Recent sightings

2:30 to 4:30 p.m.,85°, sunny.

More American Pipits, but no American Golden Plover, the fields were being hunted by a Sharped Shinned and Coopers Hawk. More butterflies today than yesterday

Amazingly great weather!

sunny, 77 - 83, S wind 8 - 10 mph, 2.65 mi

The visit included several unidentified skippers.

12 noon to 4:15 p.m., 68 to 84°. Cloudy at first then full sun and much warmer. I've never seen so many American Coppers, (more than at Oktoberfest!). In some places, there were as many as 10 within several feet, all on white asters, sometimes 2 or 3 next to each other. Walked 2 miles: wherever there were asters, there were American Coppers. First time to see Closed Gentian flowers at this spot

73 to 80 degrees. Mostly sunny. 12 species. Sachem was the first butterfly found --- before we had a camera ready. 21 of the Eastern Tailed-Blues were in a puddling group.

Early on it was pretty quiet but 'butterfly business' picked up when we found the sweet spot with an abundance of Asters and Thistles. Haven't seen a Bronze Copper since last year at Hogback. YEAH! The Mourning Cloak was my first one to photograph this year even if this warrior has seen better days! YEAH! I thought I was going to have to say it was a "no skipper day" but the Fiery came through in the parking area and 'thank you Karl' for sharing some great advice! YEAH!

Windy, cloudy early in the day moving to mostly sunny with temps between 75-80 F from 11-2

Sunny, 70s.

The butterflies were nothing special but the birds were special at least to me. Hundreds of American pipits, more than I had seen in my whole life all in one field. Then a call I did not know. American Golden Plovers! (according to Merlin). Heading out this morning with the spotting scopes to confirm as it would be a Lifer

A quick stop. 1:00 PM t0 2:30 PM Mostly sunny, warm, Roads were wet and there was a lot of Eastern commas puddling on them. Other butterflies for the most part were nectaring on asters.

70s, breezy, mostly sunny

80s, mostly sunny, breezy

Mostly sunny, 80s, breezy

From 12 to 3pm. Filtered sun, temps in 70s to 80 by 3pm. Plenty of puddles due to early morning rain. Perhaps the 1st White-lined Sphinx moth of the year. (I don't recall seeing one this summer) Plus, a couple of Tiger Beetles to add interest. A great day to be out.

Warm and sunny.

Also found one large fat Monarch caterpillar on Milkweed in one of the flower gardens.

lots of asters in flower but few butterflies, sunny, and 70 degrees, 10:50-11:45.

Was hoping to reach 100 Monarchs in the flower field today but didn't quite make it. By 3:00 when I checked back to see what was left in the field Monarch numbers were definitely reduced. It really seemed like the Monarchs had fueled up and wee moved on. The Common Checkered-Skippers were new finds at this location. Pleased to get photos since these little darlings really gave me the run around.

Sunny and breezy with temps around 75 F between noon and 3:00.

2:10 to 3:30 p.m., 73°, mostly sunny. The Meadow Fritillary had died on the flower, so I took it off and photographed the ventral side.

mostly sunny, around 70 degrees

A Compton Tortoiseshell was seen sunning itself on the side of a window around noon. Later it flew to a TV tower to again sit with wings open to the sun. Today was the first day of sunshine for several days. This was our first sighting of this species after living here since 1980.

10:30-12:30 mostly sunny, 65-71. My first Sachems of the year, both males. They interacted a lot with the Fiery males so they didn't sit in one place very long. The photo is my best cell phone photo out of 20+ attempts. Also only my second tagged Monarch. Anyone recognize AHWX 770? I am going to submit it.

Warm and Sunny. Monarchs sighted brightly colored

still cloudy, calm, and mid 60s

3-4PM 60s, overcast

After rain and some sunshine peaking out after lunch - activity noticed. Clouded up about an hour later and activity stopped.

At least 3 Cabbage White feeding. Spending good time on each flower before moving on to the next. More relaxed feeding than usually seen. Slower working the flowers than what I have normally noticed.

1pm, cloudy, 65 degrees.

Please check out the the Pearl Crescent photo that looks like this butterfly has spikes! Included a photo of the Archytas apicifer which is a species of Tachnid Fly that seemed to be on every Aster I stopped at to look for butterflies.

3:15 to 4:30 p,m., 68°, mostly cloudy after rain. One anglewing flew by.

Rainy and chilly.

Late afternoon, 72 degrees, mostly cloudy, windy.

Mostly cloudy and 70.

Butterflies had a hard time flying and nectaring today with wind and rain. Windy, mostly cloudy, 68 degree mid-afternoon.

Some interesting changes since I last visited the Preserve 16 days ago. The most dramatic were Monarch's went from from 57 to 1 and Silver-spotted Skippers went from 44 to none. I also did not find a Pearl Crescent and last time I found 15. A few of the Monarch and SSS last time were found on Jones Road which had all the Red Clover that the butterflies were visiting mowed off. Two new butterflies this visit were the Sachem and the Azure. I saw 15 species last time and this time 12, so I was very happy about that considering that the weather was pretty uncooperative.

Cloudy and breezy with temps around 75 from 1:15-3:00.

Along with butterflies, bumble bees, and many honey bees seen. Honey bees very active. They really like the asters this time of year. Honey bees more numerous than earlier in the year. Before this, bumble bees were dominant species. They were active all summer. It was a good year for Bumble's.

Again, pretty quiet. I was hoping to find some fritillaries.

Around 4:30 the Monarchs were busy every where in a field of flowers until a light rain ended the count. Although I saw a few Monarchs landing in the trees none seemed to be forming a roost.

11:20-1:30, 4.5 miles on trails, cloudy and mid 60s.

Home sick with a cold, so just a couple of garden butterflies.

5:45 pm 1 feeding on Butterfly bush in backyard another in the front yard

64 degrees sunny and light breeze

notes pertain to Monarchs (Cabbage White seen in the am )

Mostly cloudy, low 70s, breezy, around noon. When the sun peaked out all 3 Giant Swallowtails started working the zinnias at the same time. A Fiery Skipper also came to visit along with numerous bumblebees and honey bees. The bumblebees like the zinnias and sedum. The honey bees seem to favor the sedum.

Butterflies were almost absent. Completely absent at Rahr Memorial School Forest. I saw 2 neat Great Spreadwing damselflies but my iPhone camera was not focusing.

3:45 to 5 p.m., 76°, cloudy and humid. Lots of asters and gravel between big machinery!

Partly cloudy, mid-70s, breezy, afternoon. While working in my garden, I noticed 3 different Giant Swallowtails visiting the zinnias throughout the afternoon. One individual was well-worn and the other two fairly fresh.

Out again looking for bumblebees and checking to see how many of the wildflowers produced seeds for replanting into invasive ridden areas of the SNA. Very poor production of seeds this year with the drought

Wild Ones butterfly and pollinator garden. All three were nectaring on the zinnias in the garden.

Sun quickly disappeared as a strong wind brought in storm clouds cutting our walk short. Saw a pair of Sandhill cranes along the trail. Windy, cloudy, 72 degree late morning.

Both the newest and oldest American Ladies in one day.

Incidental while gardening

4 pm cool 70 degrees and windy

Mostly cloudy, 78 degrees, calm, 2 pm. The sun peaked out briefly while I was in the garden. A Giant Swallowtail visited the zinnias for the second day in a row. A Viceroy caught some rays on the raspberries.

Thistles seemed to be the nectar choice of the day.

Started sunny but turned cloudy about 12:45 so didn't see much after that. Temps 72-73 F, 10:30-1:30

Butterflies observed incidentally throughout the day.

Few nectar sources here.

Stopped at a city garden along Hwy 8 that looked promising for a Fiery Skipper. A male, sunny at 72 degrees at 10:00.

Found the frit during a cloudy day. It was clinging to a Hackberry tree.

Both commas are darting around the tree line.

12:45 to 2:15 p.m., 80 to 84°, sunny. Clumps of white asters and some butterfly weed.

11:30 to 12:15, 74°,sunny. First visit here. Very few flowers, not much flying, so I went down to Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.

Went out looking for bumblebees but did not find target species. Did find some butterflies

Mid-eighties, sunny, no wind. Grettum Dike Rd., Stolte Rd., Hickerson Rd., SW Dike Rd. A lot of Purplish Coppers and sulphurs (more clouded than orange)

78 degrees. Sunny. About 2 hours. 9 species. Along a small portion of the Area.

Warm, windy, Sunny afternoon. The Fiery skippers and Viceroy were at the hospital in New Richmond. Two of the Buckeyes were at Oak Ridge lake.

9:30 to 11:30 a.m., cloudy, 65 to 70°

The flora at this site was plentiful which is odd because down the highway about ten miles at the Oshkosh Larsen Prairie SNA the flora is down to the latest of the latest. This site is part of the Glacial Restoration program and is four years into the program, quite a few species for this time of year for our part of the state

Mostly sunny, 76 degree early afternoon.

4 to 4:45 p.m., 78°,sunny. Lots flying in small patches of clover and white aster.

Sunny, around noon spotted some happy butterflies! We had a nice rain last evening, so two measurable much needed rains in the past three days! The Comma and Question Mark look brand spanking new!!

They mowed or were working on mowing the best nectar sources today.

Mid 70s, mostly sunny, breezy. No Monarchs until I saw one on the drive home. Hognose snake is always a great find.