November 2023 Sightings

Incidental sightings while birding in the park today. Sunny, temp @50 degrees. Monarch fresh.

Just here for a quick visit to clean out the garage but made a point to look each day at the south side of the house. The marigolds and Cuphea are drawing in butterflies, hover flies, and bumblebees. Stop by if you’re in the Cape May area until hard frost. There’s likely to be a show if it’s a sunny day

Sunny with temp in upper 50's. Only saw Sachems today.

Incidental sighting while birding.

Thankfully still a good amount of blooming Seaside Goldenrod. Monarchs were flybys, as were the 2 Red Admirals (though one did perch long enough for a photo).

Incidental sighting. Sunny & temperature about 60 degrees.

Red admiral flew right over my head around 3:00pm

The frit was small and exceptionally dark.

First stop. All clouds today, but temps in the mid 60's.

Last stop. Considering the cloud cover and that most of the bflys had to be "kicked up", this 9 species day was lovely.

Obs. 1.00 pm Temp. 61
(Fiery Skipper, that is what I think)

[Tom Bailey and Jack Miller concur.

Jack notes, "Definitely a tough identification based on this one photo. My lean goes to fiery. [I have a photo] of an old f. fiery that shows how white the upper marks on the outer fw can be. I also am leaning to fiery because of the position of the outer white mark on the dorsal hw is running along side of the other white marks. On f. sachem, that mark is often more forward. Lastly, and this comment may not be worth much, there is a slight notch on the outer edge of the middle white mark. This looks similar to the f. fiery in Glassberg's Butterflies Through Binoculars plate 29, and can also be seen to a lesser extent in Cech and Tudor's f. fiery on p. 274. I don't think sachems have this slight notch."

Thanks to both Jack and Tom for the confirmation. jc]

During children's program from 10-12. The checkered skipper was nectaring on dandelion. Temps in the 60s.

Field next to parking lot.

Sunny, 66 degrees. Winds variable throughout the day turning west around 6mph. Still lots of fresh skippers.

Besides Sachems that are fresh, some have unusual patterns and shadings in November.

Partly cloudy, 68 degrees around noon.

Two Female Sachems visited briefly. Nice to see after missing a November yard butterfly last fall.

About 11 am- near the dunes where the boardwalk ends.

12:45 to 2 pm. 55 degrees and sunny.

Planted asters, a (confused?) blooming strawberry in this garden.

Despite the recent cold temperatures, the marigolds are hanging in there, and still bringing things in! A few butterflies, but lots and lots of bees and flies!

50, light wind, full sun. After a heavy frost and temps in the 20's, I thought I would check on some lep friends. The cabbage was the same one reported on 11/9. The m. fiery's markings are unusually large and dark. Despite a couple of stops, I did not see a buckeye today.

Northwest winds are concentrating butterflies at the front south side of the house. Delightful to see butterflies in November! I’m going to call the very worn lady a painted lady, but I am willing to be redirected if needed. it’s nice to know you can still fly when most of your wings are gone! Go Brushfeet!

Obs. 12.00-12.45. Temperature 56 degrees, sunny and clear blue sky. Very windy.