Butterfly sightings for October 2015

Oct 1 2015

Pam Campbell

Location: Dunnville Bottoms
Dunn County

High temp 63 degrees. Sunny and windy.

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Northern Crescent

Northern Crescent

Bronze Copper

Bronze Copper

Oct 1 2015

Sue Feyrer

Location: Retzer Nature Center
Waukesha County

Mid-afternoon, 55, sunny and very windy.

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Oct 2 2015

Jim Otto

Location: Schoenberg Marsh Waterfowl Production Area
Columbia County

Sunny, windy, temperature 62F. This was a brief mid-day visit. Not much flying today.

Oct 3 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Brockway Rd.
Jackson County

partly sunny and windy, 58 degrees

Oct 3 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Tomah
Monroe County

partly sunny and windy, 62 degrees

Oct 6 2015

Sue Feyrer

Location: Scuppernong low prairie
Waukesha County

Seventy, sunny with a light breeze.

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper

Oct 6 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Cemetery in Westfield, east of Hwy 51/39
Marquette County

All nectaring on red clover or dandelions.

Oct 6 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Comstock Bog-Meadow SNA
Marquette County

6 fly-by Buck Moths in an hour.

Oct 6 2015

Kathy Kascewicz

Location: About a mile south of Fifield
Price County

I was surprised to see a monarch again, around 2PM, 59F, and sunny.

Monarch

Monarch

Oct 6 2015

Sue Feyrer

Location: Lapham Peak State Park
Waukesha County

Beautiful, sunny warm afternoon. Walked in the prairie westof Hwy C.

Monarch

Monarch

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Oct 7 2015

Darleen Horman

Location: My yard in Allenton
Washington County

Sunny and calm, temp in the 60's. Saw several cabbage whites and clouded sulphurs on the asters, as well as one very worn and faded painted lady and 1 very fresh male monarch.

Oct 7 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Olbrich Gardens
Dane County

All Sulphurs and the Peck's Skipper were in the grass north of the back parking lot. Also saw two Great Spreadwings (damselfly)

Oct 7 2015

Sylvia Edlebeck

Location: Shea Prairie
Iowa County

2:15-2:45. Mid 60's and sunny. There were a fair number of nectar sources available, however I didn't spot even one butterfly nectaring. The orange sulphur was on the gravel in the driveway, and the clouded sulphurs and cabbage whites were all in flight.

Orange Sulphur

Orange Sulphur

Oct 9 2015

Stan Rehm

Location: Pleasant View golf course
Dane County

I'll use this opportunity to share a photo of our new pipevines (Aristolochia duria). We purchased two vines in pots in June; by September they had covered a 7-foot trellis. No blossoms or swallowtail visitors this year, but this is a perennial, and we're looking forward to future summers.

Pipevine

Pipevine

Oct 9 2015

Daniel Jackson

Location: Spillway Dike west of La Crosse airport
La Crosse County

American Copper

American Copper

Oct 10 2015

Daniel Jackson

Location: Jackson property just south of Chaseburg
Vernon County

Oct 10 2015

Joan Vennie

Location: Stenke Basin, Devil's Lake
Sauk County

65 and sunny. I startled the tortoiseshell on a wooden bridge and eventually found it again flying under the bridge, moving every time someone crossed. Impossible to get a good picture, but happy to see it.

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Compton Tortoiseshell

Compton Tortoiseshell

Oct 10 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Brown Deer
Milwaukee County

Seen in our yard.

Oct 10 2015

Ron Arnold

Location: my property in the town of Seneca
Wood County

Oct 10 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Russell Hill, Baxter Lane
Grant County

Orange Sulphur

Orange Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Oct 10 2015

Sue Feyrer

Location: Ryan Road county property
Waukesha County

Sunny and windy.

Oct 10 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Avoca Wildlife Area
Iowa County

Oct 11 2015

D Nussbaum

Location: O'Hauser Park
Winnebago County

Windy

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Oct 11 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: On our butterfly bush in Brown Deer
Milwaukee County

Oct 11 2015

Dean Hansen

Location: Our cabin in the woods, Roosevelt Twp
Burnett County

The Compton Tortoiseshell I reported on Sept. 7 as looking for a spot to spend the coming you-know-what somewhere in the eaves of our cabin was out and about today, and it was joined by two others. Maybe they'll all be out again on a sunny, warm day in March.

Compton Tortoiseshell

Compton Tortoiseshell

Oct 11 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Kewaskum Section of the Ice Age Trail
Washington County

It was in the upper 70's and very windy. There were numerous Clouded Sulphurs flitting about the farm fields adjacent to the trail. Others were feeding on asters. One Mourning Cloak was spotted in the forest.

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Oct 11 2015

Joan Vennie

Location: Blue Mounds State Park
Iowa County

Monarch

Monarch

Gray Comma

Gray Comma

Oct 11 2015

Mike Reese, Ken Tennessen

Location: Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area
Rock County

The Monarch was flying north!

Northern Water Snake

Northern Water Snake

Oct 11 2015

Mike Reese, Ken Tennessen

Location: Clarence Bridge Park
Green County

Sunny with temperature in the upper 70s. I got my lifer Smoky Rubyspot, and Ken got his first ever photo of the female Elusive Clubtail. The Monarch was flying north!

Smoky Rubyspot

Smoky Rubyspot

Elusive Clubtail

Elusive Clubtail

Oct 11 2015

Ron Arnold, Lydia and Emily Thurber

Location: my property and surrounging property in the town of Seneca
Wood County

High temperature of 82 degrees this afternoon.

Oct 11 2015

Alex Harmon

Location: Governor Dodge SP
Iowa County

Pearl Crescent

Pearl Crescent

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Oct 12 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Bayside
Milwaukee County

Oct 12 2015

Judith Huf

Location: My garden in Whitefish Bay
Milwaukee County

First Monarch I've seen in quite a while.

Monarch

Monarch

Oct 13 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: In our yard in Brown Deer
Milwaukee County

Oct 13 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Trinity Creek in Mequon
Ozaukee County

Oct 14 2015

Sylvia Edlebeck

Location: Quarry Ridge Park, Fitchburg
Dane County

Mid-October already--hard to believe. Only 6 butterflies today. No photo opportunities.

Oct 14 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Bayside Garden Center in Bayside
Milwaukee County

Oct 14 2015

Joan Rickert

Location: My yard, rural Medford
Taylor County

Didn't expect to see a butterfly while washing windows so no camera with me. What a nice surprise! Mostly sunny, mid 50's and breezy.

☆ = New county sighting record

Oct 14 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: In our yard in Brown Deer
Milwaukee County

Oct 14 2015

Alex Harmon

Location: Dodgeville
Iowa County

I think the frost killed a lot of them off. I've been seeing at least 15 clouded sulphurs every sunny day for the past couple weeks, only one today.

Oct 15 2015

Dean Hansen

Location: 4 acre old field hillside, St. Joe's Twp
St. Croix County

Maybe one New England Aster was still out, but goldenrod and all the other asters are done. "Never say never," the single sulphur seemed to be saying, but we're pushing our luck with any more butterfly sightings for 2015.

Oct 15 2015

Stan Rehm

Location: Military Ridge State Trail near Verona
Dane County

Also seven woolly bears on the march.

The 3-inch-long caterpillar is (I think) a white-lined Sphinx (note the horn on the tail), found wandering in jeopardy on a large asphalt parking lot. Now housed in one of our terraria.

Oct 15 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: In our yard in Brown Deer
Milwaukee County

Oct 16 2015

Jim Otto

Location: Schoenberg Marsh Waterfowl Production Area
Columbia County

Mostly sunny, temperature 51F, windy. I hiked the paved trail north of Priem Road at mid-day. Only saw the one white form Clouded Sulfur, plus several woolybear caterpillars.

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Oct 17 2015

Pam Campbell

Location: Lake Menomin Park, Menomonie
Dunn County

Barely 50 degrees and windy, so they were flying low and slow today.

Cabbage White

Cabbage White

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Oct 18 2015

Ron Arnold

Location: my property in the town of Seneca
Wood County

Oct 18 2015

Daniel Jackson

Location: Genoa Boat landing on Mississippi
Vernon County

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Oct 18 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Sunburst Ski Area Kewaskum
Washington County

Oct 18 2015

Peter Fissel

Location: Swan Lake WPA (Lake Barney section)
Dane County

The Monarch was kind of meandering - almost seemed to be searching for a thermal to gain altitude.

Oct 18 2015

Dean Hansen

Location: Roosevelt Twp.
Burnett County

Ha! Found the Compton Tortoiseshell is hibernating under some loose siding on the south side of our cabin. One, at least, came out and enjoyed the Oct. sunshine. "It ain't over 'til it's over," it said about the 2015 season.
Several Clouded Sulphurs were seeking the very occasional aster blooms in a grazed pasture.

Oct 18 2015

Bob Bergen

Location: Omro
Winnebago County

Wisely flying south!

Oct 18 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Hancock Agricultural Research Station
Waushara County

Oct 18 2015

Dave Hogg

Location: W1953 Brooklyn Albany Rd, Albany town 53502
Green County

Bronze copper on exposed frames in beehive, feeding next to some worker bees. 4:00 pm, sunny, ~62 degrees.

Bronze Copper

Bronze Copper

Oct 18 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Hancock Park baseball diamonds off Hwy GG
Waushara County

56 degrees, 3:15-3:35

Oct 18 2015

Jessica Gorzo

Location: Donald Park
Dane County

a pair of sulphurs appeared to be mating

Oct 18 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Tri-County School Forest
Waushara County

mid 50s, 1:00-2:50

Oct 18 2015

Sue Feyrer

Location: Retzer Nature Center
Waukesha County

Sunny, light breeze, in the 50's after two nights below 30.

Oct 18 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Hwy H at Milwaukee River in Kewaskum
Washington County

Oct 18 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Hwy H and Oak Drive Ice Age Trail in Kewaskum
Washington County

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Oct 18 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Mauthe Lake
Fond du Lac County

Oct 18 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Kewaskum Ice Age Trail Parking Lot
Washington County

Oct 18 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: New Fane Biking Trail Parking Lot
Fond du Lac County

Oct 20 2015

Peter Sveiks

Location: New Berlin, my garden
Waukesha County

72 and mostly Sunny!!

Cabbage White

Cabbage White

Oct 20 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Mequon Nature Preserve
Ozaukee County

It was 67 degrees and sunny. I also saw an Eastern Garter Snake basking in the sun.

Oct 20 2015

Darleen Horman

Location: My yard in Allenton
Washington County

5:30pm. 1 fresh monarch fluttered into the aspen tree. It appeared to be looking for a place to spend the night. What a beautiful sight among the golden leaves!

Oct 20 2015

Sylvia Edlebeck

Location: Dunns Marsh overlook, Fitchburg
Dane County

Quick stop around 2:30pm on the way home from an appointment.

Oct 20 2015

Sue Feyrer

Location: Pike Lake State Park
Washington County

Sunny in the 60's, windy. Spectacular fall morning.

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Oct 20 2015

Pam Campbell

Location: Lake Menomin Park
Dunn County

Low 60's just before noon. The Monarch flew by and circled upward until I couldn't see it.

Oct 20 2015

Ginny Nelson

Location: Indian Lake County Park
Dane County

These were seen while collecting prairie seeds between 0900 and 1130.

Oct 20 2015

Jim Otto

Location: Spring Green Preserve north of Pearl Rd.
Sauk County

2:00 pm

Oct 20 2015

Jim Otto

Location: Governor Dodge State Park
Iowa County

Mostly sunny, south wind, 70F degrees. This was a mid-day visit. Very few flowers remain in bloom.

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Oct 21 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Mequon Nature Preserve
Ozaukee County

It was 74 degrees, sunny and windy.

Oct 21 2015

Tod Highsmith

Location: near Lake Monona, Madison
Dane County

Oct 21 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Lemke Park in Mequon
Ozaukee County

Oct 21 2015

Sue Feyrer

Location: Devil's Lake State Park
Sauk County

Warm and sunny but very windy.

Oct 22 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: In our yard in Brown Deer
Milwaukee County

Oct 22 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Virmond Park in Mequon
Ozaukee County

Sunny and 57 degrees. I saw the butterfly on the bluff above Lake Michigan.

Oct 22 2015

Dean Hansen

Location: St. Joseph Twp, 4 acre old-field hillside
St. Croix County

Nicest October day imaginable--low 60s, calm winds, blue skies.

Oct 22 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Lake Shore Drive and Donges Bay Rd. in Mequon
Ozaukee County

Oct 22 2015

Judith Huf

Location: County Grounds Park
Milwaukee County

Warm (61 degrees) and sunny. A few flowers still in bloom. (No photos today because someone made off with my camera. Guess I have to buy another.)

Oct 22 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Coal Dock Park, Port Washington
Ozaukee County

While birding this area in the morning I saw that it looked like good butterfly habitat so when it was nearly 60 degrees and sunny I stopped back here. I was quite surprised do see this many butterflies. This is the latest I have ever counted double-digit Monarchs! Also saw 5 white-form female sulphurs.
2:50-3:20.

Monarch

Monarch

Oct 25 2015

Judith Huf

Location: Lakeshore State Park
Milwaukee County

With the sunny warm (60F) weather and no wind there were a couple of good butterflies this morning. Unfortunately, until I get a new camera, I can only take rather blurry cell phone pics.

Monarch

Monarch

Common Buckeye

Common Buckeye

Oct 25 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Pine Island Wildlife Area
Columbia County

Oct 25 2015

Alex Harmon

Location: Outside of Platteville
Grant County

All of the Commas were feeding on fermenting fruit. One larger, dark butterfly seen. I am guessing it was a Mourning Cloak, but I am not certain so I won't count it.

Oct 25 2015

Mike Reese

Location: Hancock Park baseball diamonds off Hwy GG
Waushara County

50 degrees and sunny. 12:30-12:50. All nectaring on dandelions in the outfield

Oct 25 2015

Joan Vennie

Location: Black Hawk Ridge
Sauk County

60 and sunny. Eastern Comma was quite worn and damaged but still flying.

Eastern Comma

Eastern Comma

Oct 25 2015

Judith Huf

Location: Coast Guard Impoundment area
Milwaukee County

While watching the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, I spotted a couple of butterflies. Just a rather fuzzy cell phone photo.

Painted Lady

Painted Lady

Oct 25 2015

Alex Harmon

Location: Dodgeville
Iowa County

In an open field, hope he makes it to Mexico in time!

Oct 25 2015

Ron Arnold

Location: my property in the town of Seneca
Wood County

Some brief sunshine and a few dandelions were enough for a quick visit by the sulphur this afternoon.

Oct 26 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Trinity Creek in Mequon
Ozaukee County

Sunny, windy and 60 degrees.

Oct 26 2015

Sylvia Edlebeck

Location: Montello, Buffalo Lake
Marquette County

Sunny and beautiful. Also saw a butterfly flying by quickly, so couldn't get a good look. Am thinking Eastern comma, but not sure.

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

Oct 26 2015

Christine Stanke

Location: Mequon Nature Preserve
Ozaukee County

Sunny, windy and 60 degrees.

Oct 27 2015

Sue Feyrer

Location: Retzer Nature Center
Waukesha County

Warm sunny afternoon. Good day to share a beautiful area with friends.