Butterfly sightings for March 2012

At noon today, this Clouded Sulphur nectared at fifteen different white crocus clusters in our front yard.

Saw a Mourning Cloak Butterfly just now in the same location that I collected a caterpillar last fall. Can't wait for Butterfly Season!!!!!!!

Was hoping to see some butterflies this weekend. Too windy on Saturday, but Sunday we saw this Mourning Cloak, and another little orange guy that I wasn't able to ID, it was flying and got caught in the wind and was gone. Darn. So exciting to see the first butterflies of the year. I want more!

Yesterday afternoon around 4:30 PM I watched a Morning Cloak butterfly fly over me and land on a wooden post in my yard on the East side of De Pere. It sat on this post for several minutes before flying off to parts unknown. Unfortunately I did not have a camera and thought that if I went to get one it would fly away so instead I stayed and watched this early beauty.

Perhaps attracted by the rotten bananas I smeared on tree bark, but neither sat still for photos.

Also saw at least two of some sort of comma/question mark.

67 degrees and sunny. Saw a possible milberts that wouldn't slow down.

Lots of mourning cloaks sunning in main parking lot.

Mating pair

First butterfly of the year

67 degrees...whee hoo. Also saw a comma type butterfly but it would not cooperate.

Found dead on the side of the road.

My first Wisconsin butterfly of the year!

79 degrees and sunny. Saw nothing in the hour I spent at summerton bog. Saw both of the color phases of Eastern Comma at the farm. 2 groups of at least 3 individuals.

I spotted this butterfly @5:30pm enjoying the sun at the edge of our woods. First of the season in my yard-Yeah!

Saw two Eastern Comma Butterflies sun-bathing and playing together in the woods. Made me wonder if these to butterflies were buds before the winter and were waiting for each other during hibernation. Pretty cool!

Two Mourning Cloaks compete with flies for rotten banana spread on tree bark. Of note, the smear was still attractive to them after a day of desiccation.

Was kind of surprised when I went out to take pictures of birds...that I would be taking pictures of butterflies. A very nice surprise indeed.

Emerged a full month earlier than previous records at this locality.

First sighting of the year

77 Degrees and Sunny. Put out bait this AM for the first time ever. 2 of them had commas in 10 minutes. 3 out of 6 had commas later in the day. The 4th had the milberts on a broken off sapling. Made me a believer.

79 degrees Cloudy.

Found in our garage.

My daughter reported this eastern comma in the front yard/woods, basking on a sugar maple. Sunny and 70 degrees. 50% snow cover on ground in woods.

Also a likely Cabbage White in our yard on the 15th.

Walking trails through our oak woods, I spotted three Eastern Commas over about a 1/4 mile of trail.

75 degrees and Sunny. Mourning Cloak Flew by while we were waiting in line at the Kwik Trip car wash in Portage. The Comma was near Hwy 33 & I94 interchange.

First butterflies reported locally were on March 13.

One at each place. Hooray!

Seen flitting around a tall tree near Bower Creek at about 10:30am.

The Compton Tortoiseshell was a nice first butterfly of the year for me. Too bad I didn't have my camera ready.

I took a nature walk in hopes to see my first butterflies of the season this afternoon. It was 77 degrees and sunny. I was beginning to look hopeless, when all of a sudden I saw a good sized shadow coming from up above. I looked up and it was a Mourning Cloak. (Just like Mike describes in his write up.) I also saw two Commas in the same location which cooperated for photography much better than the Mourning Cloak did.

Warm and windy. Saw 1 of each, neither were cooperative in attempts to get a photograph.

Thought it was a bit early for these, but there it was!

Many eastern commas seen throughout day in open woodlands.

79-83 Degrees and Sunny. 10 EC at the marsh (3 at two different bait stations)and 8 at the farm(6 in one area chasing each other).

Another 80+ degree day. First Spring Peepers. Snow almost all gone now but Chequamegon Bay still frozen.

I'm certain I saw the 3 same individual butterflies that I reported yesterday. They were in the exact same location. The Mourning Cloak was more cooperative today. He landed on my finger and on my head, and seemed to enjoy flying around with the Commas.

Warm and windy, observed observed along the shoreline in dead grass.

This sighting today surpasses my previous earliest date for the Cabbage White by thirteen days!( March 31, 2000 in Milwaukee county.) The adult seen today fluttered but never alighted, for the minute or so that it was within sight.

Anglewing, or Gray Comma found in wooded area.

I notice you did not have a 'Spring' Spring Azure for Crawford county, I believe I have one from 2012

Azure flew through yard in the late afternoon.

Hot and Sunny.

High 60s before 10 AM and Sunny. 4 Commas at bait stations.

I saw this spring azure flitting around in a restored woodland in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. The woodland is currently filled with blooming spring ephemerals--spring beauty, toothwort, bloodroot, hepatica.

The picture is a little fuzzy since I had only my cell phone camera, but I was amazed to see such an early Red Admiral.

A lone Mourning Cloak was seen in a wooded area of the trail. What a wonderful birthday present!

2 Mouring Cloaks were in the back yard. They flew high up in the air together, and were seen landed on the grass.

I saw a Mourning Cloak 3 days ago along this trail, and today when hiking back through found these Mourning Cloak eggs. I've got them safely set up to hatch and am looking forward to my very first time in bringing a complete life cycle (I have only reared from the larval stages thus far).

Lots of cabbage whites enjoying all sorts of different areas. Quite a few in the grass, on various green plants, and a good number in a patch of dark mud. Plus one on a small evergreen tree.

Note: Spring Cabbage Whites, especially males may be lacking the dark marks on the upper wings. Mike

60 degrees, a bit breezy. No photographic cooperation on the part of the Lepidopterans.

Also saw three infant moths.

Sunny and pleasant afternoon with temperatures around 60.

Two of the spring azures were mating on an arbor vitae branch in my backyard. They were there for at least 3 hours.

69 degrees and Sunny.

65-69 degrees, Cloudy changing to all sunny.
2 others that I couldn't ID.

Wildflowers blooming early: Violets, Bloodroot, and Spring Beauties.

Very active and nectaring in the gardens along Yahara Place Park. Also saw my first Green Darner dragonfly of the year.

67 Degrees and mostly Cloudy. Only out for about half an hour.

My first observation submitted to this website ~ I was looking for migratory birds and spotted a "yellow butterfly" (which I assumed was in the Sulphur family) with my naked eye. I was only 20 ft away and lifted my binoculars to discover that the large yellow butterfly was marked with broad black markings along the wing edges and additional black lines extending onto the deeper surfaces of the wing. When it landed (saw this four times) on a juniper adjacent to a creek (fields and small woodlands are also nearby) I observed the "tails"! I was also able to see some blue markings near where the tails and wings meet together at the back of the body. Prior to today, I have only seen Mourning Cloak & Cabbage White butterflies.

Butterflies seen along road on prairie loop. The Red Admirals were very wary and didn't allow for more than an ID photo.

A beautiful day, beautiful surroundings, high hopes. I was feeling disappointed that I had seen only three cabbage whites. (Are we Wisconsinites getting greedy or what? It's only March 28.) Then as I was about to leave two Red admirals appeared and made my day.

59 Degrees, Sunny and windy. Rock cress, dandelion, buttercups and wood & Bird's-foot violet are blooming.

Butterflies were sighted in backyard garden.

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) was sunning itself on a rock.

The lady was nectaring on dandelion.

Sunny, 50's, light breeze.

Amazing to find Tiger Swallowtail this early!

The mourning cloak first landed on the path not too far ahead of me and seemed to be enjoying the sun. When it flew away, it headed for a small group of logs. I spotted it underneath one of the logs.

52 degrees and Sunny. Didn't expect to see anything today. A comma buzzed me while I was cutting brush at home. Just had to go see what else was flying.

First swallowtail of the year, it was on the plum blossoms, but I only got a photo when it landed on the lawn.