Butterfly sightings for June 2016

Around 4pm, my FOY monarch came fluttering through the yard!

74° Mostly Cloudy>Mostly Sunny>Mostly Cloudy, But it was REALLY windy! Only Jutta I saw got blown back into the bog as soon as it cleared the bushes. Nice to see Alex H. & Grandpa Don.
The bear didn't poop in the woods. He pooped on the road, so . . . I scooped it up and placed it along Gates Lake Rd. 4 spots over 1/4 mile. When I walked back to #2(snicker) had an Arctic Skipper while the first one had 2 Swallowtails until a Hobomok scared them off.

Sand prairie area with native habitat interspersed with logging damage and planted pines.

About 5pm in large field on private property

The roadsides have not been mowed yet, so there were a good variety of nectar sources. The swallowtails were attracted to large patches of Dame's Rocket.

I also saw more than 20 Six-spotted Tiger Beetles.

I also saw one Six-spotted Tiger Beetle.

This count is a combination of both June 1 and May 31. Cicindela limbalis, longilabris, tranquebarica, formosa, and scutellaris also seen.

40 minutes, good weather. These were the 1st Ringlets Ann or I have seen this far south in Wisconsin. All 3 (or 4) Ringlets were just west of Hastings Road and on the trail or east of the trail that parallels Hastings Road.

Walking the property with the property manager Joe Henry

I saw more than eight Six-spotted Tiger Beetles and there were hundreds of green damselflies on the trail along the Northern Branch of the Milwaukee River. I also saw more than ten White Striped Black Moths. I wasn't able to positively identify a duskywing or several skippers.

While walking across parking lot

Late morning, partly cloudy, 60 degrees.

Partly cloudy, midday, about 65 degrees. Giant Swallowtails seen at wood edge, Common Ringlets very numerous in grassy field, Little Wood Satyrs in both woods and fields. Viceroy at edge of pond.

Saw 5 tiger swallowtails but only able to ID 3. One was a black form female. I still haven't seen a Monarch.

Also glimpsed a likely Least Skipper.

I searched for Phlox Moths at 13-14 areas where we maintain long-term Phlox Moth monitoring, plus Dike 17 just for butterflies. 8.5 hours.

I've seen a few of these in the last week, and finally got a good photo.

It just about disappeared when it stopped flying, but sat still long enough for me to get some nice pictures. Old field/ young orchard (minimally managed). I didn't keep track of what else I saw.

I also saw a skipper and either a monarch or viceroy. The Black Swallowtail disturbed the monarch or viceroy in the middle of the prairie and it flew up in the air and then dropped back into the plants, and I never saw it again.

Little Wood Satyrs outnumbering Ringlets today but both numerous. First Red admiral I have seen this year. Tore open a lot of rolled-up nettle leaves looking for the cats but the ones i found were not Red Admirals.

I'm new at this. But I have been told this is a Pearl Crescent.

85° Sunny

Happy to find the Silvery Blue and Harris' Checkerspots. Our first Monarch of the year.

Photo by Dorothy.

Photo of Harris' Checkerspot by Dorothy.

2 hours. Four Karner Blue long-term (L-t) monitoring sites bordering County Hwy X, and one L-t site inside Sandhill. The Karner total was above the long-term average for these sites. 78% of the Karners we saw were males.

5 hours. Karner Blue population monitoring surveys at our Karner Blue long-term monitoring sites at Stanton Creek Road, Castle Mound Road, Brockway Road, Bauer Road, Cemetery Road, and Dike 17. Among Karners we could tell the gender of, 75% were males. Counting the Wood County Karner Blue L-t sites, we saw 391 Karners today. We saw 75 Ringlets in 1/2 hour at Dike 17, a new record high of Ringlets for one of central Wisconsin L-t sites. In 2002 at Dike 17 I saw our 1st Central Wisconsin Ringlet.

Saw this one hanging around my peonies!

Also 3 tiger swallowtails

I also saw some very interesting day flying moths including the White Striped Black Moth, a caterpillar, a fly, Six-spotted Tiger Beetles, and plants including a Small Yellow Lady Slipper.

A cool morning, so not a lot flying. Found my FOY Wood-Satyr and Silver-sp Skipper. Also, two Tiger Swallowtails.

I also saw either a monarch or viceroy in the middle of the prairie. In addition, I saw two White-striped Black Moths and a deer.

More Little Wood-Satyrs than I could count. Overcast, 70s, calm wind. Also saw an unidentified moth.

If you plant it they will come. Every one of the 25-30 Pearly Everlasting plants in 1 sq ft of our garden now hosts a "nest" for American Lady cats. Not sure if the plants can grow fast enough, or whether the ladies will eat themselves out of house and home.

Very windy conditions. It's looking like Common Ringlets are happy in Sauk County (3rd sighting reported this week). I'll be watching for them in Dane County!

Sunday afternoon on a gravel pile on my driveway

Relatively few BFs seen on a warm sunny day during an hour's exploration of multiple locations within the reserve.

The Baltimore Checkerspots were fresh and beautiful. Also saw American Lady caterpillars rolled up in pussytoe leaves.

Four of the six Purplish Coppers were near Archer Road or along this road. We think today's Ringlets found by Ann (1 right next to Archer Road, 1 south of Akron Avenue) are our first sightings of this species at Leola.

>90% of our survey route in the Lupine barrens was burned. The lake is so high that there is not much shallow or moist edge for Purplish Copper habitat at the moment.

This was sighted outside my home sitting on a patch of dirt

It’s not the best photo of a Hobomok Skipper, it was in our garage window during a thunderstorm. I captured a few poor quality photos and released it outside after the storm.

I also saw 5+ skippers zipping by in the breeze.

Sunny, in the 60's, quite windy.

Most sightings were in the public use area accessed from the Highway 33 parking lot. Lots of Racket-tailed emeralds, corporals, common whitetails, and baskettail dragonflies, too. (A few "Skipper sp," too)

Giant swallowtails, Eastern tiger swallowtails, and little wood-satyrs were everywhere you looked.

Cool, sunny, late morning.

Most unusual picture category. My neighbor found a muskie floating, mounted the head on a tree near the lake and came back to find this butterfly perched. I thought he had photo shopped it, but it is real.

I also saw one Six-spotted Tiger Beetle.

Butterflies sighted whilst being serenaded by a Yellow-breasted Chat.

My first Monarch of the season!

In addition to butterflies:
2 images of Robber Fly (Laphria sacrator)
1 image of female Robber Fly (Laphria flavicollis)
1 image of Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

I also saw a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, two White-striped moths and Small Yellow Lady Slippers in the bog.

I also saw a large Snapping Turtle in the woods, a Wood Chuck, lots of light blue damselflies, one White-spotted Black Moth and two Blues.

The little wood-satyrs were very active. One of them sat very briefly on a leaf, but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.

Also heard Dickcissel.

Dorothy's photo of Emperor.

40 minutes

Butterflies--except one--weren't yet active because the dew was so heavy. Silvery Blues occur regularly in late May/early June west of the road to the dam at the SW part of the marsh, 0.2-0.35 miles north of County B.

78° Sunny 3:30-4:30 PM. Doreen and I took a quick trip at the end of the afternoon.
First Azure this week. Real fresh. Been seeing European Skippers in the Meadow on 3 outings this week. Monarch was after 6 PM.

This Red-spotted Purple hung around the back yard for at least 2 hours feeding in the grass and at times in the pile of gravel left by a recent concrete project (our patio)

Sunny, breezy and cool.

At least 10 more small, very orange butterflies flitting around - likely most were least skippers.

Including several black form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails.

Another skipper got away from me - probably another Hobomok.

NRF field trip to an interesting State Wildlife Area in the early stages of restoration. Lots of habitat variety - good potential for a future SWBA field trip. Little Wood-Satyrs were everywhere.

Tons of Little Wood-Satyrs here. Also lots of Ebony Jewelwings down the wooded trail at the end of Conservation Road.

One lupine barrens monitored for Karner Blues long-term, and 6 grassland bird surveys, one of which is also a Karner monitoring site.

1 hour. The Purplish Copper was a worn male in the NE-part of the site, perched on a lupine.

Sunny, fairly calm, about 70 degrees.

I also saw one Six-spotted Tiger Beetle.

Prairie west of Hwy C.

Seen while Atlasing birds. Only the third site in the county where I have seen this butterfly.

I also saw a White-striped Black Moth, six Six-spotted Tiger Beetles, a green dragonfly and a yellow moth joined to a Pearl Crescent.

7 pm, hazy, 90F

Also saw a white butterfly but no id.

I also saw a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, an Eight-spotted Forester, eight yellow Swallowtails, six Duskywings, a Turkey laying in a sandy depression, a Pileated Woodpecker and a Baltimore Oriole nest.

Seven bogs east of Three Lakes in the Nicolet National Forest along Forest Roads 2182, 2174, and 2414, and two other bogs. The Frigga Fritillary was at a traditional site west of FR 2174 a scant 3 miles north of FR 2813.

All before noon, so not a lot flying. Also had two or three Tiger Swallowtails and a little Robber fly action. Lots of dragonflies. NO Monarchs.

This is the earliest - by far - I've ever found this species here. My previous earliest date was August 31.

36 minutes. This might be our highest count of Bog Fritillaries on any bog in 30 years of searching for the species. By comparison, we surveyed 30 Bog Fritillary bogs (at least 28 of which were inside this year's Bog Fritillary flight period) in the 2.5 days and found a total of only 40 other Bog Frits.

Seen near the tower while pulling garlic mustard.

Abundant lupine in maximum bloom. All of the KBs were seen at Fish Lake (Stolte Road).

Least Skippers were everywhere! They were nectaring on Yellow and Orange Hawkweed and Vetch along with Common Ringlets. I also saw 20+ yellow swallowtails, two duskywings, four Eight-spotted Foresters, a White-striped Black Moth, many other interesting moths and insects, a Wood Frog and a baby Snapping Turtle which I rescued from the Road. I also saw one Blue and a couple of Skippers.

Seen along the trail in Toft Point on the thimbleberry. Found in the late afternoon.

Seen while doing surveys for the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas.

Quick stop on my way home. Saw three additional tiger swallowtails and 2 sulphurs.

Tried to get a pic with the wings open! Sunny, warm, breezy day.

Sunny, 87F, 2:45 pm

Temp in the 80's and humid. Only saw 1 monarch and only found 1 monarch egg. Saw a few grass skippers, unable to ID, an eight spotted forester moth, yellowed collared scape moth and Virginia ctenucha moth. Found 9 cecropia moth eggs under lilac bushes

Very warm, partly cloudy, windy. Also saw some blues.

6 pm, 85F, sunny

93° Sunny & Muggy. Garage sale day. Had 8 species while sitting and "saling". Afternoon trip to a sloppy wet marsh full of hungry mosquitoes. Buckeye was on rise behind our house.

Got great looks at the Common Ringlet and the Arctic Skipper but by the time I got back out with a camera I was unable to relocate them.

Lots of lupine on Southwest Dike Cutoff, many Karners flying, some fresh, some ragged, both males and females. Red-spotted Purple!!!!!! on mineral pool along trail with White Admirals and Northern Crescents.

Lots of Red-spotted Purples/Admirals with varying amount of white in the forewing. Also, 3 or 4 Tiger Swallowtails that did not land for an ID. Humid and 80+ degrees by 11am.

Bogs near Roger Lake, Crane lake, and two bogs around Wishbone Lake. Normally these sites combine for high Bog Frit numbers. We'll try again.

One bog each near Cornucopia and Bark Bay, and two near Port Wing. These are our slowest Wisconsin Bog Fritillary sites, so we were stunned we saw 10 Bog Fritillaries this early on one of them. The Arctic Skippers were along the road that runs parallel to the south side of Bark Bay.

Two bogs in The Barrens south of Cornucopia near County Hwy C and near Forest Road 236, plus butterflies seen on 3 miles of walking through barrens and woods to access these bogs.

The Common Ringlet was located in a restored prairie.

All before noon. No Monarchs flying. I did find one small Monarch caterpillar.

Also saw an early instar monarch caterpillar

Beautiful walk at Lion's Den. A bit cool for the butterflies, 60's and breezy.

Was found north of Europe Bay Road on the Thimbleberry along the trail parallel to the beach. This butterfly has seen a lot of life...

I don't see the 'Post to NABA Sightings' box anymore, but feel free to post it if possible.

We do not see many Black Swallowtails in Bayfield County.

Bog about 8 miles east of Minong, 0.5 miles east of where the railway goes under Hwy 77.

Six bogs near Amnicon lake and two north of Moose Junction. This is the 3rd or 4th time we've seen all 4 spring wetland Bolorias in the same day at one set of bogs. The Freija Fritillary was 3 meters from Bog Fritillary on Milchesky Road "1.15" Bog. The Frigga was at Moose Junction east bog.

Late afternoon, 71 degrees. FOY Hackberry Emperor.
Unfortunately, 2 of the Baltimore Checkerspots were found dead on the roadway.

I also saw a Fritillary, 18+ yellow swallowtails, a White-striped Black Moth, a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, another type of Skipper and several other moths. The highlight of the day was taking part in the rescue of a fawn that had fallen into an abandoned silo pit. The fawn was not injured and ran off in the direction where its mother had been last seen.

4:30-5:30 pm, sunny... mid to high 70's. Lots of Big Sand and Festive Tiger Beetles, and a nice Robberfly.

In appropriate habitat. Grassy, wet prairie grasses

It was a cool, wet and mostly cloudy morning. The Least Skippers were sitting at the tops of the blades of grass and were not feeding.

We also saw one Blue.

Sunny, cool after morning rains.
Two Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, one black, one yellow.
Grass skippers are starting to show up too, but I'm having a tough time getting an identifying photo.

Seventies, partly cloudy.

We also saw a Snapping Turtle and a Kingfisher. We also saw a Blue on the way home.

70F, partly cloudy, 5-7mph NE; walking with Joe searching for Mottled Duskywing. Ninebark in flower Red-spotted Purple was visiting; dominant species flowering senecio pauperculus, houstonia longifolia, hypoxis hirsute, lobelia spicata, hawkweed, Ceanothus sp.,

Warm evening. I noticed several Red Admirals back at the edge of the woods doing their dance, and when I got closer, I also noticed an Eastern Comma.

This European Skipper was in a restored prairie.

Also saw a blue butterfly but no id. Darn

we took a nature walk today with the lab

Also saw a promethea moth

Mid-80s, sunny. Walked alot, saw alot. Harris checkerspot was a lifer for both of us. Lots of Karner blues, most nectaring as would be expected. One chose to sit on my camera (this is why I always carry 2 cameras, to be able to take a picture of the other camera if there's a butterfly sitting on it), then sit on my finger, then sit on my shirt. It stayed with me for about 10 minutes. Also saw some other grass skippers that we were unable to identify.

Mild and sunny.

Not totally confident I have the right ID here.

There were many of them on feeding on Oxeye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare).

Found on chicken droppings in back yard.

Sunny afternoon in the 80's.

Was here for a bird count but despite that and the chilly and overcast damp weather, I did see a few butterflies.

Mid-70s, sunny 3:00-4:00 pm. Only had time for a short visit, but found a spot to explore that had quite a few butterflies. Monarch was first of the year for Sylvia.

We also saw a Blue.

Same 2 bogs in the Barrens near County Hwy C and Forest Road 236 as on June 11. Includes butterflies from nearly 3 miles of walking to and from these bogs.

Same 4 sites as June 11. Each site had at least 1 Bog Fritillary today. The Buckeye was 10 meters from lake Superior.

Two wet suction bogs that usually have Bog Fritillaries. Except for 2 Tiger Swallowtails on the bogs, all other butteflies were seen in brief roadside surveys fronting these bogs. The bog on Wilderness Road 2.3 miles west of County Hwy GG becomes good for Dorcas Copper later on, especially along the road at the bog.

Same sites as on June 11. 4 bogs, one of them tiny. These are capable of producing high numbers of Bog Fritillaries, but right now the bogs are super wet.

Dirt road thru wooded area.

16 species. Highlights were the male Little Glassywing and Gray Comma (photos by Dorothy). And a Cobra Clubtail (dragonfly).

83 Degrees and Sunny. Bog Frits were the goal of this trip. Bog Frit caught in a Sundew. Bog flowers and Elfin Skimmers stole the show.

mostly sunny, 86F

We also saw a Blue and a Skipper.

I also saw a Blue.

Trying for an early Dorcas Copper at our 2nd fastest Dorcas site. Lincoln County Hwy 8 is the fastest.