July 2021 Sightings

Butterfly garden only, 8:30am

Sunny, hot and humid. A lot of nectar here, few butterflies.

FYI:

As of this morning, our South Jersey Log's list includes 81 species for 2021. We had 82 species at this time last year.

A quick review of the species with blanks so far for 2021 that we have usually found by this time in past years:

Checkered White: Recorded all years 2019-2012, sometimes not until July but missed last year, 2020 and only a single record (of five individuals) in 2019.

Harvester: Recorded all years 2020 to 2012 but some years not until July or August.

Meadow Fritillary: Recorded all years 2019-2009 but often not until July or August (not recorded at all last year, 2020).

Painted Lady (?!): Recorded all previous years of our log. Only once before have we have not recorded it by this time: 7-17-2015, our latest-ever FOY.

Other "expected" species not yet recorded in 2021 generally first appear in July or later: Giant Swallowtail, Little Yellow, Long-tailed Skipper, Fiery Skipper, Dion Skipper, Brazilian Skipper, and Ocola Skipper. And of course we can hope for some species seen in a few years but too rare to depend on: Zebra Swallowtail, Clouded Skipper, and perhaps a couple of others.

I am compiling this list hastily and may have some errors here. You can check this note and also find more details about our history of Early & Late Dates by going to our blog (https://blogs.stockton.edu/sjbfs/) and clicking on "Early & Late Dates All Years 2008-2021").

Let me know if you spot errors. I will correct this note here. Thank you!

And while I am at this, and halfway through our 14th year of this log:

A Big Thank-You to Jack Miller for sharing moderating responsibilities with me!

We would not have made it this far without him.

jc

Sunny at 77 degrees 3:30pm

Monarch larva on milkweed.

[Welcome to our newest observer/contributor, Shannon Sharp! jc]

75 degrees around 1:30pm

After the rains cleared out I found a Hackberry emperor. first one seen here so far this year.

With three days of rain, a brief break provided an opportunity to get out, but from 5:10pm to 5:35pm. Not expecting much, I was very surprised with the activity at the garden and immediate area. Ocola skipper is my earliest ever in NJ by more than two months!

[Excellent find! Our 2nd earliest record of Ocola and only the third time we have had our FOY before August 1. jc]

Incidental sightings while birding in the park this morning.

1 to 2:20 pm. Partly sunny, 68 degrees when finished. Cabbage White total is an estimate.

[Our second double-digit count of var frits in past week – this one from BUR, other from CUM. jc]

With an absence of Tiger Swallowtails in our garden since mid-June, it was lovely to see a newly emerged female. Clay spotted this full-size Monarch caterpillar on Common Milkweed. So many are preyed upon, that it is good to see some reach full size. Male Monarch going round and round, looking for a female to mate with.

I agree with Dolores Amesbury & Jack Miller. Pollinators really POPPED on July 4th! We had the most species in our yard so far this year (23 species), plus bumble bee, fly, and wasp numbers exploded (100s). Part of our butterfly high count was due to the bushel basket of overripe cantaloupes I got from my farm stand. Butterflies AND Box Turtles were drawn to them. Fun to see American Snouts nectaring. Female Monarch laying eggs, plus a full-size Monarch caterpillar went off to go into its chrysalis (swelling the Monarch population). YEA!

This is the first Monarch I have seen in our yard though my daughter saw one about a week ago. This is only the 2nd Eastern Tiger Swallowtail I have seen (the first was May 1st-over 2 months ago!).

Checked out various locations looking for 2nd flight Bronze Coppers. Did not have the time to really cover the area well, but found some nice bugs.

Spent 2-1/2 to 3 hrs in the Salem/Mannington area this afternoon. Part sun 77-83 with about 8-10 mph southerly breeze. Lots of nectar here but little diversity.

There is a small slip of a new pollinator garden in Mickleton Park with much of the planting to be done Spring 2022 with the help of some grants. I was excited to see that the small number of native plants there are starting to attract butterflies.

Minimal obs. here today, but had my first adult Monarch of the year, a female laying eggs on Common & tropical Milkweed.

1st adult monarch I've seen in yard–a male. I have 4 early instar monarch caterpillars also. Snout was in my neighbor's yard

12:45 to 2:30 pm. Sunny.

Lots of bumble bees not many butterflies. Saw some Monarch eggs on Milkweed.

The butterflies in the garden today were the only fireworks I needed! The Broad-winged skippers were virtually everywhere and impossible to count.