Recent sightings

More butterflies than yesterday. “Bring the fly swatter.”

Partly cloudy, 70s, slight breeze. From a joint hike of Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Association and The Prairie Enthusiasts

A two hour walk in a restored prairie that is managed (very successfully, it seems) for the "Karner" Melissa Blue.

Sunny and 80 degrees.

Giant Swallowtail two summers in a row what a treat !

Saw two Eastern Tiger Swallowtails today. One was a black form female who had lost her tails. Sunny, breezy, 78 degree afternoon.

Made the rounds of the rain gardens on this sunny mild day.

The browns started early and are still present with some fairly fresh individuals. Incidental while removing invasive plants

partly cloudy, 70s, calm

Incidental sightings during a day of pulling buckthorn and mowing trails. The harvester was the catch of the day, but the walkingstick also had charisma.

East Parking Area.

Cool and breezy. Surprisingly few butterflies and dragonflies.

Cloudy and low 70s

The hike started out with the least amount of butterflies I have seen since early April. The deer flies and mosquitoes were atrocious. Over a twenty minute sunny period, many critters came out to fly. The most humming bird moths I have ever seen plus one Snowberry Clearwing.

There were many grasshoppers like in the photos. I have never seen this before. A parasitic wasp?

I also saw a pair of Cedar Waxwings.

Yesterday I walked over a mile in the hot sun at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center and only saw 3 Monarchs total. This morning in my tiny garden, I saw 7 individuals at one time! Sometimes it is best to just stay home in comfort.

Partly cloudy, 9:15 to 10:30 am.

An odd mix of butterflies seen incidentally while we were removing Bouncing Bett from the SNA. The Eyed Brown seem to be putting on a second brood as there were two fresh specimens seen plus one very faded individual

We surveyed two Common Branded Skipper sites but no other areas. Butterfly activity was just getting started after a cloudy start when we arrived, so this may be an undercount. The sky was clouding up after a brief period of half-sun, so we didn't wait in hopes of getting better sky conditions. We saw 30 male, 10 female, and 48 Common Brandeds of unknown gender.

Evening, perched on a flowering lilac bush in my yard

The Giant Swallowtail was on swamp milkweed in the wildflower garden.

East and west prairie trails. Three tandem pairs of Monarchs.

Oakwood Rd - mostly hiked the bog/sedge habitat.

Ptly Cloudy, wind 11 mph, upper 80s

Near noon; low 80s; breezy. Spent about an hour walking the upland prairie paths. Great place for butterfly sightings in mid-summer.

Meadow Fritillary on daisy fleabane in a roadside ditch.

A very unusual Red Spotted Purple flew by me. It was much smaller and it had very noticeable white bands. It was a newly emerged individual. I have never seen this cross breed this south before.

Spotted out on my sunflowers! Definitely what it was because there was also an eastern tiger swallowtail and it was so much smaller. Location is just south of Watertown.

Landed on my deck. I have never seen this species before.

All these going nuts at the same time on my liatris spicatas and purple coneflowers. Fun to watch!

One individual landed on a purple coneflower, flitted around to two or three more, and then flew off to the NW in our neighborhood. I saw it about 9:30 this morning - it was probably already near 80 degrees with high humidity, winds out of the SE and partly sunny. There is a large uncut field about a half a block from our house where there is a huge stand of milkweed just starting to bloom.

Walked around the Michell Park from the Domes, aroundthe pond, and back to the parking lot. It was in the mid 80s and sunny. There were also Pseudacris frogs at the pond, I believe P. maculata. I also saw two eastern kingbirds, a starling, and a pair of caspian terns.

About an hour in the hot, humid weather, was all I could take today.

Dimorphic Eastern Tiger Swallowtail female

Many Clouded Sulphurs congregated around dead roadkill adults. How strange. I chased after a mid sized Orange Sulphur thinking it was a Sleepy Orange. To my surprise, it was the only Orange Sulphur in the area.

Early afternoon, warm, with a strong wind.

Another report from our yard. Its been a very good year here so far. The Monarch caterpillar was on a Narrow-leaved milkweed (Asclepias stenophylla). For the past month we haven't had a day go by without seeing at least one monarch.

Feasting on my Purple Coneflowers!

78F, drizzle. Butterfly on path in Barnes Prairie.

mid-afternoon sightings; overcast day

Sunny. 78-88 degrees. Red Spotted Purp. was very fresh.

Still on the look out for White Admirals. I have failed to find any this year.

Disappointed in lack of individuals.

Various stops. 86-90 degrees, partly sunny and hazy. Many Red spotted purples were killed by ATV.

Various stops. 88 degrees with mostly sun.

The Monarchs eclosed on our screen porch. At the park one BST ovipositing on Queen Anne's Lace and one Cabbage White - that's all, during a one-hour walk. Slim pickings for a day of perfect weather at a location with abundant nectar sources. Rather worrisome, IMHO.

Most of the area south of the main trail has been mowed due to White Sweet Clover

Eighties,slight breeze, sunny

Power line cut through mix of pine, maple, and other hardwood trees.

Incidental while removing Queens Anne Lace from SNA

Monarch and Fritillary in my flower garden. There was also an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, but he was camera shy.

First Oconto Co Red Admiral of year for me.

For 25+ years we've monitored Purplish Fritillaries at 4-7 bogs in this area, usually 2 times during the possible flight period. Most years this date would be early in the flight, or just before the flight. We've seen the species only at North Bear Lake and Bear Lake bogs in the last 6+ years. Also, our counts have declined drastically, with all of the lowest counts being in the last 7 years or so. Today we surveyed North Bear, Bear, Lyman Lake, and Milchesky Road 1.15 bogs, and the roadsides of each. We saw a fresh-looking Purplish Frit east of County A along the ditch, at Bear Lake Bog.

Diversity and numbers down substantially now

I still can not believe I have not seen any Regal activity. It has been excellent weather conditions.

Early evening among flora surrounding the pond, soft breeze, partly sunny

It was a beautiful day in our neighborhood - for butterflies. Humid, 86 deg., mild breeze.

I walked along the waterfall trail to the lake and back. There was Monarda fistulosa (bee balm), Eutrochia purpureum (joe pye weed), and wild mint in bloom.

Hot and sunny

Incidental while doing a bumblebee survey, we saw five species of bumblebees

George W. Mead SWA - mix of maple, basswood, and oak from the parking lot to the sedge marsh. Northern Leopard Frog also pictured.

In the am around 10-11:30.

There were a large number of Monarchs (25+) at the beach along with a few fritillaries, a Mourning Cloak and a White Admiral.

Clouds of fritillaries around Wazee lake.

Warm windy afternoon

midday 80 and mostly sunny. checked pking areas and short walks in fields and dikes near them for about an hour in the savannah areas.

First sighting of a Swallowtail this summer!

10% sun, 64-68 degrees F. Coastal bogs: Port Wing Boreal Forest West Unit, and Bibon Lake Bog, the two phenologicaly slowest bogs we study. A downpour of rain happened as soon as we finished, then a really big rain 1.5 days later. When we re-surveyed these two bogs in perfect weather July 25, our total was 46 Bog Coppers. The Bog Copper count July 23 was surprisingly high because all other other Bog Copper sites we visited in late July except one, and both other coastal bogs, had come way off their peaks already because the flight was far earlier than average.

80's, mostly sunny

Hot day with a nice breeze.

Hour before sunset. Sunny and high 80's. Walked about 100 yards of dike trail through marshy savannah.

Sunny, humid, 88 degree day.

On Rattlesnake Master flower

Hiked the central and north main trails. Hummingbird Clearwing was a nice bonus.

Only my second Orange Sulphur of the year.

Sunny, 80s

83 degrees and humid, afternoon started sunny but then clouded up. No one was fishing near the dam because the Mississippi was so low the edge of the water was too far from shore! Negligible Partridge Pea seen. 14 species.

After not seeing a tiger swallowtail for several weeks, I saw a large, crisp-looking individual nectaring in the Monarda; seems to be an eastern tiger swallowtail, whereas those I photographed in early summer were Canadian. I also finally found a skipper that would hold still while I photographed it: a broad-winged skipper held in the clutches of a goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia).

Inner Peace trail.

By the artesian well and vicinity.

Butterflies seen while weeding garden.

Mostly sunny 80 degree afternoon.

A one-hour visit. Near 80 degrees. Partly cloudy with a smoke haze.

These were seen in Alex Singer's prairie yard in just a few minutes of casual observation. Plant it and they will come!

Cloudy,warm. About an hour before sunset.

It was a good day for a survey. Everywhere I looked there were silver-spotted skippers; I stopped counting at 60. Many, many monarchs, too--the most I've seen in one place this year. Also many other insects, including dragonflies and hummingbird moths. It was a still day; my survey was before noon, when the temps were around 80.

Late afternoon, beautiful day. One tandem pair of Monarchs.

Also saw a brushfoot (probably an Eastern Comma), but it flew off before I could get a great look at it.

130th and Townline. Overcast, with intermittent sprinkles.

Larger skippers have started appearing near a beaver pond; they seem to be broad-winged skippers.

"Karner" Melissa Blue found on the North side of Beaver Creek.

Prairie area is in full bloom with a variety of wildflowers, but few butterflies. Saw most of the butterflies along the trail. Also saw many birds including goldfinches, Baltimore orioles, red-wing blackbirds, tree swallows, a catbird, an osprey soaring and two in their nest, a mother wood duck and her 8 ducklings swimming, plus a green heron along the shoreline. Also spotted a mating pair of green darner dragonflies. Cloudy, 75 degree fun afternoon.

All sightings from the free access (non-ticketed) part of the gardens

Brandl Rd.

Warm, sunny day

I had a great day in the field at this site for the first time since 2013. After 16 years of email correspondence I finally got to meet Mathew and spend some time in the field looking at insects. We had an unexpected Armund Bartz sighting, and he asked if we had heard the Bell's Vireo and it sang as if on cue.

Saw several grass skippers but they had an attitude (bad) today

80's, sunny, slight breeze

Placed large caterpillar in a container - chrysalis developed in one day - butterfly emerged in 12 days and released.

Spotted black blue butterfly with unique markings, waited for it to land, landed on some scat and I was able to get a few pictures. It disappeared but came back 3 times to same area. Rarely see black blue butterflies. Also seen a couple Monarchs in the same area.

80s partly cloudy, slight breeze

around 80 degrees, mostly sunny

Mostly sunny, around 70 degrees

Sunny, 80 degree day.

I chased down a small bright orange sulphur I thought maybe could be a sleepy orange. I couldn’t fully ID it. It was different than your typical Colias spp.

Sunny, 70s, around noon

80 deg., sunny, calm