May 2023 Sightings

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.

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

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]

Sunny, Cloudy, and Rainy

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

11:00 am

Incidental sighting in late morning.

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

8-10:30 am.

Female briefly visited pansies.

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

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]

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

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]

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.

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

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.

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]

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

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]

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

Walked the power line.

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

[Good find, Jack. jc]

Mostly Sunny

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

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.

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

Good numbers of Frosteds on this lovely day. Sachems were our first grass skippers of this year, and the Juniper Hairstreaks were an unexpected surprise here for us, including two with no Red Cedars within sight.