Butterfly sightings for June 2007

Both Brown Elfins were very worn.

Saw my first spangled skimmer...thanks to Todd Sima!

The Giant Swallowtail was my third sighting of this species in Waushara County and first since the early 1990s. It was also my earliest by far! The Hobomok is a dark female that is called form pocohontas. I also sighted a couple Tiger Swallowtails but I couldn't tell the species.

There weren't very many butterflies at Bohn Lake, but there were a lot of dragonflies and they were landing on my hat and shoulders every time I stopped. I decided to try to set up my tripod and set the timer and see what kind of photo I could get. I was amazed to see that I had five Chalk-fronted Corporals on my hat, another one on my shoulder, and a Common Whitetail.

The Clouded Sulphurs were abundant and a Midland Clubtail took advantage of it. I also attached one photo from the 17-yr cicada trip to Lake Geneva. We had a great time. If you missed this trip, think about joining us on June 9th for another cicada field trip.

Cloudy with only very brief periods of sunshine.

Stopped briefly early morning; very windy. My first great spangled of the year.

Breezy today. Started out with lots of sun and then quickly clouded over for the rest of the day. Many of the Harris' Checkerspots were on wet sand.

Also saw a duskywing

Two females laying eggs on pipevine, Aristolochia tomentosa.

Sunny but very windy today.

Sunny but very windy today. The Harris' Checkerspot that has more orange is the most common here. Only 3 of the ones seen today were of the darker form that is more common in the eastern United States.

Also saw a duskywing, but it was too worn to identify. After seeing my first ever Common Ringlet in Wood County, I saw a second one on my property, about 2 miles from the first sighting.

SWBA/Madison Audubon Society cicada field trip afternoon stop. 1 singing 17-yr cicada.

The Common Ringlet was the first I've seen in Wood County.

Another un-ided duskywing as well.

The Brown Elfin was very worn.

Casual observations while out pulling garlic mustard in open woodlands adjacent to wetlands throughout the day. Also heard a dozen plus 17-year cicadas at various locations.

Saw 15+ additional tiger swallowtails.

Location is an old school forest trail. Area is dense forest with pockets of sunlight - where most were soaring like eagles on warm air currents.

We did our 50-stop Federal Breeding Bird Survey this morning. Healthy 17-year cicada chorus at 2 stops and a Little Yellow on the last stop.

Unusually high numbers of these two species in the northwoods so far this year.

100's of butterflies on wild flowers and dirt roads.

The Dainty Sulphur was heading east at a pretty good clip and I was able to follow it for over 200 yards to get the photo. The Elfin was very worn but the arrowheads on the hindwing below, which are characteristic of the Eastern Pine Elfin, were still present.

More evidence this species is unusually abundant this year...

We also saw a horned clubtail dragonfly.

Most of the sightings were at 9 springs eway, with 1 Tiger Swallowtail and a few whites in rural Fitchburg near Co Hys D & M. Also saw a couple blues, but unable to indentify and several dragonflies in 9 Springs area.

Also saw a small black skipper that wouldn't stay still long enough for me to ID it.

I have lived in the Wausau area for 11 years and this is the first Common Buckeye I have seen. I was painting my house and about fell off the ladder.

Individual nearly perfect condition suspect it had just emerged.

The White Admiral flew over the observation deck at the top of Roche-A-Cri Mound.

Note especially the snout with no snout photo. This was the first Snout that Todd had ever seen and it had no snout! What are the odds of that?
Mike

Notice how long the tails appear.
Mike

There were easily 100 Red Admirals in the boat ramp parking lot on Lake Waubesa alone, and many were dead on the pavement. There were enough at Nine Springs to be distracting while I was trying to watch dragonflies.

Very windy.

There were 20 or more near the falls mixed in with the Red Admirals. It was about 8:30 am. They were vere active, much more so than the Admirals, preventing any photographs.

The trails are full of red admirals. There is no way to estimate their exact number. They were even landing on me.

Seen fluttering around and landing on clover plants in the grass

Red admirals on the road, on the sumac, etc. Hard to pick out the other species!

Flowers being visited by butterflies included (especially) Common Milkweed, Canada Thistle and Indian Hemp.

There were 1000s of these butterflies lining the multi-use trail of the state park. I have never seen so many at one time.

Probably more Greenish Blues but I didn't even know what I was looking at until I studied my photos later.

At least 50 in one tree in our front yard. Several individuals are fluttering around our entire property. Lovely Sight!

More Buckeyes...

Left tail almost gone.

From the 21st through the 26th the blossoms of the 12 foot diameter hydrangia in my yard were covered with Red Admirals from late morning until almost dusk. They were so numerous that there were often two and sometimes three to a bloom. This happened in 2001 as well. It becomes a living shrub and is marvelous to see.

1st Regals of the year.

Took some pictures of these because they were all over the trees

Cloudy, 5-minutes of spotty sun.

My First Striped and Coral in Racine County!

Red Admirals everywhere! My first Buckeye, too, though before I could get a better shot it was chased off by... a red admiral.

100's of Red Admirals on the blossoms of a tree in our backyard and sunning on the side of the house.

Numerous Red Admirals at the Arb as well, but not in the same crazy numbers. Photo is of a Mourning Cloak, Question Mark, and Red Admiral competing for a patch of prime sap--first time I've managed three species in the same frame.

Numerous in backyard

Photos are of the same male Byssus Skipper.

American Lady was previously reported.

Our count of 100 is likely an underestimation. Sighting of the Red Admirals have been prolific over the past 3 days along Hwy 60 and Cty Hwy C.

We have had Red Admirals in our garden and around our pond for days now, more than I have ever seen!!

Red Admirals were everywhere!
Fritillary was being chased off the flowers by them.

The red admirals were incredible - probably at least 1,000! They were all over the road, the paths, the flowers.

Most of the sightings are at 9 springs, however, I saw a pair of banded hairstreaks outside my balcony window in the trees. When one landed on a maple leaf, I got out the binoculars to identify it.

100+ is probably a conservative estimate. They seemed to be covering the road, and I felt bad that I was probably hitting a lot of them with my car. They seem very friendly as well. I've had a number of them land right on me while working in my garden at home.

Literally 2,000 plus Red Admirals seen, flying, landing on roadways and trails. Incredible to see so many at one time.

Outbreak! Sighted at least 50 on east facing white picket fence and the trees behind early in the morning.

He stayed for quite a while. I got a lot of pictures and then he closed his wings and he didn't even look like the same butterfly. I think he was going for the oriole nectar.

Amazing view, we have never seen so many in one area. I have noticed one living in my fern this last week when watering. Never thought I would see such a sight!

The gravel driveway is covered with the red admirals. Seems to coincide with the blooming of the Canadian thistle that we are trying to control in our prairie area. There were hundreds around the farm tractor doing work in the field.

hundreds of these in the trees

My husband and I see them all over the yard. They like the garage and our rocks by our small pond. They like to sit on the flowers and in the mulch below them.

They're all over. The chihuahua I rescued from the animal shelter is amazed.

Very hot and lots of deer flies! Also photographed an unknown skipper.

The past two days I have seen 20-50 butterflies in my driveway, on the garage and house, and in trees. What a fabulous sight to see!!

Our first sighting was in the the morning in our front yard. We had another sighting later in the afternoon in our backyard. We have been pleased to notice a greater variety of butterflies last year and this year.

Single sightings on three different days 27th, 28th, & 30th

I had never seen this species in June but expected that they would be flying since this is an early year for most species.

Mike told me to check areas that had Junipers for the Juniper Hairstreak so I decided to check a new area. Well, I walked right into 5 Rattlesnakes. A first for me. When I heard the rattle and looked down they put the fear into me!

16 male Crossline Skippers, 1 female.

Not a complete list. Greenish Blue was quite worn.

Not a complete list. All the American Ladies were extremely fresh. Variegated Frit was very worn.