Butterfly sightings for June 2012

I didn't believe at first because I didn't think they flew this far north. It had the iridescent blue and the white dots on the bottom hindwing and there were no stripes to indicate a black form female of the Tiger Swallowtail.

A beautiful day, but not as many butterflies out as I expected.

Sunny and in the 70s, early afternoon. Also 6 or 7 dragonflies which were very active.

The chives in our school garden have just bloomed and are attracting many swallowtails and other butterflies.

VERY active winged day. These are the ones that landed so I could get a look. Tigers were just floating in and out of the woods enjoying the day.

Noon, brezzy, mid-50's

4.25 mi hike over ~6 hours. 28 species. My first ever Gray Hairstreak. Looked very hard for Tawny Crescent but no luck.

The white-Lined Sphinx moth checked the flowers in my yard @5pm. Stayed for quite awhile. One week ago I had a Nessus Sphinx moth in the yard and it also liked my flowers. One of the Hobomok Skippers was the form Pocahontas.

Good skipper variety!

68 degrees and Variable skies. After having the Banded Hairstreak, Buckeye, Q. Mark and Viceroy visit me in the 20 minutes I was watering the garden I knew it was time to look for more. The Snout was a real surprise. Watched it come and go for 5 minutes. The pict isn't the greatest.

Butterflies seemed thinned out today. Only a single Tiger. Also heard Cerulean Warbler and several Dickcissels.

All three Clearwings in the last 8 days.

The Pipevine Swallowtails were all over, not just back by the Thai Pavilion. The two Red Admirals were both very worn.

1.5 hour wander with my son. Another Gray Hairstreak and my first-ever C. Checkered-Skippers here in the north!

Common buckeyes were uncommonly common today.

Seen these butterflies while working in my backyard between this afternoon, nice day; 72, light wind, and partly cloudy.

Mid-day, windy, high-60's

saw this on my back door this evening.

74F strong breeze full sun about 3:30. Not many butterflies. Maybe too windy. Many large dragon fles.

60s, overcast

60s, overcast, intermittent rain. 1 monarch in each place.

Early morning

One of the hindwings looks partially transparent.

Only cabbage whites today, and lots of them. Surprised, since I normally see a good variety of butterflies at this property.

I saw most of these butterflies in a logged over area on some timber company land in western Oneida County (except for the Common Ringlet sighting which was seen in a field). Many of the butterflies were feeding on clover. One Hobomok Skipper was form pocahontas

sunny, 76, 1 PM

Midday, sunny, mid 70's

A single purple alium globe attracted 3 Painted ladies, 3-4 Commas, 1 Tiger Swallowtail and 1 black Swallowtail throughout the day.

Also saw 6 tiger swallowtails

Several Pocahontas Hobomoks.

It was a long distance shot of the Snout but his Schnoz is unmistakable.

81 degrees with part sun changing to cloudy with sprinkles. 1 1/2 hour.

78 degrees and sunny. Before noon. My first QM hatched out this AM.

Empire Prairies west moraine could be a good spot for butterflies. It certainly has different plant species but is isolated by the farm fields surrounding it. I expected many more butterflies. The site was very dry.

Seemed like everytime the sun came out & I would go outside, the weather would turn sour. Hatched out another QM & found an old weathered one at the bog. 3 wheeler still attracts ECs.

The Red Admiral pupa was formed June 4 from a batch of caterpillars that were gathered on May 29 denuding false nettles .

Mostly just car butterflying, not much walking.

Noon, sunny, high 60's

Battered female ovipositing on my mature pipe-vines.

Primary locations visited were Perry Creek and the East Fork Campground area. I was focused mostly on looking for odonates, so I probably missed several butterflies around.

I have a few giant silk moth cocoons that I overwintered. One Cecropia and a Polyphemus hatched out yesterday. What beauties they are!

Mostly cloudy.

Fabulous weather! Tons of bird calls. Thought the White Admirals were going to land on me as they kept surveying me.

Found along east side of road (a cranberry marsh access road) on sedges.

Also a Widow Skimmer (dragonfly).

While wandering around looking for butterflies, I flushed a family of grouse out of the grass beside me and nearly had an accident!

Our first Monarch raised from an egg eclosed this afternoon - two weeks earlier than our previous earliest eclosion (in 2010).

After watering some of my flower beds the butterflies enjoyed the wet ground. Nice day 75, clear, with light wind.

I was here a two days ago I saw an Eastern Tailed Blue and found a Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillar. Today, I got to see an adult butterfly, what a beauty, first time I've seen one.

9:30 AM sunny

4:30 PM, sunny patch, 70s.. The turtle was crossing WI-70 just west of CR-M.

76 degrees, sunny and light/no wind. First time here. Am. Snout wanted its pict taken so bad it offered to put on lipstick and high heels.

Pipevine greeted me when I entered the garden. Saw 3 at one time near the bridge. Many places in the garden. As I was opening the door for an elderly lady who was leaving another PS swooped us. One sat still long enough for an excellant look. Most would flutter within inches of my face. Most picts were blurry. Was amazed that there were so few species there.

Butterflies scarce, almost absent. Discovered more than 50 half grown larva of Red Admiral wandering on a foot trail. Apparently they had exhausted their food source as evidenced by the nettles which were decimated. Some had traveled 50 yards from the nettle patch, and apparently are doomed to starvation. No adults observed. Also one White-striped Black Moth.

All sightings were in the town of Monroe, except the Eyed Brown and the Harris' Checkerspot which were on the Rome/Big Flats town line.

Quick stop in mid-morning. A few "southerners" but not many butterflies overall.

Butterflies not numerous, but a good variety in this rather nice park.

Finding the caterpillar in May was a surprise. Seeing the Chrysalis(May 25th) and realizing it was a Baltimore was shocking. Both pale to the beauty of a freshly emerged butterfly.

Sunny, 79, 4:40 PM

A nice selection of butterflies seen on one quick walk.

A not too perfect Gray Hairstreak on pink colored yarrow.

Most of these sightings were on Blackhawk Dr. about a mile south of the developed part of the Adams Co. Park, yet still within the park boundaries. Blackhawk Dr. runs east/west for about a mile and ends at the lake where there is a crude boat landing. It is a dirt road which runs through rich woodland, and cat-tail swamp, and is a wonderful place to observe butterflies and dragonflies.

85 degrees and sunny. A fun day with 29 species including Coral Hairstreak, Dainty Sulphur, Little Yellow, Gray Hairstreak (note orange abdomen), Painted Lady, Aphrodite Fritillary and Baltimore Checkerspot. Also saw Prince Baskettails (dragonfly), a Common Goldeneye (!), and heard Orchard Oriole and White-eyed Vireo.

Party cloudy, noon, low 80's

First Regal in this area for many years.

88 degrees and sunny. American Lady was fresh looking and laying eggs. While in the meadow I found a European Skipper with a deformed wing. While watering my garden this gray/blue butterfly kept pestering me this evening. Finally caught him by hand and took the pict on the back patio.

Very few butterflies around the cottage today. I was pleased to see the Silvery Checkerspot... first time I've seen one. Always exciting to see something new.

Butterflies really scarce..11:30 a.m. to noon.
A fresh male Pipevine Swallowtail surprised me, flitting along the partially sunlite trail...my second of this season. Got within 5 feet of it, when it settled once for a second or two.

Our first Painted Lady raised from an egg (on borage) eclosed this morning; no dates from previous years for comparison, but it seems early.

87F, sunny, mild breeze.

Morning, sunny

A very good butterfly day while I was catching adult purple martins for banding. I witnessed an adult female bring a Buckeye to feed her nestlings. The nestling was only 4 days old, but it easily devoured it in about 5 seconds. That was hard to watch since I'm a butterfly enthusiast, but I'm a purple martin enthusiast as well. I also saw my first Aphrodite Fritillary in years, and I saw an American Snout for the second time in my life.

First adult Monarch hatch from fresh ova gathered May 10 in my yard. One month to complete cycle.

Red Spotted Purple at Devils Lake
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail at Dells.

My best day of butterflying in three years of living at this house. A whopping 32 species, many while frolicking with my 2-year-old son! Gray Hairstreak, C. Checkered-Skipper, Variegated Frits, C. Buckeyes, fresh Milb Tort, Harvester, and first Long Dashes, Euro Skip, and E. Tailed Blue of the year.

Too Windy and Too Hot to be doing this, but I did it anyways. Got my first Common Checkered Skipper photo today! These have to be the last Dusted and Juvenials. Butterfly weed flowers starting to open.

One Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was a black form female.

Away from the lake hot,lakeside there was a good breeze off the lake so was comfortable. about 4:00.

Hot and windy!

10am to 11:30. Despite the hot and sunny weather and the many flowers, there were not as many butterflies as I had hoped. There were also a couple of Snowberry Clearwing Moths and 6 lovely White-Striped Black Moths (Trichodezia albovittata).

Windy in the open areas. I was bitten by a dragonfly today for the first time. I netted one that I wanted a closer look at and it chomped down on my finger tip when I grabbed it. It kept its mouth open the entire time I held it. If dragonflies could hiss, this one would have.

These were seen while doing yard work.

Got a good look at the Pipevine Swallowtail with binoculars. No time for a camera-it was in my yard briefly. The irridescent blue hind wings were beautiful. I'll have to plant pipevine!

The swallowtails were more plentiful before the series of rainstorms earlier in the week.

Windy here, too. I came here today to look for early Bog Coppers. I didn't see any, but I did enjoy seeing another female Elfin Skimmer.

My son, Tristan, netted this Zebra Swallowtail butterfly in our backyard. This butterfly species seems a little far north; has anyone else seen this species this far north in Wisconsin?

Aberrant individual

Six stops along the way. The best find was a wonderful patch of wild strawberries!

91 degrees and sunny. 7 hours. One area at Muir Park was like a K-12 noon hour recess. Butterflies of all kinds everywhere chasing each other chaotically. Then the Little Yellow shoots passed me on the trail and the chase is on. Dandelion stopped it cold. Parted the grass to attempt a photo and off it went again. ***Pink Cat. is probably an AM Lady. IDed by Phil. Pellitteri

All the Greenish Blues were males except for the one female in the photo. I saw something as I passed a patch of Alsike Clover. I thought I might get to see another Greenish Blue, but it was a Gray Hairstreak. One group of over 60 Canadian Tiger Swallowtails and lots of White Admirals too!

I am used to seeing the dainty sulphur much later, August-Sept. I don't know if I have ever seen one this early in the year.

These 2 were spotted in our yard/garden. We live in a new development, in a rural area, on the edge of a deciduous "forest"--about only a mile or so from the St. Louis River.

8-10 am warm and sunny. The Azures really seem to like the flowers of the Grey Dogwood shrubs.

Setting up the transects on the prairie for counting KBs in the upcoming weeks. No rain = crunchy ground cover. Not many butterflies compared to normal.

Sunny and 71 degrees. Late afternoon. Only had 45 minutes so couldn't cover that much territory. Glad to see that the black swallowtails were in their usual spot.

Sunny, breezy, and cool (78 degrees +/-).

This one tree had something all the insects liked - 5 species of butterflies and some carrion beetles! Also lots of dragonflies, including this male Ski-tailed Emerald.

I walked and biked slowly from Hatley to Norrie Lake along the Mountain Bay Trail. The trail traverses through a wetlands area and a large bog.

Cool, clouded over 1/2 way through hike.

73F, partly cloudy. Quick 30 min. walk at lunch.

Surprisingly few butterflies at the park (too dry?). But at home we've released 48 Monarchs in the last 4 days.

Great day at Riley Lake.

My first Corral Hairstreak! All of the butterflies looked fresh, in good condition today.

Hot and Dry! Milkweed is wilting! 5:30-6 PM This Painted Lady caught my attention as it was acting territorial. The larger than normal size and coloration had me wondering. Not far away another "new" PL was chasing off foes. Doreen got to see a "monarch going into chrysalis" for the first time when we came in from our walk.

Old campfires, roadkill & animal scat had attracted many white admirals and northern pearly eyes. A hummingbird clearwing moth on hawkweed.

Often had up to 3 Emperors landing on us! Photo shows Tawny on Dorothy.

Scouting for Saturday's field trip.