 6
  • Pearl Crescent 30
  • Duskywing sp. 4
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 7

Spring Azure

Jack Miller

Estell Manor rd
Cumberland County, NJ

4th stop. 1:30- 3:15. Continued cloudy with weak showers. There were lots of bflys around, but I missed many due to my intense focus on Hessel's and cobwebs. Cruddy new camera could not come up with a decent photo in low light which was frustrating because these cobwebs are not what I am used to seeing. They are generally different, especially on the forewing dark mark. Goodbye camera.

[Exciting to see a dozen cobweb skippers at one spot. Double-digit counts of them have been very few over last several years. jc]

  • Spicebush Swallowtail 3
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 1
  • Hessel's Hairstreak 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 8
  • Spring Azure 2
  • Pearl Crescent 10
  • Duskywing sp. 4
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 6
  • Cobweb Skipper 12

Cobweb Skipper

Jack Miller

Bertuzzi's Market, Tuckahoe rd
Cumberland County, NJ

2nd stop. A red admiral took as much time as I did deciding on tomato, pepper, basil plants, etc.

  • Red Admiral 1

Jack Miller

Estell Manor township
Atlantic County, NJ

First stop. 10:15- 11:45. 100% clouds, mid 70's. Hessel's was a fly-by.

  • Hessel's Hairstreak 1
  • Spring Azure 2

Teresa Knipper

Higbee
Cape May County, NJ

10:20-12:00 75 degrees . We had a fast flyby of a very large sulphur? Possibly a cloudless sulphur but never got my binoculars on. Same with the Anglewing.

[Cloudless sulphurs are being reported from Maryland, so chances seem good for us here as well. jc]

  • Spicebush Swallowtail 1
  • Cabbage White 4
  • Sulphur sp. 1
  • Orange Sulphur 3
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 6
  • Anglewing sp. 1
  • Pearl Crescent 15
  • American Lady 10
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 1

Teresa Knipper

Garrett family preserve
Cape May County, NJ

Short walk around 330 to 4 o’clock before the rain started. Mixed sun and clouds

  • Black Swallowtail 2
  • Cabbage White 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 6
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