December 2022 Sightings

Fluttering along the sand

[Like red admiral, common buckeye is resilient to cold, a sometimes-underappreciated fall migrant, and found pretty regularly at coastal areas in late November/early December. We have had December reports of buckeyes in 11 of our 14 log seasons. jc]

Midday flyover.

[This is the 12th year in a row we have logged a monarch in December.]

This was a nice bright surprise on this 44° morning at the Point.

[Red admirals are showing their toughness once again – our log has recorded December reports of the species in 11 of our 14 seasons and have had at least one December report every year since 2017. jc]

Mid 40's; sun filtered through high cirrus. Lone bfly seen in 90 minutes and 3 locations.

45 with hazy sun.

Sighting at 12:50 pm. Sunny, breezy, temperature 45 degrees.

Sunny, Breezy, 44
Two sulphurs in the air but could only find one.

[This find gives us five species for December (so far): red admiral, monarch, common buckeye, clouded sulphur, and orange sulphur. Can we find another? jc]

1pm. 58°F. Full sun & calm winds. Anglewing was floating around the top of an oak and briefly landed on the sunny side of the trunk. Pretty distant binocular view so no photos.

[Congratulations, Jesse, on what looks like the last South Jersey butterfly of 2022. jc]