Butterfly sightings for August 2007

Saw my first Giant Swallowtail. Amazing!

The Fiery Skippers were nectaring mostly on rosinweed, but also joe-pye weed and rattlesnake master.

Most sightings were from the Bluff overlook and along the Bluff trail. One female Ea. Tailed Blue amongst the 3. The Black Swallowtail was at the Bluff overlook acting territorial chasing off anything that would fly his way. The RS Purple was in fresh condition.

As an added bonus, had the privelege of seeing the Hine's Emerald at Mud Lake!

Cabbage whites like my vegetable garden.

Female was laying eggs on Field Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense).

I was surprised it could fly since both wings were tattered and one wing almost half gone.

I stopped at 6:15 to look around and was surprised to see the Giant Swallowtail. I was trying to photograph it in flight without a lot of success, but notice the ant that was caught in the claw of its tarsus! The Checkered Whites were also a bonus.

Daintys along Jones Rd.

Almost unbelievable numbers of Dainty Sulphurs, with undoubtedly dozens more present in this huge area of habitat. Also lots of Checkered Whites. A great place for some interesting species.

No sun at all and scattered rain.

This specimen was very intrigued by our blooming liatris and let me get very close to photograph.

I spent about an hour walking around my property after work today right before the sky turned cloudy. The Checkered White and the Common Checkered-Skippers were a nice surprise.

After the morning rain I went over to Muscada and Blue River and found the Common Sootywing to be the butterfly of the day. The most that I have ever seen and was able to take one picture with seventeen of them in it.

Stopped to look for Checkered Whites and found them!

Harvester was a life butterfly!

I was very surprised to see two Checkered Whites and after an eighty yard sprint I was able to get just three pictures of one. The Sleepys and Little Yellows looked very fresh, while the Daintys looked worn.

These were active, as usual, around the perimeter of my yard which is sectioned off from farm fields by wild growth.

These appeared in the same location as they have throughout the last month or so. This is the first time I have seen more than 3 at one time. The closest to me constantly defended his turf against encroachment by drangonflies and other Black Swallowtails. Oddly, it did not bother to chase Cabbage Whites that came near it.

These were prominent around the entire perimeter of my yard today. Previously I have seen them in one specific area.

It is smaller than a lot of butterflies that I have just started to photograph but it is beautiful. It stayed around for quite some time.

Sleepy Oranges were fresh. The photos are of two different individuals. Thanks to Todd Sima I saw my first Wisconsin Fragile Forktails.

This female Autumn Meadowhawk was pointed about as straight up and down as she could get!

After a morning shower the skies cleared and the butterflies appeared. On this first stop of the field trip the highlights were the Gray Hairstreak, the Checkered White, and the Sleepy Orange. Photos were submitted by Ann Thering.

Second stop of the field trip. The highlights here were the Harvester and the Leonard's Skipper.

Cloudy today.

In a very brief period of looking at butterflies, I saw several Fiery Skippers.

All species were seen between August 11 and August 13.

Another quick visit to Olbrich Gardens. It was nice to see 3 skippers, all on the same plant, in one area.

2nd Wisconsin record for the Funereal Duskywing! It was mainly nectaring on Verbena.

Spent about 2.5 hours roaming around and saw more Fiery Skippers than I have ever seen in one place. This species was just seen in Washburn, Bayfield County, the farthest north that this species has been seen in Wisconsin.

1 female

Saw at least one (probably 2) Fiery Skippers. One perched on a sign that we were erecting and nectared on spotted knapweed. It seems as if I can't get away from this species now.

I had seen him around in the flowerbed the previous week but he was so fast I could never get a picture until this day. It was early morning and I had my camera in my pocket. What luck...

Bronze Copper was very worn.

Most of the Sachems and Fiery Skippers were seen on a sandy lowland area on Lake Superior. This area is normally underwater so it is very open. Nevertheless Sachems were seen at three sites in Washburn.

On Thursday I saw over 300 Tiger Beetles in Richland County and at one point I sat down to watch over 200 of them put on one of the best insect shows that I have ever seen. On Friday I stopped at Spring Green to see what I could find. I photographed my first Tetracha Virginica. Then I found two Mating Robber Flies with a Grasshopper and thought that three is a crowd. Since the Robber Flies feed on the body fluids I have renamed the picture as Gatorade for Robber Flies! The little creatures still amaze me as much as the big ones.

Notice the lack of spots on the very fresh Leonard's Skipper.

It was a good day!

In between the clouds and downpours, I found that Olbrich still has fiery skippers; a few were fresh, as was the Little Yellow.

When the sun came out so did the butterflies. It isn't often that a Black Saddlebags will sit so still!

I spent about 1/2 hour walking around my property after work. This was the only sunny period today. The Dainty Sulphur was in the same location as my previous sightings in early July.

Individual observed taking nectar from a bull thistle

Not much flying in the woodlands here these days...

I stopped at a number of boat landings and fields of wildflowers along the Great River Road (HWY 35) in Crawford County to try out my brand new camera.

All spotted om my property. Just missed getting a photo of the Red-spotted Purple.

I spotted the Question Mark while mowing the lawn this evening, and so did my granddaughter. She suggested looking for more. She's 5 years old and likes butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.

This was the first adult Pipevine Swallowtail that I have ever seen. I saw it twice and almost got the camera focused before it flew away.

Mike

In the picture there are three Clouded Sulphurs, two Sleepys, over ten Little Yellows and Dainty Sulphurs for a Mixed Bag of Sulphurs.