May 2022 Sightings
Jack Miller
Estell Manor rd
Cumberland County, NJ
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Hessel's Hairstreak 1
- Eastern Pine Elfin 1
- Horace's Duskywing 2
- Cobweb Skipper 1
Eileen Bennett
Waretown backyard - Monarch Waystation# 10016
Ocean County, NJ
Mourning Cloak was a lifer!
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
- Mourning Cloak 1
- American Lady 1
William J. Bucholski
Collingswood
Camden County, NJ
- Spring Azure 1
C Wyluda & M Lee
Smith Woods
Burlington County, NJ
More birds than 'flies. Garden has been planted and some red honeysuckle was just about to bloom. Missed some most-likely hairstreaks that were not cooperative.
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Cabbage White 7
- Falcate Orangetip 1
- Clouded Sulphur 6
Tom Bailey
Bass River SF
Burlington County, NJ
Section of the state forest on the east side of Rt. 9. Incidental sightings while walking out after a morning of birding.
- Azure, sp. 6
- American Lady 1
- Juvenal's Duskywing 1
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Red-banded Hairstreak 1
- Henry's Elfin 1
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
- Spring Azure 1
- American Lady 1
- Hoary Elfin 4
- Azure, sp. 1
Jeanine Apgar, Renee Rubin, Michael Delesantro
Lenape Farms
Atlantic County, NJ
Early to late afternoon, just as the sun was coming out and it was warming up. We just missed one that we agreed looked like a fritillary, but it was moving too fast for a photo. Brightest American Lady I've seen this year.
- Falcate Orangetip 9
- Orange Sulphur 1
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 8
- Spring Azure 25
- Pearl Crescent 16
- American Lady 2
- Juvenal's Duskywing 4
Lucy Hooper
My backyard in Mickleton
Gloucester County, NJ
I don’t think I have ever seen the Silver-spotted skipper this early before but I had found a few of the larvae on black locust saplings in the yard last fall so they probably are now starting to emerge.
[We have had only one other report of silver-spotted so far in 2022: April 15 by Kathy Horn in CMY. jc]
- Cabbage White 1
- Silver-spotted Skipper 1
Jennifer Bulava
Long Bridge Park, Hainesport Twp
Burlington County, NJ
Incidental sightings while birding in the am.
- Cabbage White 2
- Gray Hairstreak 1
- Spring Azure 1
Jeanine Apgar
Home yard, Galloway Township
Atlantic County, NJ
1-4 pm, fun to see a male and female Juvenal's.
- Spring Azure 6
- Anglewing sp. 1
- Pearl Crescent 3
- American Lady 2
- Juvenal's Duskywing 4
Jeanine Apgar
Home yard, Galloway Township
Atlantic County, NJ
Overcast afternoon, but when the sun came out the butterflies were very active, then completely disappeared as the clouds gathered again.
[Only our third red-banded hairstreak report for 2022 – and the first anywhere north of CMY. jc]
- Red-banded Hairstreak 1
- Spring Azure 7
- Pearl Crescent 2
- Mourning Cloak 1
- American Lady 1
Therese Hurter
side yard, CMCH
Cape May County, NJ
5:15, sunny, 63 degrees. American Lady was nectaring on Fleabane.
- American Lady 1
Jennifer Bulava
Amico Island, Delran
Burlington County, NJ
Butterflies seen from 10-11:30am. My FOY tiger swallowtail, eastern tailed blues, and checkered skipper.
[Our log's first common checkered skipper of 2022. Good find. jc]
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Cabbage White 3
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 4
- Common Checkered-Skipper 1
David L. Amadio
Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve
Cape May County, NJ
Obs. made between 1:10 & 3:45, mostly sunny and temps near 70. What a difference a year makes! Last year this area was dismal with a severely mowed down powerline and mostly flooded habitats. fortunately the Frosted Elfin colony persists. It's Baptisia host is evident as well. Orangetip was a female.
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Spicebush Swallowtail 2
- Cabbage White 2
- Falcate Orangetip 1
- Elfin sp. 1
- Frosted Elfin 5
- Eastern Pine Elfin 1
- Juniper Hairstreak 4
- Azure, sp. 1
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 12
- Pearl Crescent 3
- American Lady 1
- Duskywing sp. 1
Eileen Bennett
Waretown backyard - Monarch Waystation# 10016
Ocean County, NJ
[This is only our 4th report of spicebush for 2022 and our first north of CMY. jc]
- Spicebush Swallowtail 1
- Cabbage White 1
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
- American Lady 1
Brian Johnson
Peaslee WMA
Cumberland County, NJ
Early afternoon visit. 70 degrees and mostly sunny.
[Our log's first southern cloudywing of 2022 and, even better and more important, the highest count of cobweb skipper for many years, that I remember, at least. Might be our highest ever. Need to do some checking back! jc]
[Update, 5-7-22: Yes, this is the highest count of cobweb skippers ever recorded on our SJBP log, 2008-2022. The previous high was 21 found along the Dennisville RR tracks on 5-21-2009 by Will Kerling, "5 females, 16 males / all very worn." We have had very few other double-digit counts of this species over the years. The most recent of those are 12 found along Estell Manor Road in CUM on 5-2-2021 by Jack Miller and 11 found on the RT 83 powerline in CMY on 5-14-2020 by Steve Glynn, Harvey Tomlinson, and Ernie Hahn. Can we hope this high count hints at a possible good year for cobweb skipper, which has seemed a troubled species in our area in recent years? jc]
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Red-banded Hairstreak 5
- Azure, sp. 2
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 6
- Pearl Crescent 7
- American Lady 1
- Duskywing sp. 23
- Southern Cloudywing 2
- Cobweb Skipper 32
Dolores Amesbury
My yard in CMCH
Cape May County, NJ
Hairstreak was liking the white azalea blossoms.
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Red-banded Hairstreak 1
- Henry's Elfin 1
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
- American Lady 1
Dave DeSarno
Warren Grove Recreation Area
Ocean County, NJ
11:40 - 2:00 warm with sun and clouds. hoary elfins were very active! most duskywings were flying so few positive ids.
- Red-banded Hairstreak 1
- Hoary Elfin 20
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 8
- Lady sp. 1
- Duskywing sp. 5
- Sleepy Duskywing 1
- Juvenal's Duskywing 2
David L. Amadio
Belleplain State Forest
Cape May County, NJ
Obs. made from 8 a.m. to 11:40, Cloudy and 60. First butterfly of the morning was at 9:20. Kicked up an Eastern Tiger not wanting to take flight as temps were too low. Most azures showed considerable scale wear. Did not spend much time looking close at the azures today.
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Spicebush Swallowtail 2
- Red-banded Hairstreak 1
- Spring Azure 17
- Duskywing sp. 2
- Juvenal's Duskywing 4
David L. Amadio
Rt83 powerline/bike path
Cape May County, NJ
Obs. made between Noon & 1 p.m. with a follow up visit from 4-5 p.m. At noon clouds began to move out but was quite windy, temps in low 60's. With warmer and calmer conditions I returned on my way home. I was about 5 min. from leaving when a Cobweb Skipper appeared at the edge of the powerline. A nice end to a productive afternoon.
- Orange Sulphur 2
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 14
- American Lady 3
- Juvenal's Duskywing 2
- Cobweb Skipper 1
Therese Hurter
my back yard, CMCH
Cape May County, NJ
Late afternoon, sunny. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail flew through back yard on a gust of wind.
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
Karen Thompson
South Cape May Meadows
Cape May County, NJ
- American Lady 2
Tom Bailey
Tabernacle Township yard
Burlington County, NJ
Incidental sighting while working in the yard in mid-afternoon.
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
- Red-banded Hairstreak 1
- American Lady 2
Tom Bailey
Greenwood Forest WMA
Ocean County, NJ
1:50 to 3:10 pm. Sunny, very windy. Temps @70 degrees.
- Brown Elfin 2
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
- American Lady 4
- Juvenal's Duskywing 2
Jeanine Apgar
Home yard, Galloway Township
Atlantic County, NJ
In spite of high winds, these tough butterflies were hanging in and trying to stay in the sheltered areas.
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
- Spring Azure 5
- Pearl Crescent 3
- American Lady 1
- Juvenal's Duskywing 1
Karen Thompson
Cox Hall Creek
Cape May County, NJ
- Red-banded Hairstreak 1
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
Tom Bailey
Franklin Parker Preserve
Burlington County, NJ
3:30 to 4:40 pm. Sunny to start and then clouded up. Windy. 67 degrees when finished.
- Azure, sp. 1
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
- Juvenal's Duskywing 1
Tom Bailey
Pemberton Township
Burlington County, NJ
Rt. 70 powerline cut northeast of Spring Lake Blvd / Rattler Rd. 10:30 am to 1:20 pm. Sunny, very windy with east winds @10-15 mph. 68 degrees when finished. Duskywing sp. were fly-bys. Photo of a female Cobweb Skipper.
[Quite a list – especially given the day's winds – including our first cobweb report for BUR in more than five years and only our second holly azure anywhere in South Jersey in 2022. Good work, Tom! jc]
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
- Red-banded Hairstreak 3
- Eastern Pine Elfin 1
- Holly Azure 1
- Eastern Tailed-Blue 3
- Spring Azure 2
- American Lady 1
- Duskywing sp. 3
- Sleepy Duskywing 5
- Juvenal's Duskywing 9
- Cobweb Skipper 1
This list is of species that were not on the list from 4/30. It was only 1 day ago that I saw my first cobweb here, so it was interesting to follow this female and see her ovipositing on what I believe is little bluestem at 10:30.
[Very cool find and photos documenting cobweb ovipositing! jc]