Butterfly sightings for May 2009

Sunny skies turned into cloudy skies soon after we made it out into the field.

My first Spring Azure of the year, but not much else...

I was gone during the sunny part of the morning, but each of my granddaughters had netted a Cabbage White for me. The sun was mostly gone by noon.

Not a great day for butterflies. Cool, windy, and mostly cloudy.

I got here just after noon before it clouded over completely. It was cool and windy, but there was just enough sun for the Elfins. Some of the basking Elfins were pushed so flat by the wind that they looked like roadkill. I saw a couple of Green Darners, my first dragonflies of the year.

More flying today. Also had two Cowpath Tiger Beetles and a Common Claybank Tiger Beetle.

My first Brown Elfin of the year. Also lots of Green Darners now.

The Satyr Comma was less than a mile from those that I reported on April 14 but it was fairly fresh. Exact location was intersection of FR194 and FR196 ~6 miles north of Clam Lake.

69 degrees today and sunny

Lots of nectar sources! I could have spent all day here. Also saw a Columbine/Wild Indigo Duskywing. Lots of columbine here. Also saw a six-spotted tiger beetle with no spots.

Few nectar sources here. This was the first time I had ever seen a butterfly nectaring on Dutchman's breeches.

Other Hot Sightings. Reptile - Blandings Turtle
Bird - pair Rufous Sided Towhee

We also saw two Dogbane Beetles and Splendid Tiger Beetles.
A duskywing put in a brief appearance; I refer to it as a "peskywing" as it zipped right by.

More sun and less wind today made for some very active Elfins. The Eastern Pine Elfin in the photo was more orange than any I've seen before.

The Columbine Duskywings were laying eggs on Columbine. Hazy sky. 72 degrees.

My first Eastern Pine and Hoary Elfins of the year. Also had Festive and Cow Path Tiger Beetles.

All seen after 6 pm!

Probably a good site for bog butterflies in the weeks ahead...

Tried to decrease my aperture after taking this photo and the blue took advantage of the break and flew away.

Northwest side of area. Saw it in flight but couldnt get a photo of topside.

Jackpine/oak barrens

Cicindela patruela and Cicindela scutellaris out and about.

I'd suggest people especially send in their Azure photos through early July. We might be able to determine if any are the claimed new species Cherry Gall Azure aka Late Spring Azure.

I did a poor job of photographing them but there were TONS of West Virginia Whites on the roads amidst the beautiful, wildflower-laden hardwood forests here. I also had an Oblique-lined Festive Beetle.

I have been stopping and looking for these for over a week. These were my first of the year. I also saw my first Tiger Swallowtail of the year at noon.

For four consecutive days, it was sunny when I got off work and cloudy when I made it to this location.

Only about 2 hours of sunshine today. There were quite a few Hudsonian Whitefaces out.

Mostly cloudy, cool, and somewhat windy. I saw the Columbine Duskywing lay an egg on columbine.

The Freija Fritillary record is a new site (2nd in county) and slight southern range extension. Red-disked Alpines should be starting to fly in the area; unfortunately skies clouded over before likely spots were visited. Also included a bonus image of Glyphipterix haworthana (Glyphipterigidae), a tiny moth whose caterpillars bore into cottongrass heads. Take pictures/specimens of any little bog moths you see!

Very windy!

Pussy-toes were a good nectar source today.

Also three Tiger Swallowtails.

We brake for butterflies! In the road was a pile of 7 Duskywings and 2 Spring Azures. They were Juvenal's Duskywings and 1 Dreamy Duskywing. See size comparison with the Juvenal's. Our first black female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail for year.

Very windy! Hard to get a good side shot of the Eflin.

Sunny and warmer today with less wind.

These were from late this afternoon.

Calm winds, 80-90% blue skies, temperatures reaching into the 60's

Not the best butterflying day with temperature in the upper 50s and mostly cloudy conditions. Saw one lay an egg on Cut-leaved Toothwort. This was at the far southern border of Forest County.

I stopped here for a few minutes around 5:00 this afternoon. The Elfins and Azures were very active.

About 70F and sunny, but quite windy. Red-disked Alpines and Freija Fritillaries around early peak flight. Numbers should have been MUCH higher...this is a fantastic site. Note that female Red-disked Alpines (see photo w/ no red showing) have heavy white scaling underneath. Kept a live female and now have eggs!

Photos by Dave Hanson

Photo of a female laying eggs on Vicia sp. I knew I would see lots of Silvery Blues here but I think this is the most I have ever seen in one day. Also saw a tiger swallowtail.

Voucher from southern extreme of range in Wisconsin. One individual at 7:00pm!

First of year for me...in high winds.

85 and windy today. The elfins were perching high in the shrubs and did not stay in one place for very long. I also saw a tiger swallowtail and a white Clouded/Orange Sulphur laying eggs on clover.

Saw my first two American Ladies of the season...very fresh individuals.

My first monarch sighting of the year!

Sighted in the backyard garden.

Big numbers of Chryxus Arctics! I was also pleasantly surprised by the Western Tailed-Blues. The Silvery Blue photo is just for documentation as this was the first I've ever seen.

Thanks to Dean, Mike, Ann, and everyone else for their help with IDs. I learned a lot saturday! Listing only friday sightings to prevent double listings on saturday.

I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes while taking this video: http://tinyurl.com/onoay6
See images below for the freeze-frame -- seems the silvery blue was also under attack.

The lupine is in full bloom, but only the "wrong" kind of blue. A male Silvery was flying desperately over the sea of blue, none of it what he was looking for.

Also saw Tiger Swallowtail sp.

Very brief visit. Just adding some Sawyer County data.

It was rainy this morning and completely cloudy until late afternoon. I didn't expect to find any butterflies when I spotted the coppers while it was still cloudy. The others were seen after the sun barely came out. I also saw two other unidentified lesser fritillaries and an elfin.

The Western-Tailed Blue is so fresh that its tail is not showing.

First swallowtails of the year.

Seen on May 23 and 24; Mottled Duskyings included 5 fresh males. Also saw a moth, Drasteria graphica

I stopped here twice today, hoping to find some Henry's Elfins. The Harvester was a nice surprise. Once again at this location, I became a favorite perch, this time for an Eastern Comma. I had to back away from it hoping that it would land on something else so I could get a photo of it. A clearwing moth was nectaring, but didn't stay in one place long enough for a photo.

Saw my first Giant Swallowtail of the year flying over and landing on a clay/gravel road that goes past the UWM Field Station. A beautiful, perfect individual. First Monarch was on May 20.

A blue-sky day today, not a cloud in sight. I stopped outside of Sandhill along county X hoping to find some Frosted Elfins, but didn't see any. I saw a total of 4 species of blues today, the most species I've seen in one day (Spring Azures sighted at other locations today).

Also saw a white female Clouded/Orange Sulphur.

I was only there until noon, but I spent most of my time trying to take photos of the Chryxus Arctics. Lots of Meadow Fritillaries, especially on scat!

At the bog for a little over an hour.

I was surprised by the lack of bog specialty butterflies here. But found 5 species of tiger beetles in a 150 meter stretch along the boat landing road (see photos).

First Monarch of year for me.

Quick Stop on my way home. Cobweb and Dusted skipper were new for me. Dusted skipper was very active and was hard to get to sit still in sun. White chin and white around and above eye against dark background. Underwings dark with two small white bars on hind wings spaced apart.

One elfin flew by but I couldn't get it to sit still.

The brown border on this Spring Azure is the widest and brownest I've seen.

Luna Moth on side of house...

The Juvenal's Duskywing was nectaring on a gall that was oozing sap. Notice all the other wildlife!

Also saw a large tan butterfly flying that turned out to be Polyphemus Moth.

The Freijas were very difficult to photograph as they were quite skittish and almost constantly in flight. No Friggas or Red-disked Alpines found, unfortunately.

Winds were 20-30 mph.

First of the Grass skippers popping up! Pics of Indian Skipper.

My first Hobomok Skipper of the year. Not much else happening...

This is my earliest sighting for a Ringlet in Wood County.

This was the first time I have seen both boghaunters in the same day and my first sighting of a mated pair. The moth on the moccasin flower is White Slant-Line (Tetracis cachexiata).

My first Giant Swallowtail for the year

All sightings were along the roads. We didn't realize that the Jutta was laying an egg until We looked more closely at the photo.

The Gorgone Checkerspot number is very conservative as I just quit counting at 100. The Eye-spotted Lady Beetle was the first I had ever seen. I also saw 2 Canadian or Eastern Tiger Swallowtails.

Fluttering on the ground. Might have just emerged.

Bone dry

Six Spotted Tiger Beetles and Big Sand Tiger Beetles also seen. one female Karner Blue, the rest all males and two small duskywings zipped by. Just traveling home from 16 days butterflying in Texas Arizona and New Mexico (some great finds)

Less wind and more butterflies today. The Brown Elfins are getting scarce.

There may also have been some Mustard Whites?? The variability is confusing!