May 2023 Sightings

Dolores Amesbury

My yard in CMCH
Cape May County, NJ

Explosion of Red-banded hairstreaks! Multiples flushing throughout the yard while at least 6 were nectaring on azalea blossoms.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 2
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 15
  • Henry's Elfin 2
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
  • Mourning Cloak 1
  • American Lady 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 1

Tom Bailey

Pemberton Township
Burlington County, NJ

Rt. 70 powerline cut northeast of Spring Lake Blvd / Rattler Rd. 12:40 to 3:40 pm. Mostly cloudy, windy, temps in the low 60s. Slim pickings today.

  • Blueberry Azure 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
  • Duskywing sp. 1
  • Sleepy Duskywing 1

Jennifer Bulava

Pennington Park, Delanco
Burlington County, NJ

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 2
  • Cabbage White 1
  • Sulphur sp. 1

Jeanine Apgar

Home yard, Galloway Township
Atlantic County, NJ

Earlier in the day, butterflies were so scarce I was about to give up when a Black Swallowtail showed up in my garden nectaring on kale flowers. The sun came out brighter and it was like a whole new day!

[Anyone willing to help ID the elfin JA photo'd? shows how surprisingly tough distinguishing brown and Henry's can sometimes be! jc]

  • Black Swallowtail 1
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 1
  • Brown Elfin 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
  • Spring Azure 2
  • Pearl Crescent 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 1

Pearl Crescent

Black Swallowtail

Elfin to be ID'd

Juvenal's Duskywing

Chip Krilowicz

Cramer Hill Preserve
Camden County, NJ

Sunny, Cloudy, and Rainy

  • Cabbage White 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
  • Pearl Crescent 1
  • Silver-spotted Skipper 1

Cabbage White

Pearl Crescent

Silver-spotted Skipper

Eastern Tailed-Blue

Tom Bailey

Waterford Township
Camden County, NJ

12:45 to 2:05 pm. Cloudy and low 60s.

  • Red-banded Hairstreak 2
  • Brown Elfin 1
  • Gray Hairstreak 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 8
  • Pearl Crescent 2
  • Common Buckeye 1

Jennifer Bulava

Long Bridge Park, Hainesport Twp
Burlington County, NJ

11:00 am

  • Red-banded Hairstreak 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
  • Pearl Crescent 1

Therese Hurter

front yard, CMCH
Cape May County, NJ

Sunny, 59 degrees between 11-12:00 while gardening. Pearl Crescent was nectaring on clover. American Lady was on dandelion.

  • Pearl Crescent 1
  • American Lady 1

Jack McDonough

Davies Sports Complex
Cape May County, NJ

Overcast, mid afternoon. The RB Hairstreaks were ridiculous, just everywhere

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 2
  • Spicebush Swallowtail 1
  • Cabbage White 2
  • Orange Sulphur 1
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 65
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 7
  • Pearl Crescent 3
  • Question Mark 1
  • American Lady 4
  • Duskywing sp. 15
  • Silver-spotted Skipper 2
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 5

David L. Amadio

Backyard butterfly garden, West Deptford
Gloucester County, NJ

Female briefly visited pansies.

  • Sachem 1

Jennifer Bulava

Rancocas State Park, Hainesport
Burlington County, NJ

8-10:30 am.

  • Spicebush Swallowtail 2
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 2

Tom Bailey

Tabernacle Township yard
Burlington County, NJ

Incidental sighting in late morning.

  • Silver-spotted Skipper 1

David L. Amadio

Fries Mill Rd. powerline
Gloucester County, NJ

Obs. made from 11:10 to 1 p.m. Sunny and 66 degrees. No ventral image this day, but good to see that their flight has begun.

[Good find, Dave – our log's first dusted skipper of 2023. jc]

  • Clouded Sulphur 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
  • Spring Azure 2
  • Pearl Crescent 3
  • American Lady 2
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 7
  • Sachem 1
  • Dusted Skipper 4

Dusted Skipper

David L. Amadio

Backyard butterfly garden, West Deptford
Gloucester County, NJ

Sachem appeared to be the same female that visited yesterday. Duskywing a strong candidate for Horace's but insufficient observation.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
  • Duskywing sp. 1
  • Sachem 1

Tom Bailey

Pemberton Township
Burlington County, NJ

Rt. 70 powerline cut northeast of Spring Lake Blvd / Rattler Rd. 2:40 to 4:40 pm. Sunny, 72 degrees. Duskywings mostly fly-bys. Most of the azures were in areas where blueberry bushes are common. Many were worn. I suspect all were likely Blueberry Azures.

  • Red-banded Hairstreak 1
  • Blueberry Azure 6
  • Spring Azure 4
  • Duskywing sp. 6
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 1

Dave DeSarno

Peaslee WMA
Cumberland County, NJ

3:35-5:35 - 3 locations along the powerline cut covering several miles. I was looking for Cobweb skippers but no luck!! Still a good amount of activity especially the duskywings, most of which were in flight.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 2
  • Spicebush Swallowtail 5
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 2
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 8
  • Duskywing sp. 20
  • Sleepy Duskywing 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 4

Spicebush Swallowtail

Sleepy Duskywing

Juvenal's Duskywing

Jeanine Apgar

Home yard, Galloway Township
Atlantic County, NJ

Late afternoon, 4-5 pm. Two different green hairstreaks.

[I can't remember the last time – if ever – when our log had these two lookalike hairstreaks in such close proximity to each other. Thanks to Tom B and Jack M for the ID confirmations. jc]

  • Hessel's Hairstreak 1
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 2
  • Juniper Hairstreak 1
  • Spring Azure 1

Hessel's Hairstreak

Juniper Hairstreak

Tom Bailey

Bass River SF
Burlington County, NJ

Section east of Rt. 9. Incidental sightings while birding in the morning. Azures were all likely Blueberry Azures.

  • Spicebush Swallowtail 1
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 4
  • Spring Azure 4
  • American Lady 1

Dave DeSarno

Lizard Tail Swamp
Cape May County, NJ

12:45-2:55 mostly sunny and 60's. My first time seeing Frosted Elfins - they are so tiny and beautiful!!

The first one was quite worn and I wasn't 100% at first on ID but the hindwing dot seems to be a good indicator - I didn't see any of the host plant around but was lucky enough to catch the movement as it chased away duskywings etc. It stayed amid a large patch of blue toadflax flowers and consistently returned to what my app id'd as black huckleberry (as seen in photo).

There were at least 3 in the second group (2 very fresh) that were around the small patches of Wild Indigo - the one pictured looked like it was attempting to oviposit.

[Beautiful close-ups, Dave – especially the possible ovipositing. Thank you for the careful photography – and botanical notes. jc]

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 3
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 8
  • Frosted Elfin 4
  • Gray Hairstreak 1
  • Azure, sp. 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 3
  • Variegated Fritillary 1
  • Lady sp. 1
  • Pearl Crescent 10
  • Duskywing sp. 6
  • Silver-spotted Skipper 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 1

Frosted Elfin

Frosted Elfin

Frosted Elfin

Pat & Clay Sutton

Sutton GDN in Goshen
Cape May County, NJ

Spicebush Swallowtail was nectaring on abundant Wild Columbine (wasn't quick enough getting the camera for a pic).

  • Spicebush Swallowtail 1
  • American Lady 1
  • Duskywing sp. 1
  • Sachem 1

Sachem

Tom Bailey

Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Burlington County, NJ

Incidental sightings while birding in the park today. Sunny & temps in the 70s.

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 3
  • Cabbage White 9
  • Eastern Comma 4
  • Mourning Cloak 1
  • American Lady 1
  • Silver-spotted Skipper 1

Chip Krilowicz

Wharton SF - Pump Branch
Camden County, NJ

Mostly Sunny

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 2
  • Spicebush Swallowtail 1
  • Orange Sulphur 2
  • Spring Azure 3
  • Pearl Crescent 2
  • Red Admiral 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 3

Spicebush Swallowtail

David L. Amadio

Backyard butterfly garden, West Deptford
Gloucester County, NJ

A male Zabulon Skipper appeared around 9:30 a.m. Was heading out to church but was able to photograph him later in the afternoon. They seem to like the rusty old plant supports in my garden. The Sachem today was also a male.

[Our log's first zab of 2023. Good find, Dave. jc]

  • Zabulon Skipper 1
  • Sachem 1

Zabulon Skipper

Jack Miller

Bear Swamp Preserve at Red Lion
Burlington County, NJ

Walked the power line.

  • Brown Elfin 1
  • Henry's Elfin 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 6
  • Spring Azure 8
  • Lady sp. 1
  • Pearl Crescent 26
  • Red Admiral 1

Jack McDonough

W Shell Bay Ave, Middle Twp Bike Path
Cape May County, NJ

Sunny, around 10:30am. FOY Common Sootywings.

[Good find, Jack. jc]

  • Cabbage White 1
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 25
  • Gray Hairstreak 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 15
  • Pearl Crescent 3
  • American Lady 2
  • Common Buckeye 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 6
  • Common Sootywing 3
  • Sachem 2

Common Sootywing

Bruce Johnson

Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve powerline
Cape May County, NJ

0840-1000 on the powerline. White M was right at the first pond. Visiting from Pennsylvania.

  • Spicebush Swallowtail 1
  • Red-banded Hairstreak 35
  • Frosted Elfin 1
  • Eastern Pine Elfin 1
  • White M Hairstreak 1
  • Pearl Crescent 2
  • American Lady 2
  • Red Admiral 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 4
  • Sachem 1

White M Hairstreak

Eastern Pine Elfin

Frosted Elfin

Red-banded Hairstreak

Jackie Parker

Higbee Beach WMA
Cape May County, NJ

  • Question Mark 1

Tom Bailey

Double Trouble SP - Lacey Township
Ocean County, NJ

8:45 - 12:00 noon. Sunny, temps in low to mid 70s. Pleasant day.

  • Red-banded Hairstreak 3
  • Eastern Pine Elfin 1
  • Blueberry Azure 1
  • Eastern Tailed-Blue 4
  • Pearl Crescent 8
  • American Lady 2
  • Duskywing sp. 2
  • Sleepy Duskywing 1
  • Juvenal's Duskywing 2

Tom Bailey

Whiting WMA, Manchester Township
Ocean County, NJ

Quick stop from 2:30 to 3:30 pm to see if any Hoary Elfins still flying. Bearberry done blooming and the Hoarys were worn.

  • Hoary Elfin 3
  • Pearl Crescent 2
  • American Lady 1

Grant Price

Warren Grove
Ocean County, NJ

Didn't find many butterflies, may have not known where/how to look. We were not able to go on the NABA walk…

  • Hoary Elfin 1
  • Spring Azure 25

Spring Azure

Hoary Elfin

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