Butterfly sightings for September 2007

The Great Spangled Fritillary was very worn, with large pieces of its wings missing.

Wandered the prairies off of Hwy N and Rte. 59, near Paradise Springs and the visitors center.

I was very happy to find four Megacephala Beetles today and they varied in size from very large to huge. They all ran like the dickens for grass clumps or the shade of cactus making them very difficult to photograph. I was also very happy to find my first Six Lined Racerunner and it allowed me to lay down and take a portrait of it.

My favorite spot was a pile of rotting apples that had 2 Viceroys, 2 Red Admirals, a Question Mark and lots of bees on it.

The monarchs and red admirals were seen at Olbrich Gardens. The suplphurs were seen along the roadside in rural parts of Fitchburg. The previouis day I counted at least 40 suplphurs along a 2 mile stretch of Caine and Byrne Roads in Fitchburg.

Not a lot of butterflies, but plenty of distractions, including my first big-headed tiger beetle and eastern ornate box turtle, to keep in the field for 4+ hours.

A bit of a butterfly resurgence with the warmer weather, highlighted by a Variegated Fritillary in my yard.

in a prairie nearby a river, feeding on Trifolium sp.

The Pipevine Swallowtails were captivating the crowds at Olbrich.

I may actually have seen more than one Pipevine Swallowtail as I saw it several times, but I couldn't be sure. It was always nectaring on verbena.

One shrub was covered with at least 60 Monarchs!

I saw both female and male Fiery Skippers - on previous visits I only saw males.

My last stop was at Greenwood Refuge where there were many Monarchs, mostly nectaring on Rigid Goldenrod.

Mosquito netting is a must. The mosquitos were so thick I had to swipe them off the netting because they blocked my line of vision. This little eastern-tailed blue landed on my red print shirt several times and came for a ride.

The one Black Swallowtail I managed to get a picture of was a bit beat up.

This Aphrodite was quite a surprise.

Mosquitoes were more common than Red Admirals in late June.

I was happy to see some butterflies in today's high winds. The Red-spotted Purple was out nectaring before the bumblebees got going.

Finally!

I was very surprised to see a Checkered White, Checkered Skipper and Gray Hairstreak all in one day! I also was able to watch a female Eastern Pondhawk fly up to catch a Damselfly and then photographed it eating the head off. I only saw two Robber Flies but was treated to watching this one fly out twenty feet and then return with a bee.

The high temperature today was 61. The past week there were two nights with frost. All of the Checkered Whites seen today and on previous dates have been males.

27 degrees and heavy frost in the morning, a few butterflies by afternoon...

Warmer but cloudy today. The only period of sunshine was later in the day.

One Red Admiral hovered near my garage door, and then moved toward my front garden.

The viceroys were near the boardwalk that goes across the marsh.

The Milberts Tortoiseshell was the first of the year for me. On Sunday I went down to Millville and watched clouds of dragonflies in two areas. The total number went well over 100. I also saw two Checkered Whites and photographed a female that has a lot of red around the black markings.

I also spotted a small organish butterfly that I couldn't I.D. The swallowtail I spotted was large and brown. I at first thought I had seen a Spicebush Swallowtail. However, it would seem more likely that this was a dark phase female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. In any case it was a treat to see one so late in the season.

This was my first Fiery Skipper of the year in Waushara County and my first Purplish Copper ever in the Wautoma Wetlands Park.

Several Splendid Tiger Beetles, one with a blue head.

This was my first Fiery Skippers I have ever seen in my garden. I ran inside to get my camera to document it and when I went back out I finally found one, but an assassin bug had beaten me to it!

I have a small garden patch out near Oregon with some friends. Most of the sulphurs were seen on the way to it. There is a dairy farm that attracts swarms of sulphurs. Maybe it's the manure.

I checked on the Sleepy Orange site that we saw in July and when I stopped the car one flew by.

Also saw two fritillaries, but they didn't stop long enough for me to figure out which species.

The Northern Crescent was very worn. The Variegated Fritillary and one
of the Buckeyes were nectaring together on Rigid Goldenrod. It would
have been a nice photo, but I had no camera. The Checkered Skippers
were all in the same small area. They were constantly chasing each
other, the Checkered Whites, and even grasshoppers.

These observations were incidental to watching the 3-ring Jaeger circus at the Point (field trip of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology). Also 3 unidentified Ladies flew through.

Fiery Skippers were spread out more than I have seen them in the past. Every little flower bed had some. I once counted seven perched that I could see from one spot.

I tried videotaping butterflies for the first time today, hoping to get the Checkered Skippers. I was able to tape all of the immigrant species. Even when nectaring, the Checkered Skippers don't stay in one place for long.

Stopped for about 45 minutes on my way to Avon Bottoms. This was the first time I have been here. It looks like a good place to check out next year.

Stopped briefly to see if there were any butterflies and was surprised to find four male and two female Fiery Skippers.

Saw a few remaining meadowhawk dragonflies. I have been seeing reblooming violets, strawberries and marsh marigolds.

The 10% chance of rain turned into 100% this afternoon and it was sprinkling and about 62 degrees as I took this photo.

High of 76 and windy today. The sky was overcast, but the sun came through enough to cast shadows most of the day. The Dainty Sulphur was much smaller than any I've seen previously this year, with dark hindwings below with a green tint to them. The Gray Hairstreaks were the first I've seen in Wood County. About all that remains for nectar sources now are Rigid Goldenrod, New England Aster and Hoary Alyssum. Observed a mating pair of Bumble Bees.

The Great Spangled Fritillary was the latest one I have ever seen. I almost missed it because I was most interested in photographing the fringed gentians.