Butterfly sightings for August 2020

these sightings will need to be divided into three parts as the trail is in three counties

partly cloudy, high 70s, slight breeze

Third giant swallowtail of the day and one REALLY worn black swallowtail that was laying eggs every chance she found

Partly cloudy but mostly sunny. Temps in high 70s and low 80s.

10:19 - 13:07. Many large black damselflies with a white spot on the wing were gracefully flying around. I saw 3 hairstreaks in a wooded area with oaks but did could not ID. 5 of the clouded sulfurs were white

Compton Tortoiseshell was enjoying some minerals from our patio gravel around 3pm. My first sighting of Nymphalis vaualbum. It visited the patio several times during the afternoon and was kind enough to pose for a few photos.

In our yard

Spotted this Fritillary hiding in the shade. Sunny and upper 70s.

Spotted all these while bicycling this morning. Sunny and upper 70s.

Our cabin is in the Chequamegon National Forest. I saw this butterfly flitting from tree to tree in the late morning of August 1, 2020. Tree cluster was birch, maple. & oak. Weather was sunny and 75 degrees.

Private residence, surrounded by agriculture fields (corn, alfalfa, and oats)

One mated pair of Monarchs.

70F, sunny, calm; saw both snowberry and hummingbird clearwings moths

Mild, breezy, and sunny. Also had a Punctured Tiger Beetle. And a beautiful moth that was white above and black and white checkered below that I can't yet identify.

Parked on the road and walked. 78 and a light breeze
I accidentally walked into the farmer's field beside the access to Avon Ridge (which is run by the Prairie Enthusiasts). The farmer was quite nice about my accidental trespassing,and allowed me to walk on his amazing property but I will plan to be more vigilant about avoiding private property.

early 7:30-10 am sunny

Biking Trip up Mascoutin Trail

I saw at least 6 Monarchs but I only go close enough to photograph a couple of them

Spotted this dark form female midday. On the edge of a large meadow; close to treeline.

Multiple sightings of Karner blues in prairie at Mt Morris camp and retreat center. 6 years of habitat work paid off today!
6016 Blackhawk ave

Pulling weeds and this Skipper stopped by.

Breezy partly cloudy 75 degree day

All seen in test garden

Cool windy late afternoon. Checking a few scattered milkweeds on old HWY 63.

70s, mostly sunny, light breeze

Mostly cloudy, 75 degrees, breezy.

Cloudy with temperature in mid 70's to low 80's. Fairly quiet day for seeing butterflies. Meadow Fritillary was on a Cone Flower planted in a Native Prairie restoration area.

Lots of big and bright Monarchs - several of which were mating. Finally saw an American Lady in awhile and recorded our very first Viceroy of the season.

Blazing star are in bloom, but not many butterflies. Best find of the day was a bumblebee that is new to me. Probably just an unusual color morph

Most of the butterflies are from Old Marsh Road (13 of the Least Skippers were found here) and Main Dike Road. All of the Broad-winged and Sedge Skippers were found in Swamp Milkweed patches along the south side of Main Dike Road.

Cold, windy and overcast

In my garden.

Seen in tall grass at the edge of the lake on an overcast day with temp in mid 60's.

My son works at Hawks Landing and saw this beauty in the grass along a cart path.

Image was taken at 2:57pm 8/4/2020 near our front door. We live about two and a half miles from “downtown” Albany.

At our home.

on white clover in our yard

Two seen on one of our butterfly bushes this morning. Have seen them in past years, also.

65 deg., sunny

About 80 total Frittilaries in the open Barrens

mostly sunny, mid 60s

Giant Swallowtail sighting in my backyard. taking nectar from zinnias.

partly sunny, 70s, breezy

Late morning, partly cloudy, cool, short walk along along rd.

Early afternoon, partly cloudy ,cool

Late afternoon, cool, partly cloudy. Blazing star starting to bloom.

Incidental while gardening.

Late morning walk on open trails in southern portion of park. Partly sunny, 65 degrees.

sunny, warm day with mild wind. Lots of sulphurs and blues.

2:00-4:15pm, warm, slightly windy, lots of mosquitos! Silver-spotted Skippers were everywhere

Sunny and 75 degrees

Partly sunny, windy, 70 degree afternoon

On a sunny pleasant afternoon, made a tour of every rain garden, flower bed, and butterfly garden. Took about 3 hours.

Incidental while removing invasive plants

Partly cloudy, temps in the high 70s.

Looking mainly for robber flies but only found one, Protacanthus milbertii, my first of the year.

Spotted three Giant Swallowtails in an area of high purple clover

More mosquitoes than butterflies but I for the first time I saw a Giant Swallowtail laying eggs on its Wisconsin host plant Prickly Ash.

On coneflowers as I was leaving for work at 9 this morning.

Cabbage Whites are out in force this week! Also my first Robber Fly I’ve captured by photo on the prairie!

70s, mostly cloudy, light breeze

70s, mostly sunny, slight breeze

Low 70s and breezy.

On our deck

78 mostly sunny. Walked flowering prairie areas mostly. Saw 2 female Black Eastern Swallowtails. Bonus finds were a Bush Katydid and a Yellow garden Spider with a Spotted Skipper trapped in its web.

The Giant Swallowtail is being seen daily.

Was hot and dry, there were 2 singing Grasshopper Sparrows at the first turn in the trail after the information kiosk. One was nice enough to sing from the dead branches of a bush. Also saw a Lark Sparrow in the oaks just east of where the Grasshopper Sparrows were signing.

14th Annual NABA Count. 79 degrees and sunny -- until about 2 pm when it clouded up. 6 observers from the Southern Wis. Butterfly Association found 444 individuals of 25 species. (Number of individuals was 2nd highest in more than a decade. Species about average.) The following species had record density: Silver-spotted Skipper (36), Clouded Sulphur (123), Cabbage White (25) and Monarch (58)! Two Sleepy Oranges were mating (photo Mike Reese). Thanks to counters Douglas Buege, Karl and Dorothy Legler, Mike Reese, Fred Dyke and Dave Hogg.

I didn't keep count of sulphurs or silver-spotted skippers but there were many flitting about.

I have a large, mixed woods backyard, with open areas, too. I saw this Giant Swallowtail flitting about (unmistakable with the flashy, yellow underside) around 6pm, and when it rested on a dogwood, I took the opportunity to snap a few photos. My first sighting! I'm so honored this magnificent creature took refuge in my backyard!

Sunny and mild. I was especially thrilled to see a Compton Tortoiseshell in my own driveway. Unfortunately most of my photos were blurry.

First Compton Tortoiseshell of my life and in Washington County - quite a surprise. As were all the Giant Swallowtails and a series of pictures of a rusty patch bumblebee (yet to be confirmed)

Surprise Sachem!

Upper 70's, sunny, calm

feeding next to flowers by back door

Beautiful Giant Swallowtail visited my garden today!

This was mostly a robber fly trip. I saw two that were new to the arboretum for me. One of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtails was a black form female.

Two common wood nymphs, by the hedgerow at the prairie.

Mostly sunny, 80 degrees F. Today we only surveyed grassland patches for Common Branded Skippers, not any roadsides. We found 22% fewer Common Branded Skippers today as on July 23 when we found 67 in the same patches (+13 on roads that day). Although we expected to find fewer today because of the advanced local phenology seen July 23, the skipper numbers held on more strongly than we thought they would.

Breezy. Hoping for a Regal Fritillary but got a lifer Meadow Fritillary instead.

warm day, sunny and breezy, walked 5.5 miles along prairie corridor and then down into the woods and through the valley back to English Hollow Rd.

Just about an hour walk on a mild sunny morning

have never seen one before. what a treat to see such a beauty!

Sunny, low 80s. Not many butterflies, but quite a few dragonflies such as Black Saddlebags.

Windy and warm. There were many yellow sulphurs puddling on the driveway. This was my first visit to this huge property. I did a circle walk around the wildflowers. Met the Murrays who said they had found 6 Regal Fritillaries, but unfortunately did not got to see any...I'll be back!

Mostly sunny, 78 degrees, breezy.

Partridge pea but no Little Yellows today!

140th Avenue

Mostly sunny, 80 degrees, Breezy. 11:45 AM.

Spent 1.5 hrs walking around. They decided to run sprinklers all over. Was hoping to find a Pipevine Swallowtail but failed. Snowberry Clearwing Moth was active in Beebalm. 82 mostly sunny

Surveyed 4 spots. 10% sun, 68-74 degrees F.

Surveyed 4 patches. 25% sun, 74-80 degrees F. The Wood Nymph count of 100 is exact, not an estimate.

Bright sunny afternoon.

Sunny

Surveyed 3 areas along Forest Road 236 north of Ino and south of Bayfield County Hwy C. Cloudy, 78-80 degrees F. We rarely see Striped Hairstreaks on this late a date.

25% sun, 70-77 degrees F. Surveyed the same 4 bogs and bog roadsides as on July 23 hoping to see a Purplish Fritillary: Bear Lake, North Bear, Milchesky 1.15, and Lyman Lake. In >20 years of surveying for the species 2 times a year, the last 8 years are our lowest through 8th lowest years for Purplish Fritillaries---all peak counts from years up through 2012 are higher than every year 2013-2020.

Breezy sunny 80 degree afternoon.

Hackberry emperor was hanging out on our third floor window.

Low 80's, sunny and breezy.

86 deg., sunny

Tiger swallowtail was a black form. Broad-winged Skippers were abundant on the milkweed patches. I stopped counting at 30, plus it was very windy and hard to watch them fly around. I also found 2 Monarch caterpillars on the swamp milkweed.

Mild, breezy, and sunny.

I've seen several of these in my yard, enjoying coral bell flower and echinacea nectar.

Two monarch caterpillars and eggs on milkweed in my garden.

The Giant Swallowtail is a first sighting for me in my yard , I keep looking hopefully to get a photo. One of the Tiger swallowtails was a female in black form.

Sunny

Hot muggy and cloudy afternoon. The blazing star is blooming.

Overcast and windy at times, sunny and not so windy at times. Temps in the 70s.

Walked the circuit at the end of the driveway, and had good luck in the path overgrown with bee balm and other prairie plantings near the entrance
Overcast and very humid

Incidental while biking the Wiouwash Trail

Cloudy and humid.
Lots of butterflies in the ravine by the stream

I'm not sure if the one photo is a Summer 'Spring' Azure or a well worn Eastern-tailed Blue. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

These Cabbage Whites were mating in my vegetable garden.
The Silver-spotted Skipper was on my zinnias.

In an aster in my yard.

warm, sunny, sumid

submitting for my sister, Marne who sent me the photo.

Very humid

This is the first time I've seen this butterfly.

Partly cloudy

The woods did not yield anything but the prairie remnant had quite a number of different species

The Silver-spotted Skippers must have been mating, they covered the prairie and were chasing off any other flying creatures! Several would chase each other in an upward spiral and then break apart and one would fly off to the trees on the edge of the field. The Common Wood-Nymphs were very plentiful in the grasses. (I stopped counting both the Wood-nymphs and the Silver-spotted Skippers so these are estimates)

Sunny, upper 80sF, 2:24 PM. Several Peck's Skippers on plants between roadside and prairie.

I just did a count on a place I call Butterfly Corner where James Rd meets Reed Lake Rd. I just walked a half block in both directions. Many Viceroys and White Admirals seen along the route but none at this location.

Saw several “small” clouded? sulphurs, possibly little yellows, but flying too fast and erratically to positively id.

hot and clear day with little wind, lots of mating activity going on.

most of the butterflies were in the prairie areas and the wet meadow, very few were in the oak savanna

79 degrees, sunny, calm. Thunderstorms the night before. 19 species. Note the aberrant Eastern Tailed-Blue!

This was the first time I have ever seen clearwing moths mating in the 20+ years I have been photographing them, but to see one nectaring at the same time was amazing.

Sunny, 80 degrees.

This one is rather banged up, but still enjoying a coral bell flower, and sharing with a bee. ;)

Sunny and clear, temps in the mid-80s, very pleasant. Lifers were Sleepy Orange and Hackberry Emperor.

Clear and sunny, temps in low 80s, very pleasant.

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtails seen include two very tattered dark forms.

Did not make it all the way to the bog. Spent 95 minutes and walked 1.53 miles exploring the various DNR properties in the area. Question Marks were nectaring on Compass Plant.

At least one member of each of six species was found in the small gravel parking lot. We saw two of the species only in the parking lot.

Bird/Butterfly Trip. Saw a least bittern and a whooping crane with a baby! First one fledged at this location according to the park official that we reported it to. Pictures of an amber bumblebee. Plus all the butterflies

The birds were very active from 8:37 - 10:00 due to wet vegetation and cooler temperatures. Didn't see that many butterflies on a 1.48 mi walk.

Of the 7 Monarchs seen, 3 were reared in captivity and released in the morning.

sunny, slight breeze, 80s

Sunny, 80s, slight breeze

80s, sunny, slight breeze

Mild and sunny and about 3 pm