Butterfly sightings for July 2012

Too hot for butterflies. Difficult getting open wing views. Least/Euro and Dun/NBD both present but unable to confirm many.

Search after 5:45pm...another oppressively hot day! No sign of Poweshieks at this interesting prairie remnant but then again butterfly activity overall was hampered by the heat. Lots of prairie dock and other good prairie plants.

my contribution to today's Madison butterfly count

Hiked the logging roads. The open sand ridges were very productive.

The 22nd annual NABA Madison Butterfly Count. 95 degrees and very humid. We found 440 butterflies of 32 species. Two species were new to the count: Pipevine Swallowtail and Sachem. All time high count for Orange Sulphur. 9 of the species were migrants from the South. 15 Common Buckeyes.

very hot and humid, saw 4 Juniper Hairstreaks on my daisies around noon

I saw three Pipevine Swallowtails but they didn't stop long for a photo. I just snapped them midflight. If it weren't so HOT I'd be more patient for a good photo.

A crew cut the Prairie Enthusiasts' prairie today, so the butterflying might be slow for a few weeks.

Revisited same area as noted on June 30th where Dainty Suilfur was observed. Surprise!!!Probably the same individual was found today nectaring less than 50 yards from original spot days ago.

Temps in the upper 90's today with a brief spike at 102 on my fast-response thermometer.

Very worn, Banded Hairstreak.

All sightings on the gravel parking lot.

Another hot day. I spent as little time outside as possible, but I still got some good sightings. I was saving up energy for tomorrow's NABA count.

Upper 90s and hazey. Thanks to all who led me here.

The Snout was laying eggs on my hackberry tree.

WIOUWASH Trail at Medina Jct. Rd. North to the county line and south about a quarter mile. Not much doing.

around 8 pm, warm, no clouds. Mostly along the railroad tracks heading east.

Milkweeds attracted Dun, Silver-spotted skipper, Great Spangled Frits, Common Buckeye along Sunday Rd.
Damp gravel along stream side at Nature Hill attracted Blues, Least Skipper and Red Admiral. Little Yellow on Trefoil.
!0: 30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Dense diverse forest within fifty feet of the Wolf River.

1:00, sunny, 100 degrees. Lots of critters, but only one butterfly. Geese were all out cooling off in the water. Red winged black birds were not happy I was walking by. Pappa threatened to give me a new hairdo.

6:45 am, partly cloudy, 71F. Only 2 seen, perhaps due to time of day.

I was out watering my plants and saw this Monarch feeding on the milkweed in my garden.

partly cloudy, 90F. Spent about an hour walking around the little bog lake along the wetland trail.

Only my second Little Yellow ever. The Dainty Sulphur, found by Dave Hanson, was our first this year. Very fresh individuals for Var Frit, Gray Comma, Compt Tort, Amer Lady, Painted Lady, and C. Buckeye.

The temperature was 84 when we started at 8:30 and got up to 104. Dainty Sulphur, Checkered White and Fiery Skipper were all new species for this count.

The robber fly, Asilus sericeus, had a Dun Skipper as prey. In the photo with the Two-spotted Skipper notice that there are four additional species!

late afternoon, 91F, mostly sunny. A pretty neat place to explore. I even "perforated" the floating peat mat and sunk in up to my waist. Fun times!

10:30, sunny, 98 degrees. There were many dragonflies, at least a dozen varieties, lots of frogs, and only one butterfly.

11:00, sunny, 98 degrees

My lifer Buckeye!

It only got up to 103 today, brrrr. This was just a couple of quick checks today to see if any species missing from yesterday's NABA count decided to show up. None did, but the Little Yellow made an appearance. My property was the only location where it wasn't seen yesterday. I'm still recovering from yesterday's effort and I'm saving up for Saturday's SWBA field trip.

mostly sunny, 94F. I probably could've had a huge list for this sighting. Driving toward the SNA on Tie Mill Road - the road was literally carpeted with butterflies the entire drive, numbers would've been in the several hundreds. I didn't stop, due to only having a narrow time window to explore the SNA. The only one I identified on sight were the White Admirals and they were too numerous to count. I could also tell there were lots of fritillaries, skippers, sulphurs and comma types, and probably several more. The wood-nymphs were seen on the short trail to Grandma Lake, and in the bog itself, I only saw the bog coppers.

On a logging trail through a heavily mixed forest less than a mile from the Wolf river.

Brutally hot day (95+); spent most of time in shade looking for caterpillars.

Flying low along dirt railroad tracks in a warm and sunny area

96 degrees (at 11 AM) and Sunny. 9:30-11 AM. 1 Am. Copper was in the marsh. A place I have never seen them before.

Slow.

We saw a Bronze Copper flying in a field just a mile west of Stevens Point on HWY C.

First time I have seen a hairstreak at night- This is a banded hairstreak hanging out with some moths in the driveway

A short walk with my granddaughter. Beautiful day. Found this dark skipper that seemed to me to be the size of a Silver-spotted Skipper, but I can't identify it.

[Not surprising since no one has ever seen this skipper before in Wisconsin, and it wasn't listed on the website. It's a new state record! Mike]

50+ Dun Skippers is a conservative number.

A Dun Skipper started flopping around right after I photographed it. It was attacked and eaten.

The hairstreak was in our front yard on swamp milkweed. The swallowtail and skippers were along Lake Monona.

Butterflies are very scarce around here lately. Maybe because we have had no rain for weeks and very high temps. I saw 1 very worn Eastern Tiger Swallowtail today..I haven't seen another Swallowtail in over a week.

afternoon very sunny, hot, and humid with a NW wind

Cooler temperatures today helped with butterfly watching. The day started out cloudy but butterflies were easily found in the vegetation. Sunshine returned and so did nectaring activity. Butterflies seen but not identified to species were a White and a Tiger Swallowtail.

Windy but good temps. Nectar sources declined significantly in last week. Several Sulphur hybrids. Black Dash explosion. Snowberry clearwing in flight.

Very dry, with few nectar sources. Ottoe Skippers, all males, were nectaring on Monarda among the sumac. Also saw 3 Columbine/Wild Indigo Duskywings.

Near Eureka Maple Woods State Natural Area

Very hot and butterfly activity pretty limited. Spent most of time in shade looking for caterpillars. Also found a neat tiny robber fly.

Survey of bluff prairie remnants; additional species sighted but not recorded. One female Columbine Duskwing observed flying about and apparently ovipositing on columbine. Had high hopes for Ottoe Skipper (habitat looked good) but found out the site had been burned several times over...the grass skipper fauna was pretty sparse (only the single Delaware Skipper!).

Also saw 2 Six-lined Racerunners.

Have been seeing so many Red Admirals since April!!

It was fluttering around the edge of our driveway, landing on small plants of white sweet clover that come up through the gravel.

1 American Snout at boat landing

Near Eureka Maple Woods State Natural Area

This is the 10th year for this portion of the Dubuque circle. 3 species were new to the count: American Snout, Fiery Skipper and Giant Swallowtail. Record high numbers of Little Yellows, Orange Sulphurs, Juniper Hairstreak and Common Buckeye.

Nice July day, mid 80s and reasonably humid with some wind. Both Fritillaries were in the backyard at the same time, very hard to tell apart with wings closed. The skippers were intent on chasing each other, making it difficult get any pictures.

Since I missed last week's butterfly count at Riveredge because of visiting family, I decided to take advantage of the break in the hot weather to check out this beautiful area. 44 Swamp Metalmarks were found on the count, but scrupulously keeping to the path, I only managed to see two. Despite the drought, there were hundreds of Ebony Jewelwings flitting about the woods along with many other lovely Odonata. Also found some interesting beetles (not yet identified) on some raccoon scat that was filled with pieces of crayfish parts. I was intrigued by the amazing camouflage of a Question Mark with closed wings.

Still very hot so spent most of time looking for aquatic insects in the river. Great site with some impressive sand blows and lots of false heather.

Found an American Snout as I put my boat in the water. Unfortunately, it disappeared before I could get out my camera.

This was the 23rd annual Trempealeau NABA butterfly count. 11 observers found 430 butterflies of 37 species. New to the count was Fierly Skipper (8), bringing the cumulative total species to 74. Only occurring for the 3rd time were American Snout (2), Giant Swallowtail (8) and Broad-winged Skipper (2). Other interesting species were Little Yellow (19), Dainty Sulphur, Common Buckeye (8), Tawny Emperor, Dion Skipper, and Bronze Copper.

88 degrees and sunny. No Ottoes but 6 Wild Indigo/Columbine Duskywings.

I've been coming to this website for a few weeks now, and thought I'd post this sighting of a Giant Swallowtail taken late this morning. There were two of them together at one point.

Deltox Marsh. Saw several broods of Mallards, Blue-winged Teal and Wood Ducks.

Both of these found in a 2008 prairie planting in mid-afternoon today.

I only saw them on the 9th. As far as I know they have not returned.

Survey of a private property bluff prairie just south of Rush Creek SNA (Armund Bartz joined me early in the day), and a small bluff within the SNA (not an area which has received much attention I believe). From both prairies you can see the south main bluff of Rush Creek SNA.

Finally an Ottoe Skipper! I found a single worn male in the SNA property (picture facing the river) which was not bad given that Dan Sonnenberg found none at the main Rush Creek area the same day (had no idea he was there!), the flight period was near the end, and butterfly activity overall was poor. There is a good chance both remnants support viable Ottoe populations.

Beautiful view over the river while moth sampling at night!

Sorry no rarities today.

Not a bad day given the drought conditions and poor butterflies conditions at most sites. The nectar sources were a bit more vibrant here. Banner day for Regal Fritillaries and Columbine Duskywings.

Spent the night up on the ridge moth sampling (slept in a tarp!) and woke to an eerie fog covered landscape.

Wetland area along the dirt road south of the ATV trail with lots of clover and birdsfoot trefoil providing the nectar, and along a access road in the SNA where hoary vervain was the main nectar source.

We were swimming at the beach. The butterfly kept landing in the wet sand at the shore. It's wings weren't in the best shape, but still beautiful. Giant swallowtails are fantastic.

I only walked the lower section of the northwestern bluff and saw no butterflies at all. The few observed were in the ditch area or across the road along the railroad.

Great day!

All the commas were fresh. Lots of milkweed coming into bloom. Joe-pye weed abundant but not yet in bloom. My single day high count for Dion Skipper and only my second Delaware Skipper ever. Lots of butterflies overall. For the dragonfly lovers, also had 5 species of striped emeralds (Somatochlora), 2 snaketails, Black-tipped Darner, and others.

The butterflies seem fewer and smaller than last year; is it because of the drought? The ground is cracked, the ponds drying up. The only advantage is the lack of mosquitoes. Tried to get a good picture of one Sulphur which was a beautiful greenish white.

North from Medina Jct Rd. Took a short walk up this trail on my last hike before back surgery.

Found while clearing brush on an oak savannah remnant. This is the first one I've seen on the property despite an abundance of hackberry.

During mid-afternoon, two fritillaries, one bedraggled and one in good shape, kept visiting the purple coneflowers. A single Giant Swallowtail flitted through the pink phlox for over 10 minutes as well.

Gorgeous, gorgeous! White Admiral was surfing the currents over the falls going from trees on one side of river to other. Commas sunning on rocks along river. Monarchs seen over the highway(8) only.

Went to CB Park to check out the prairie only to find it was planted in Soy Beans. This prairie wasn't the best so I am hoping they are just planting crops for a few years to get rid of the weeds before they replant it. Didn't spend much time here.

This was the 12th annual NABA Butterfly Count at Sister Bay. 5 observers, armed with close-focusing binoculars, found 558 individuals of 39 species. That ties the 39 species in 2001. Variegated Fritillary (4) was new to the count. A cumulative total of 53 species have been seen in the 12 years of the count. Cabbage White and Fiery Skipper were NOT seen until the next day (too late!) at the restaurant where we ate lunch! We also saw Arrowhead Spiketails (dragonfly).

Beautiful large Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

Among the flower gardens.

Hackberry Emperor is the only butterfly I've seen in my yard for at least a week. Swallowtail was a couple of blocks from my house.

One Gray Hairstreak (and an Eastern Pondhawk) in our yard

After watching it and photographing for a while It flew and showed it's beautiful blue.

After seeing 100s of butterflies on the road the last time I was here, it seemed pretty deserted. Fortunately, newly emerged Green Commas, Gray Commas, and Compton Tortoiseshells made up for the lack of butterfly numbers.

Scarcity of butterflies persists. Butterfly bush and dwarf zinnias deliver what few butterflies are out and about, however. Observed a female Fiery skipper laying eggs on my lawn, and also noticed a scarce web moth nectaring on buddleia.

94 degrees and sunny. Went out at 12:30 today to lightly water a row of Zinnias I planted last evening, and a Common Checkered Skipper was there puddling. The last time I saw one in the yard was almost 2 years ago. A Dainty Sulphur was puddling in the neighbors tiny flower garden earlier.

cooling in the shade

Really rich site, much nicer than I expected. Some great plants; Platanthera lacera, Menyanthes trifoliata, Utricularia gabba, etc.

Puddles not as active as I had hoped. Hot but not as windy. Clouded under counted (wouldnt settle down) Pink edged out again. Possible checkered white but wouldnt settle down. First Fiery (and 3 of them!).

Very fresh Gray Hairstreak. N. Broken-Dash a good one for us up here.

There were definitely some butterflies here, but the were mostly Common Wood-Nymphs nectaring on goldenrod and white meadowsweet. In one less than 10 square yard area of nectar sources there were 32 of them nectaring.

Not a lot of butterflies, but Black Meadowhawks and the large robber fly Protacanthus rufus were flying

warm, humid, and partly cloudy afternoon, after an inch of rain this morning, first rain in 23 days

98 Degrees and hazy. Found the Checkered Skipper in my garden again near the mallow. the rest were in the bog. Took some people out in Summerton Bog to look for rare plants. Spent most of my time entertaining them. Extremely dry.

Reared a handfull of Pipevine Swallowtails from eggs deposited by wild female taken on my garden pipevine. Ova..June 7; Larva,last instar, June 26; pupa, June 30; adult, July 15th.

Mid-90's, very humid, and mostly sunny. I didn't stay outside very long. Also very very dry. Southern Wisconsin needs rain badly. Cabbage whites everywhere. The favorite nectar plant of the day was liatris.

I noticed some blazing star in flower in Douglas County and wanted to see how the cylindrical blazing star was doing. Not good. Although there were some flowers, they appeared stressed and I saw nothing nectaring on them. Instead I watched several Karner Blues nectaring on Flowering Spurge, about the only other thing in flower

Spotted this beautiful butterfly on my coneflowers in my backyard.

Quick stop before heading home. 9-11:00. There were 12 hairstreaks on this butterflyweed at one time, 9 Coral and 3 Edwards'. All the Karner Blues were fresh.

This was the 16th annual NABA butterfly count at Northern kettle Moraine. 7 counters in two groups, armed with close-focusing binoculars, found 282 individuals of 38 species. But we only found 23 individuals per hour which is only 39% of the average butterfly density on this count! Three factors probably contributed to the low density: 1) drought conditions, 2) advanced flight periods, and 3) heat (high of 98 degrees). 3 species were new to the count: Fiery Skipper (11), Giant Swallowtail (10) and Common Checkered-Skipper (1). 5 Common Buckeyes is highest ever. Photos of the Harvester and Giant Swallowtails by Dan Sonnenberg. Photo of the worn Swamp Metalmark by Mike Reese.

Beautiful butterfly!
no camera :-(

Too hot to go to work this morning at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, so just visited my own back yard.

The Buckeye I saw today was only about 60% the size of ones I've seen before; I wonder if this was just random variation, or whether drought conditions trigger early pupation and smaller adults.

So sad to find the Arboretum virtually bereft of butterflies. Walk terminated after a discouraging half hour.

The Variegated Fritillary was laying eggs on tiny violets in my dry, brown lawn.

Over 20 Fiery Skippers all over my Purple Coneflowers. There are actually probably a lot more than that as I have several different patches of Echinacea and there's some at every patch.

A littlerain last night and this morning and somewhat cooler weather made the world look better this morning. The blooming Monarda was very popular with the butterflies today. There was only one Sachem among the many Fiery Skippers. The Buckeye was tiny; looked half the size of a normal Buckeye.

Only spent about 40 minutes here, but saw lots of butterfly and dragonfly activity. Also saw a Great Spreadwing damselfly. The Little Yellow was a first for me in our neighborhood. No sign of Pipevine Swallowtails.