Butterfly sightings for April 2012

Nice weather after 1:00 pm. The American Lady was only the second butterfly I have ever seen nectar on trailing arbutus. I tried hard to get one more species but no luck. I settled for watching Short-eared Owls at Buena Vista on my way home to finish a wonderful April 1!

There was some Pasque flower in bloom nearby. I'm not sure if the Tortoiseshell was making use of them at all, but he was hanging around the vicinity for awhile.

The Lady stayed around for quite a while before I lost track of her.

59 Degrees and partly sunny. The girls liked getting their pictures taken today.

There wasn't much cooperation for photos today except for the Infant Moth. I've seen quite a few of them this spring, but this is the first that landed for a photo.

No Freija Fritillary yet. The spring azures were found during a brief search of the uplands. Night was excellent for moths, especially on willow catkins The picture of Lithophane pexata, one of the "pinion moths".

64 Degrees and Sunny. Found a place out of the wind that was hot.

Saw while walking my dog.

Saw two Red Admirals in out backyard in the late afternoon.

All butterflies in the uplands; the Green Common was puddling on wolf scat. No Freija Fritillary yet.

All three butterflies seen in wooded areas.

Not surprisingly, blossoms at the Arboretum are weeks early. Lilacs, cherries, crabapples opening, magnolias and tulip trees post peak already.

It stayed long enough to check out a few daffodils. A tri-colored bumble bee liked the flowers too.

Both were feeding on banana-brown sugar bait pasted on shrubs and tree trunks. The Red Admiral was a big surprise this early this far north.

Very windy. Several Common Green Darners flying along the trails in the woods.

All butterflies in uplands. Still no Freija Fritillary.

Fuzzy pics, but so hard to see this one camouflaged among the leaves. Amazing how the comma shows up among the browns.

Nectering near the top of a bluff on some white flowers.

I was surprised by the number of butterflies since although it was bright and sunny with many flowers blooming early, it was not warm, only 46F with a cold wind off the lake. Lots of white Trout Lilies blooming and found the biggest most beautiful patch of Bloodroot that I've ever seen in Milwaukee County in the most unexpected place, right on the embankment of the old railroad (now bike path) growing under a mess of invasive Oriental Honeysuckle. I saw a number of orange-colored butterflies which did not alight and I didn't get a look at. I was surprised to see both an Am Lady and a Painted Lady on the same day; don't think that has happened to me before.

The American Lady was in our backyard.

63 Degrees and Sunny.

Included some pictures of the early dragonflies and damselflies that I have found at this location

Saw this butterfly on my birdbath early this afternoon. It sat on a small stone in the birdbath for several minutes then dropped to the patio and stayed there for several more minutes.

Freshly emerged males; still no Freija Fritillary

Brief butterflying after some morning bird surveys. Not many individuals but took home the coveted Comma Slam! Also a couple C. Claybank Tiger Beetles.

Blue Mound State Park seems to be in both Dane and Iowa counties.
We also saw either a Black Swallowtail or a black form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. We had a brief look as the butterfly flew by.

This Red Admiral was enjoying the afternoon sun on a warm day as were we!

Windy and 59 degrees. I just happened to see something white drop into the grass out of the corner of my eye. Checked it out and it was a Mustard White. 1st one I've ever seen in Wisconsin but I haven't been at this all that long.

58 degrees and Sunny.

4:30-5 PM.

Almost no sun and little activity except for the duskywings. I saw 8 other duskywings but still no Persius Duskywing or Frosted Elfin.

My first black swallowtail of the year. It was in the exact location in Badger Prairie Park where there were many black swallowtails last year.

Landed on my Bradford Pear tree.

58 Degrees and Sunny. Only had an hour. Many prairie wildflowers in bloom.

The Tortoiseshell was worn almost beyond recognition, with little orange or yellow remaining. Wildflowers are blooming: Marsh Marigolds, Spring Beauties, Trout Lilies, Skunk Cabbage.

Still no Freija. The Milbert's was nectaring on leatherleaf in the bog.

(note: vouchers for all species)

The duskywing was in sandy, pine barrens at the entrance to the Reserve, flying in the grass.

Windy day so I wasn't expecting to see much. The Spring Azure and Red Admiral were in a swampy area that is fairly protected from the wind. A few other butterflies were seen, but they were too erratic to positively identify.

It certainly looks like another year for Red Admirals.

Really windy!

Very windy and cool, but sunny. I found both of these butterflies in among the new and old dried out field grass in the meadow. They were on a south facing hillside.

He posed for me yet I was too excited to see him to pull in my zoom. Open woods.

59 Degrees and Sunny.

59 degrees and sunny.

I just saw a Red Admiral. I couldn't believe my eyes but it sat down on the container I keep my cushions for outside chairs so I got a good look at it. Beautiful for this early in the year!

61 degrees and sunny. First Black form of the season.

Took my wife for a walk. She got to hold the Juniper Hairstreak.

Walking in woods and along gravel drive in the grasses.

Finally Freija is out! Beats the 2010 absurd early record by 2 days.

The tiger swallowtail was in Black Earth, others at Lake Farm Park.

Good number of butterflies on these remote forest roads today. Comma Slam! Also my first Red Admirals of the year.

Another Comma Slam! Spring Azures seem to have popped, although 11 of my 18 here were in the same spot.

Very early arrival this year. Last year it was in my yard on May 22.

I was trying to get a shot of this butterfly all morning. It finally settled down on the side of our camper.

Despite the frost of the last 2 days, still quite a few butterflies and also Common Green Darners and dozens of Eastern Forktail damselflies.

I was picking up litter on Cty Rd O for Crex Meadows clean-up day. Spotting butterflies was a bonus.

Sunny!

About a dozen in the one acre yard. Have been seeing as many as two dozen in the same space every warm day including today 23 Apr 2012 since then. Lovely!

One tree was oozing sap and the Mourning Cloaks and Red Admirals were nectaring on it.

Earliest-ever sighting of Tiger and Blue in our yard.

Had a sulphur fly past that showed orange on the top side of the lead wing. It did not stop for a picture.

77 Degrees and sunny. Been seeing what I thought was Harvey for days now. Today he stopped to honored me with an ID & a pict. An apple tree along the marsh was a buzz with more butterflies than one could count. Bait log was a hot place also. All I had to do there was wait as they took their turn.

A beautiful day for butterflies, plenty of them around, catching up with them was tough. Not sure if the Olympia Marble that I saw a couple times was the same one or if there were a couple. We also found a couple baby grasshoppers in the kitchen... I wonder if they hatched out of a potted plant that we kept in the house over the winter. They were so cute, I had to share a photo, only about 1/4" long.

70 degrees, slightly breezy, partly cloudy. Besides those listed, I also saw a Painted or American Lady, but it never landed, so I wasn't sure which it was.

Very casual obs while in the yard. My money says thousands of Red Admirals were blasting north today -- all mine were.

Casual lep observation while looking for garlic mustard. (~15:15 to 17:50, partly sunny, habitat: savanna and wetland/upland edge). May have seen a duskwing sp. along edge of woodland.

Once clouds moved out at 11am, it was a butterfly wonderland. Full sun.

Sunny, 60s, 10:30-1 PM

An unexpected Eastern Tiger Swallowtail swooped in for an afternoon tryst with Madame Hawthorn. This honey-scented hedge is a harem for any passing butterfly. This swain was a particularly strapping, handsome fellow with a stately wing-span to boot.

A new Freija site! The Henry's Elfin was also a nice surprise, found along a trailside through mesic aspen woodland. After getting out of the bog I found the comma enjoying my shoes left in the sun.

Another welcome surprise to the day...rarely encountered this far south in the state. This is a female.

Our earliest date for this species.

These 2 were together for over 10 minutes and I was able to watch them dance together!

Also a Duskywing that was either Columbine or Wild Indigo but no food plant present to indicate which.

We had many Red Admirals taking advantage of the flowering trees in our yard.

I'm starting to see many Red Admirals. I saw them while driving and in the gardens.

At the Butterfly Garden forum at GardenWeb, people are reporting "explosions" of Red Admirals in zones south of Wisconsin. Our yard seems to have more than ever before; they are nectaring on crabapple (Malus sp.) blossoms.

The Red Admirals were in my neighbors flowering crab tree. They were everywhere, near and in the tree! What a sight!

Surprised to see butterflies today, since there was a huge thunderstorm last night, some light showers this morning, then overcast and windy. But there they were. This was between 11:30am and 12:30. One landed on a purple flower (don't know what kind). The other two were in the dead stems.

We live about 7 miles east of Galesville and they are every where today, yesterday there were only a few. Right after a rain storm the swallowtail was laid flat out drying itself.

70-77 degrees Cloudy/sprinkles to Sunny. 13 RAs on the driveway in front of the garage when I stepped out the door this AM. Many dead ones along the road. We hit a bunch with the truck. Bait log had 4 in a cluster.

Red Admirals everywhere. Very few other butterflies.

Truly amazing. Red admirals everywhere. Most of the red admirals were landing on dandelions. No cabbage whites and only one clouded sulphur.

The sun came out temporarily at 4:00 pm and so did some butterflies and butterfly watchers!

Here is a beautiful, bright-barred Vanessa gorging itself on the honey-sweet nectar of the white hawthorn. If Proust was with me, he would have an aesthetic apotheosis (c.f. Remembrance of Things Past, pg.s 150.5-153). Along this bursting, blooming hedge, there were dozens of atalantas feeding amid the teeming bees and bumble bees. I must have seen over a hundred individuals (and maybe even Hazel Shade) on a good long ramble this afternoon, and other nymphs were seen suckling dandelion and crab-apple blossoms. If one is especially fond of Vanessa, I should be remiss if I didn't recommend Nabokov's Pale Fire, the greatest work of art produced in the 20th century.

I saw many Red Admirals, as well as Juvenal's Duskywings. Too many to count. The Red Admirals were everywhere I went. It was very windy and it was hard to get a picture as they were all very busy trying to stay in the air or finding a spot out of the wind.

Spotted two red admirals in the driveway and garden.

On a cold (high 40s), overcast, very windy day, the last thing we expected to see were hundreds of butterflies, but there you go. The "red" trail in the park was a bit damp, full of blooming violets and dandelions - and literally hundreds of Red Admirals. Perhaps they were enjoying the shelter from the wind provided by the shrubs and small trees? A few were on dandelions, but most were just basking or hanging tight. Some were much darker brown than others. Great sign of spring.

Not far from the Mississippi River. Red Admirals all over the place today. First day without strong winds for three days.

62 degrees, sunny and no wind. Olympia Marble allowed me not only to pick it up, but bring it home with me. Doreen will be surprised. RAs were flying when it was 46 degrees. CWs were a mating pair.

Several dozen feeding from, or resting on, my lilacs.

Large numbers of Red Admirals were seen all along the Ice Age Trail and along Brewery Creek. I read that Red Admirals are present in large numbers in many places. The Iowa-Insects email list has a number of people reporting large numbers of Red Admirals being sighted in different areas of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Even though it was only in the 40's there were many Red Admirals present once again. I'm sure the purple martins at my colony are devouring some.

It was marvelous to see these beauties weather the storm from the night before and come out and soak up the morning sun. Dozens of Red Admirals decorated the plush green hillside jumping from dandelion to dandelion in an endless game of musical flowers.

This little guy was hanging out enjoying my flowering crab tree.

Walking the trails mid-morning we spotted an Eastern Swallowtail (1) and several American Ladies (8). Several yellow sulphers, but species unknown.

The Common Buckeye was very worn. The Red Admirals were everywhere!

At the boat ramp parking lot at the Bakken's Pond Unit; two Red Admirals. About 4:15 pm.

Red admirals and American Ladys are everywhere. All nectaring on my hearty crop of dandolions. Windy day, cool. At least 10 tree frogs on or around my house.

I've seen close to 10 a day for the past 3 days as I walk to my backyard garden. They seem to congregate on the dandelions.

71 degrees Sunny of Partly Cloudy. With the change in weather coming lots of butterflies flying. Spied an Eastern Hog Nose snake. Saw lots of different Dragonflies.

Around 20 Red Admirals on the dandelions in our back yard.

30-40 Red Admirals sunning on our roof!

Mid-afternoon, breezy; tiger beetles out on sand trail; American Ladies flying along shrubs as approaching the bluff.

Windy with sunshine ending by 1:00PM. Red Admirals most everywhere...gravel, mud, and flowers. I observed 40 or more in less than an hour, with dandelions their clear favorite. This Admiral outbreak is wonderful, and some individuals appear very fresh, despite their journey to arrive here in Wisconsin.

My grass was tall and the dandelions plentiful; so were the Red Admirals in my 2 acre area, often seen flying in tight groups of 3 & 4. Nice.

I've seen lots of Red Admirals during the last week even on very windy and gray days. Today I had a Question Mark hanging on to my window ledge trying not to be blown off by the wind.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) I have found 2 of these in my house the last 2 days. I think they may have come in with laundry that I had hanging outside. And I saw one in the backyard yesterday!

There were so many Red Admirals floating around the house and in the gardens, we were simply amazed last evening. It seems the warmth near the house and garage were tempting them.

A brief break in the weather allowed me 15 minutes to explore a grassy field rimmed by a gravel road. Despite cool windy conditions, Red Admirals were common but stayed close to the gravel, rather than venture to the dandelions. nearby. One Clouded Sulphur observed, a very early date for this species in my area.

Enjoyed seeing about 20-30 Red Admirals on our Montmorency Cherry tree which is in full bloom. They fluttered around the tree all morning in the sunshine, often pausing on the blossoms with wings open. Then about noon when the sky turned cloudy, they flew away, except for a couple of stragglers.

About 15 on this sunny (for now), cool, windy day of April 19, but more numerous on a warm April 18 (50+) on dandelions, wood chips, window screens, and skirting a huge spruce.

I stepped outside my work office and was stunned to see a white butterfly this early here on Lake Superior. Suspecting a Cabbage White, a closer revealed something quite different! If confirmed, this would be just the 3rd state record. Ironically, the 2nd was a similar individual I photographed in my Bayfield County yard last summer.

In the Catholic Cemetary, outside the Public Cemetary, and in an old apple orchard

Too many to count! In the grass, on the trees, on the rocks & flying over my head.

We had many 50+ Red Admiral Butterflies in our yard this morning. I have never seen these in such great numbers.

One of many red admirals feasting on early blooming lilac tree.

So many flying around my yard!

Early date by 9 days on the Ringed Boghaunter.

Saw my first American Lady of the season.

dozens of Red Admirals flying around in the sunshine, lots of pairs either playing and darting about

Early for the swallowtail. 2011 I first saw one on June 2.

Several Red Admirals enjoying the Crabtree, along with hundreds of bees.

Red Admirals are everywhere! Saw them sunning themselves on the RVs, on branches, on decks.... Beautiful! They are also abundant in NE Illinois all of a sudden.

Bright and fresh American Lady.

Chilly morning, bringt sun, mild breeze. On light blue and white wall in full sun and in yard on dandylion.

We have had 100+ Red Admiral butterflies in our back yard this past week. A sight to behold!

Red Admiral found sunning itself on the swing set.

Partly cloudy, 55 degrees.
Dorothy Lake: red admirals, spring azures, american ladies
Visitor Center: red admirals and tiger swallowtail
Red admirals were numerous at any sunny spot we hiked through.

59 Degrees and Sunny. The Black Swallowtail is one that I collect as an egg last fall. Kept it outside over the winter, and brought it inside just the day before it hatched.

I continue to be amazed by the large number of red admirals I encounter at almost every location I visit. Today I encountered a new red admiral almost every 10 feet along my walk. Even on the wooded path where I rarely see butterflies, they were fluttering about.

Finally a Red-disked Alpine, a single freshly emerged male late in the day. Same date & location as Ryan Brady's 2010 record, but if it weren't for the prior cold spell it probably would have been out even earlier. But still amazing!

No RDA or Freija despite searching some good sites in Bayfield & Sawyer counties

Found my first emergent dragonfly of the season - a Dot-tailed Whiteface.

Pleasant, sunny but cool day, with butterfly activity noted from 11am to 2:30pm. Gravel attracted many Admirals at midday, but a return several hours later to the same area found them greatly diminished. First Orange Sulfurs of the season found on dandelions, one exceedingly fresh. Silvery Blues rather scarce and a female observed ovipositing on vetch. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail found along forest trail, alighting briefly and allowing me a hasty pic opportunity. This is the earliest date I have ever experienced this swallowtail and blue on the wing in Waukesha County. Mustard Whites found at Lulu Lake Preserve in Walworth County, bringing my daily count to nine species.

The red admiral fun continues. They were everywhere I went in the park. The other highlight of the day was my first silver-spotted skipper of the year.

The red admirals seem to love dandelion blossoms.

Late afternoon after work, I came home to find dozens of Red Admirals in my wooded backyard.

i saw my FOY American Copper here last week.

Cabbage White was fluttering by front property. Landed near dandelions. Only dandelions and violets are in bloom.

Located a large patch of nettles and observed some red Admiral females ovipositing. Within several minutes I located about a dozen eggs sprinkled about the plants. This may be a good indication that a plentiful second generation of Red Admirals may be possible.

I looked down Hwy 14 with 8.5x binoculars (50 degree field) to a sign that was 1/5 mile away. I counted 61 Red Admirals crossing the road, heading north, in 60 seconds! Calculations are precarious but fun: that's 305 butterflies per mile per minute. Wisconsin's south. boundary is 149 miles wide. That's 45,563 butterflies streaming into the state each minute, or 2.7million Red Admirals per hour. Virtually no wind today! We are being invaded.

I'm finding Red Admirals everywhere I go: open fields, wooded edges, woods and along driveway. Juvenals Duskywing almost as prevalent. Two new species today I saw the Giant Swallowtail along creek and the Pearl Crescent taking up sun in the gravel.

100 Clouded Sulphurs in an alfalfa field.

Not a lot happening, except for Red Admirals. The prairies had been burned within the last week or ten days, by the looks of things, so maybe that explains it. Also a Lady sp. and possible Orange Sulfur.

Pulled off of Hwy 27 on two roads on the east side of the road within 3 miles of Cashton

Had fun photographing the Harvesters as well as the Hoary Elfin. I hope to make it back soon for more adventures.

I saw numerous Red Admirals in little clusters during the early afternoon.

I have had numerous red admiral butterflies in my backyard for a couple of weeks now. There are very very many flying around. I don't remember ever having so many flying around my backyard.

Here was one that I missed reporting. It was an American Lady found on a patch of Dodecatheon meadia or Shooting Stars.

I have seen tons of these for the past few days and had to find out exactly what they are as I don't remember seeing this many in the past. The fly up as you walk through the yard. Beautiful!

Sunny, 55 degrees. Spotted while mowing, so no photo.

Red Admiral seen feeding on lilac flowers on bush located off of our deck. Our place is located adjacent to large farm field, wooded areas and nearby stream.

I saw so many Red Admirals that they made it difficult to see anything else! I would try to follow something that looked different and end up loosing it in the traffic of Red Admirals swirling all over. Quite a few American Ladies too, in places.

Only red admirals today. Not a single cabbage white or clouded sulphur. Where are the urban butterflies? Several red admirals flew within inches of my face. The most creative landing place was on a chain link fence.

On the 24th I once again had a bevy of Red Admirals (one of which was already well worn) in the back end of my backyard amidst a carpet of dandelions. Less today, but still plentiful. Also saw what I think may have been a couple of Pearl Crescents on the wing.

I walked along the edge of the woods in the open fields near the Hickory Hill section of the Ice Age Trail. During the several hours I spent walking along the edge of the woods (insect photography) there were always anywhere from 2-5 Red Admirals present. Several even landed on me.

After riding our bikes and not seeing much in the way of butterflies we returned home to find several of them right in our yard. The Spring Azure is so quick and small I just kept shooting and finally got a great shot!

I've never noticed the Red Admiral before, they were all around sitting on the dandelions. Such a sight. Seen them around for a couple of days.

American coppers were the butterfly of the day. Also saw my first Eastern-tailed blue of the year.

Just a couple casual observations. Cold by the lake!

I photographed a Satyr Comma yesterday on the woods trail by the Corporate Cove building. The path parallels a back channel of the Rib River.

We saw 6 species of odes, including 12-15 Ringed Boghaunters, and 2 Ebony Boghaunters, the fist time the Ebony has been seen in April. We also saw a Four-spotted Skimmer and many Hudsonian Whitefaces. Ken took the photo of the Dreamy Duskywing.

Again no luck sighting on our morning bike ride, but they sure love my yard!! Many American Ladies, Red Admirals and Spring Azures.

Steve Bransky also joined, as part of the WI Ent Soc spring field trip. Those not attending missed a nice day!

We also documented Ebony and Ringed Boghaunters; the latter is an exciting range extension within the state.

Saw only the 1 Red Admiral on a 2 hour hike. Not surprising given the cool, cloudy, windy conditions. The tent caterpillars (moth) are rapidly maturing.

A chilly day, not many butterflies around. The first Copper I've seen this year.

Saw this Olympia Marble in our driveway. Been seeing them here each spring.