Butterfly sightings for September 2020

70s, sunny, slight breeze

70F, calm, cloudy

sunny, low 60s, calm

cloudy, upper 60s, slight breeze

Clouded Sulphurs were everywhere. My count is conservative.

Sunny and 84 degrees. 12 species.

high 60s, sunny, breezy

Sunny and mild. Sign that summer is over soon: blooming Bottle Gentian and White Turtlehead.

83F, Sunny 5-10mph

Saw a few American Rubyspot damselflies and a Locust Borer

Breezy, sunny, 75 degree, early afternoon,

Very windy today so not great for butterflying but I did quick stops at 3 of my favorite places.

Very windy, sunny, 75 degree day. Too windy for photos! Butterflies only seen in flight.

One lone individual along south shore of Picnic Point.

Partly cloudy, 79F. Windy.

Early morning drizzle ended and sun came out. Monarchs were massed in red pines.

Mainly a bird watching trip. Some warblers and vireos were present

Windy, mid-70s, midafternoon. I thought I'd see more, but the wind was complicating flight. I didn't count the Cabbage Whites; also, I saw a blue butterfly but it flew off too fast for ID.

Breezy, sunny, 65 degree morning. Also saw finches eating seeds on dried flowers in the prairie, a baby snapping turtle crossing the trail, 3 Sandhill cranes flying right overhead, and several Eastern Kingbirds on the edge of the prairie.

77 degrees and sunny. 10 species. Common Buckeye and Painted Ladies should be returning southward.

Landed on gravel road at 11:00 AM and photographed before it flew away. Worn specimen. Location 44.2476, -87.5225.

Feeding in my Zinnias.

60s to 70s, breezy, sunny

Incidental while gardening

Sunny, breezy, 70 degree day.

Clear, calm, 74 deg. We saw five Osprey on three different nests.

70s, sunny, slight breeze

60s, sunny, calm

76 degrees and partly sunny. 10 species.

At least 5 mating pairs of Promachus vertebratus (Robber Fly).

late afternoon, partly cloudy, light wind. Abel and Curry rds.

Clouded Sulfurs very common in old alfalfa field near the parking lot. 11:40 - 12:23, windy. Cicadas very loud. Not much diversity in the prairie plants.

Accessed restricted area with permission.

Incidental while removing invasive plants

After seeing 16 Painted Ladies 3 weeks ago I was surprised to see none.

Found a lot of Tiger Beetles on the prairie walk. There may have been 25 - 30 jumping at one time, in total hundreds.

Light winds, cool temperature, mostly overcast. I spent 2 1/2 hours on the hawk tower looking for early raptors. There was a trickle of Monarchs throughout - between 1 and 10 in sight at all times.

ptly sunny, breezy

ptly sunny

Mostly cloudy, breezy, 65 degree morning.

ptly sunny, breezy

It was cloudy, slightly breezy, and pretty chilly. Most butterflies I found were laying low on the ground, seemingly looking for warmth and wind.

mainly looking for robber flies, especially Promachus fitchii, but only say two P. vertebratus.

53 degrees and cloudy when I started so I wasn't expecting to see any butterflies but the day warmed up to the mid 60s when the sun came up.

cloudy, 60s, breezy

First and only butterfly I've seen after 4+ days of rain and cold. It tried to find some nectar on the rain soaked flowers.

Great to see a butterfly after all the misty rain!

14:11 - 15:34, sunny, 70 F. It was a great sight to see a perched white female clouded sulfur attract both a male clouded and a male orange sulfur. The three colors swirling around each other as mating decisions were made was beautifully exciting. The orange sulfur left. There were white female sulfurs among those counted but no separate numbers were kept today. Two alfalfa fields were on today's path of 1.87 miles.

The temperature was in the low 60s, and breezy. As usual for this park, I saw a few Monarchs, Cabbage Whites and a Fiery Skipper.

Partly sunny, calm, 73 deg.

Incidental while participating in a wildflower seed collection event.

My latest, and the second latest Regal Fritillary reported to this website. The Downy Gentian was one of four gentians seen this day.

Fantastic day! I spent some time on the hawk tower and then walked the east and west prairie trails. Maybe 40 Monarchs flew past the tower; the rest were feeding in asters and goldenrods. In the past few weeks, the Monarchs have been worn-out, "Gen 4" Monarchs; today's were crisp, new "Gen 5" Monarchs. One odd-colored Monarch.

When I first arrived at Lake Park around 8:30 am, there were still many Monarchs hanging in the trees near the children's playground. They were beginning to fly as the sun warmed them. Lots were feeding on the clover flowers in the grass.

sunny, 60s, breezy

Sunny, 60s, breezy

This butterfly was in our front lawn on a partially sunny, 66 degree afternoon with a light breeze.

sunny, 60s, slight breeze

mostly cloudy, 60s, breezy

60s, mstly sunny, slight breeze

Partly sunny 68 degree afternoon.

I was hoping for Sleepy Orange again but no luck today.

The Clouded Sulphurs were plentiful and the Monarchs were busy nectaring. There were other butterflies, too, but I didn't get close enough to ID them.

Windy early afternoon. The butterflies were drifting on the breeze and hanging tight to the tall prairie plants.

My backyard

4:30 to 4:40 pm High 70s. Quick look around garden...so nice to see a fresh Gray Comma!

77 degrees, sunny, somewhat breezy but also somewhat protected from that breeze. 9 species.

Sunny, breezy, 75 degree afternoon. The lone monarch was enjoying nectar from my flowers for over three hours this afternoon.

We were surprised to see as many butterflies as we did given how windy it was. It did make an accurate count challenging.

60s, sunny, breezy

sunny, 60s, breezy

Fiery Skipper on Ironweed along bike path between Midvale Bld. and the Beltline. Only Fiery Skipper but hundreds of Monarchs enjoying 9 feet tall Ironween.

Windy and in the mid 70s F. One monarch caterpillar, three adults.

Traveling Survey; Duration: 40 min; Distance: 0.57 miles with Chelsea; 80F, Sunny, & breezy 10-15 mph. Ag field slightly east of here a cabbage field with 500+ cabbage whites.

80F, Sunny (overcast from smoke), breezy 10-15mph With Chelsea

Sunny, breezy, 72 degree morning. Fun having a Peck's Skipper land on my shoe and stay long enough for a photo.

Sunny, breezy, 75 degree afternoon.

Third one reported in the state this year!

70s, breezy, sunny

76 degrees, partly sunny to overcast (plus haze from California wildfire smoke). 14 species. 2/3 of Monarchs seen in an adjacent Red Clover field. Dorothy photographed the Clouded Sulphur, the Viceroy, Common Buckeye and Little Yellow.

We were very happy to see our first Little Yellow of the year.

22 days after I saw 167 Painted Lady and zero Fiery Skippers I saw zero Painted Lady and 15 Fiery Skippers!
The female in the photo was the only female that I saw.

Comfortable, sunny, high 60s, light wind. Butterflies were plentiful and so were the hummingbirds. Surprisingly large number of Fiery Skippers. The Painted Ladies appeared to be warming on the paved walkways.

I've seen more Orange Sulphurs on the prairie this year than in any other year. The Monarchs also seem to be moving on as I'm only seeing one or two stragglers when I'm out there. Lots of Cabbage Whites, Pearl Crescents and Clouded Sulphurs enjoying the asters.

50s, partly sunny, breezy

mostly sunny, 60s, breezy

Sunny, 60s, breezy

Incidental while gardening

64 deg., calm, sunny

Sunny, breezy, 60 degree afternoon.

Super crowded with people at art show and music festival. 14:10 - 15:50, 2.4 miles but mostly in the woods.

60s, mostly sunny, breezy

Two male Monarchs spotted on lilac bush in front yard.

Sunny and mild

60s, sunny, light breeze

60s, sunny, light breeze

70 deg., sunny

13 mph south winds with gusts to 21 mph. 13:21 - 14:17, 1.15 miles through the dog beach and Morningstar trail. Many people there today.

Sunny and pleasant; temps in the 70s

This area had dozens of sulphurs flying around the still blooming wild flowers.

70F, sunny but hazey, breezy 10-15mph

Red-spotted purple very worn, Compton very fresh

74 deg., sunny, calm, noon to 2:30 pm

Windy, sunny, 74 degree afternoon. [This is a new late record for a Mustard White. The previous late date record was September 17, 2011. Mike]

Sunny, 70s, slight breeze

There was an abundance of sulphurs today. A couple with a lot of black on the edge drew my attention, so I took some pictures, and discovered a lifer.

I have been looking for Ocola Skippers in Wisconsin for at least ten years at Olbrich Gardens and the Rotary Botanical Gardens. This was my first in Wisconsin and only the third in Wisconsin. The other two were at Olbrich Gardens in 2013 and 2018.

Time: 12:30 -2:00 pm. Weather: Sunny and mid 70's with Daisy Fleabane as one of the popular flower choices of the day.

79 degrees, sunny, light breeze. We went down to Rotary Gardens to look for the Ocola Skipper that Mike Reese found but did not see it. (Needle in a haystack.) However, we saw, and both photographed, a female Sachem. This may be only the 2nd one seen this year in WI. (Are there more on the way? Ocola Skipper? Sachem?)

Breezy, sunny, 75 degree afternoon.

Sunny, 70s, slight breeze

Incidental while biking

78 degrees, sunny, mostly calm. 11 species.

From to and from different showy goldenrods

There is an area of wildflowers between the campus and Lake Michigan. This was a very warm day for late September and perfect to butterfly viewing. There were sulphurs, Cabbage Whites and some Monarchs.

I was thrilled to see another Compton Tortoiseshell today, but it was high up on the outside wall on the building and I couldn't get a good photo.

Warm, sunny, breezy day with temps around 77.

Sunny, in mid 70s F. and breezy.

Overcast and 80 degree afternoon. The Compton Tortoiseshell was flying around and landing on our cabin, checking out spaces in the siding. It was possibly trying to find a good spot to overwinter.

One of the Cabbage White butterflies was quite small - 1/2 to 2/3 normal size.

Sunny, 70s, slight breeze

Searched for and found the Southern Dogface butterflies reported 2 days ago. Lifer! Overcast, light breeze, 70. Light rain moved in before noon.

I had to stop and look for the Southern Dogface that have been seen here multiple times in the last week and first found by Ruth Smith on September 22. This was only my third time I have seen these in Wisconsin, so it was quite a treat!

I wasn't planning on seeing anything today but I stopped at a couple of places after I saw one flying by my car in the high winds today. I found 7 on one Hoary Alyssum plant on Cranberry Dike Rd. that was somehow missed by the mower.

Mostly a tiger beetle trip to see my first first Splendid Tiger Beetles since 2014 and get my first photos since 2006! As was pretty sure they would be out on the rock outcropping based upon the temperatures so it seemed like the chances were good Also saw John Dixon and Steve Thiessen who also were checking on the Splendid Tiger Beetles!

Waked on all the trails and found this one close to the parking lot. This Southern Dogface is different from previous sightings in that it is the Winter form, lots of pink. Thanks to others for sharing their sightings as it is also my first.

Cloudy, mid-day, high 70's All three S.Dogface photos are of the same individual. Saw three total, all along the wide trail through the gate. First two were engaged in and aerial battle, on the mail trail about 50 yards past the gate, and the third patrolling near the trail's end, before the cornfield. Did not see any in the field between the lake and the trail.

Breezy, mostly cloudy, 75 degree afternoon. Saw several skippers too, but not close enough to identify. We also had fun sharing the trails with a Sandhill Crane family and a young deer.

Got to the site by 1 pm, by 2 pm the butterflies were gone.

A cool and cloudy day, with a bit of rain. Monarchs moving down the lakeshore.

The only butterflies I saw on a walk along Lake Monona today.