Butterfly sightings for April 2020

- sunny around 50

FOY! Sunny day, near 50 degrees.

My first butterfly of the year!

14:00 - 15:00, 1.2 miles. Very crowded with people - more than I have seen there in 20 years of using the park.

The Comma was puddling next to a very muddy spot in the trail.

There were several Mourning Cloaks fluttering around the backyard. It was the first sunny day in quite a while.

Walking through the woods.

Mourning Cloaks and commas. No photos, unfortunately, The butterflies were very busy moving around, especially the commas.

Low 50s, breezy with filtered sun. FOY Commas and FOY Blandings turtle.

First butterfly of the year for me flying along edge of the woods.

100% low, dark clouds; mid 50s; light winds. Comma landed on maple sapling for a taste, fluttered about and back to the sapling briefly, then fluttered to a leaning dead tree trunk with a cluster of dried bracket fungi underneath. Comma then "dove" directly into 1 of the larger brackets with curled edges where it obviously intended to stay. I had to crawl on my back underneath for pics.

Went out looking for elfins. Saw one in the cold mist but I don't know what type

high humidity and cloudy some of the time.12:58 - 14:07, 1 mile through woods near water. 2 kinds of frogs were calling, turtles and water striders were out, lots of deer trails through the area. windy, but with temperatures in the 70s, I was hoping for more butterflies

My first Mourning Cloak of the year. Spring Beauties, Blood Root, and Dutchman's Breeches were just starting to flower.

Sunny, mid-50's, mid-morning

Found in our butterfly garden.

Near the cattail pond 50 degrees and sunny

Spotty snow cover yet but warm in mid-50s. Also had quite a few The Infant moths and a few Scarce Infant moths.

Warm calm sunny afternoon

56 F, SSW wind 26 mph with higher gusts. FOY butterfly in neighborhood.

About 60 degrees.

walking on muddy trail near College Avenue. north edge of nature center edge. near compost area.
butterfly sat for more than a minute on the mud.

After many attempts, our first butterfly of the year. Sunny, 58 deg., windy but the trail was sheltered.

Windy. No black spots on wings.

I wanted to see if Olympia Marbles were flying and some were! I also got to see my first tiger beetles of the year, and a plant I have been looking for this spring Draba reptans.

My first backyard butterfly of the year.

In the woods near the ephemeral pond.

Sunny and about 55 degrees.

Cabbage White was flying around the daffodils and bluebells.

My first cabbage white of the year, too.

My first Cabbage White of the year.

Dark, medium size butterfly with cream edges to wings. Mourning Cloak.

In woods across the road.

First butterfly sighting on Moely Prairie this spring.

First time ever for us to have a Cabbage White before a Mourning Cloak in the garden. Nectaring on Scilla.

Sunny, mid 50s, light easterly breeze, mid afternoon. On island bounded by Old Abe Lake on the east and Chippewa River on the west. One Mourning Cloak along semi-shaded path through small woods. No photo.

Mostly sunny, low 60s, light breeze, early afternoon. All activity on grassy area near trees and a creek.

My first sighting of one of the Vanessa butterflies this year.

Mourning Cloak, all over a very wet maple...

Sunny, high 60's, Afternoon: The Olympia Marbles were on the move, never still enough to get a photo. No Tiger Beetles today, but did find a juvenile Northern Black Widow.

Surprised to see a Painted Lady, the first in the state this year. Unusual because we still haven't seen an American Lady or Red Admiral this year.

All three were flying around in our yard and woods nearby. I was able to get photos of the Spring Azure as it was puddling in the garden bed I was watering. The Cabbage White flitted around the yard and at one point briefly stopped to nectar on two different violets. I also saw an Eastern Comma but was not able to take a photo.

walked the river trail.

finally a warm sunny day. Stopped off for a brief bird walk about 11 am. My first Cabbage White of the season. I know they are common and not native, but still a joy to behold in dark times.

Seen while building pasture fence.

58 to 63 degrees F, sunny, about 6.75 miles of transect counting. Bauer-Brockway Area, Dike 17, Stanton Road, and one other area. We also saw 1 unidentified elfin.

70-74 degrees F, sunny. 2.2 miles of transects. This is a complete list of what we saw.

Also saw my first Common Green Darner of the year.

67 degrees and sunny. The Olympia Marbles could not find anything to nectar on and were flying around a small patch of Bearberry.

Seen at edge of woods in field.

Sunny all day. 67 degrees. Windy. The Spring Azures were all males, puddling here and there on mud along the roadside. But two were found facing each other, up close, antennas in contact! I would have loved to see the transcript. We didn't have a camera with us.

First butterflies I've seen this year. (Still haven't seen a butterfly near our home in Stoughton, WI.) Beautiful sunny 60 degree afternoon.

Photographed among dried leaves near a pond formed by an earthen dam. Observed another individual near a sphagnum bog.

This butterfly was flitting about on the trail on top of the Eau Galle Dam. It was 1:11 pm, about 68 degrees, sunny and windy.

I also saw a Two-Spotted Bumble Bee enjoying prairie violets.

My FOY, was wondering when I was going to see one! I know Saturday will be a great day for butterflies.