April 2023 Sightings

Afternoon walk. Sunny, hot and a little breezy.

While walking our new greenway trail, we came across a variegated fritillary that eventually stopped to nectar on henbit flowers, and then a red admiral that landed on a small patch of nettles. Both FOY for me. 2:30-4:00pm

[Variegated frit is also a FOY for our log. Good find! jc]

Only had time for a 10 minute walk down the trail.

Overcast, 79 degrees, winds south at 9mph. One more swallowtail to add from yesterdays yard list. Nice to see them all here again.

A new yard bug for me, a male Falcate. 11:40 am partly sunny, 64 degrees.

Working in the garden so no pics but the flybys have been Sweet. E. Tiger Swallowtail just now and the Sulphur sp. was lemon yellow so probably a Clouded.

Brief stop from 2 to 3 pm to see if the Hoary Elfins were out yet at this location.

Overcast, 68 degrees, S winds at 11mph. 2pm.

An unbelievable second CMC “winter form” sleepy orange hiding out in the grasses at the pollinator garden. After the first one at the DT RR and Tom Bailey’s report, it raises more and more questions. Perhaps a whole push of sleepy oranges were blown through the state last fall, trapping many vagrant individuals into overwintering. Or could these butterflies have been blown up with some of the extreme southern 30 mph winds we had in the first two weeks of April? Perhaps migrants from last year laid eggs that are mysteriously emerging from being pupae over the winter? A few questions with many possible answers. Interesting to see. Regardless, climate change is making these butterflies more and more regular in NJ and especially in the Cape.

[Thanks for your thoughts, Jack, on this hard-to-explain trio of sightings: yours in CMY on 4/15 and on 4/6 at Dennisville and Tom B's at Palmyra Cove, BUR, on 4/9. All three are weeks ahead of our log's earliest FOY dates for this expanding species. jc]

Saw my FOY tiger swallowtail - a flyby male at 11:35am.

The black swallowtail had just come out of chrysalis and was drying after the rain. I think the caterpillar is Red-spotted Purple, on a wild cherry tree. Please correct me if I'm wrong, Beth Polvino! Hessel's was on Highbush Blueberry blossoms, which seem early this year to me.

[This is the second year in a row that Jeanine has documented a Hessel's in her own home yard. jc]

Observation: 1.30 - 2.15. A Nice sunny day to be in the fields.

Fog was rolling in when I arrived around 10:30. Sun eventually burned it off and temps hit 75. No elfins though.

Partly sunny, warm and still. Tracks with too much vegetation in some areas to walk but birdfoot violets still there and blooming.

[Good list and good shots. A place to enjoy right now, clearly. jc]

Incidental sightings while birding in the park today. Foggy until @11 am. Warmed up to the low 70s by mid-afternoon.

[Our log's FOY silver-spotted skipper for 2023. Good find, Tom. jc]

Observation: 11.15 - 11.50.

Overcast, 64 degrees, SE at 12mph. First monarch I’ve seen. Looked a little pale, possibly worn. With Jesse Amesbury. Springwatch at CMBO has seen one, or two this week by Coral Ave.

[Good to see our first monarchs arriving. They usually do look worn. They are mostly (or always?) females, the daughters of the Mexico over-winterers. They hatched in the southeastern states, the usual explanation says, grew as caterpillars there and eventually emerged as adults to fly north to NJ and elsewhere. A challenge for observers in April and May: who can photo the first male monarch to arrive here? Do we see any sons of the Mexico over-winterers? jc]

Incidental sighting while doing chores outside.

Observations made from about one until about 3 PM. The fog had burned off and it was in the 70s mixed clouds. Many damp puddles on the road. The number of blues recorded is a low estimate because after while there were so many I stopped counting. They appeared to be “regular” spring Azures to me. No elfins but puddle parties sure are fun!

Mostly cloudy, observations made between 3 and 4 PM under the powerlines. I saw a lot of Baptisia beginning to pop up. No frosted yet.

2:30-3:30 pm. My FOY E tailed blue.

First time ever seeing a Monarch here in April!

Slow start on this windy, cool morning, but both the birding and the butterflying got better as it warmed up.

Midday. Sunny and windy, 66 degrees.

Was not expecting the Red-banded this early! The Cloak, Admiral, Henry’s and Tiger all visited the Lilac bush.

[Our first red-banded of 2023. Good find, Dolores. jc]