Butterfly sightings for September 2021

Afternoon, Mid 70's, some wind, very sunny. The Great Spangled Fritillary were loving the thistles.

Sunny and breezy. Monarch numbers are very low.

Last week, Monarchs were everywhere at this location. On September 1, I didn't see one for the first time since early spring.

There are many wildflowers blooming, but few butterflies in the area. Osprey are still visible on their nest platform on the Yahara River. Mostly sunny 70 degree morning.

Hayfield recently mowed but lots of goldenrod and asters on CRP.

Prairie area. Early afternoon, calm winds, mid-70s. Plenty of sunflowers, goldenrod, and other nectar plants for the butterflies.

Incidental while removing bouncing bet and feeding the mosquitoes

Found this J-shaped monarch caterpillar this morning hanging out on a calendula plant in my garden. By late this afternoon, the transformation to chrysalis had taken place. Spotted the Eastern Tailed-Blue female and Northern Crescents while walking on our property after the rain ended and the sun peaked out briefly. Breezy and 67 degrees.

Warm sunny light wind. Walked around the golden rod planting.

Warm sunny light wind

Warm sunny light wind

Warm, sunny, light wind. Along the access road and in the parking lot

Even though the weather was dreary, the severe lack of butterflies both disappointed and surprised me.

My Viceroy emerged unexpectedly. I thought it was a Red-Spotted Purple.

Gardeners are not planting as many zinnia or tithonia blossoms for the migrating monarchs. There seems to be less diversity in the prairie plants, too. I was hoping to catch migration when it starts. 77 F, 10 mph N wind, 14:00 - 14:34

Sunny, breezy or intermittent wind, about 78F. Migrating Monarchs throughout the prairie. The photos were taken at the south side near the abandoned road, about two acres of blooming rough liatris (Liatris aspera) and sunflowers. Over 50 monarchs in this area. Also 8 Cabbage Whites, two Pearl Crescents and one Eastern Tailed-Blue.

Not too much butterfly activity, but I did have fun watching two hummingbirds chirping at each other and was able to get a photo of one of them. Sunny, windy, 75 degree afternoon.

Mostly to partly sunny and 80 degrees.

Notes: Monarchs and Swallowtails were very fresh. 2 Black Swallowtails were paring deep in the brush. Very nice species diversity for this park. Orange sulphurs were very large and colorful. The Clouded were very gray and almost greenish. Duskywings and the Tortoiseshell were lifers.

A warm, early afternoon walk, with a gusty west wind. Some nice, mixed feeding swarms of dragonflies with Common Green Darners, Black Saddlebags, and Wandering Gliders.

Surprised in the disappearance of Mourning Cloaks and the lack of Commas.

Lots of nectar sources here.

It was checking out my Autumn Fire sedum (along w/ every bee in the area).

8:12-10:12, heavy dew, clear skies, 59 - 68 F, little wind, 2.18 miles. Main purpose was birding. Observed 1 grass skipper but not well enough to ID. Only dragonflies and Monarchs were foraging. Monarchs may be on their move south.

Individual sighted in sedge meadow/rain garden on the northwest corner of Beaver Dam Lake.

Saw lots of butterflies, especially Monarchs, but it was very windy and I wasn't able to get many photos. I did note several large Monarch instars still eating milkweed, and for the first time, we noticed some Monarch roosting behavior in a tree line on the west end of the prairie.

First time at this park. Had to cut our visit short as dark clouds moved in. There were several goldfinches eating seeds from the various wildflowers. Mostly cloudy 70 degree morning.

Sunny, 73 degrees, late afternoon, very light wind. Spotted an American Copper along my walking path on our property. That particular spot was grassy, sandy and dry.

Mid-afternoon, mid-70s, partly cloudy, light wind. Plenty of sunflowers, asters, and goldenrod for the butterflies. I think I'll go back on a warmer day.

Still five Holcocephala calva, a robber fly; my late date for this species.

The Eastern Comma was hanging around the barn on the sunny side where it was warm, but I didn't have camera with me.

First year for this one acre prairie. Many nectar sources. Sunny 68 degree morning.

Incidental while gardening

I made several stops but butterfly numbers are really getting low. Not one butterfly at the hot spot at the low spot on Stolte. Very windy so hard to get any photos.

Sunny 68 degree morning.

Great place for butterfly surveys: I nearly always see Monarchs here during their flight season. Unfortunately, I only had my cell phone with me today, and my photos were horrible. The butterflies were busy flitting away. Perfect conditions: high 70s, very light wind, plenty of nectar flowers. Monarchs were mainly flying SW, presumably migrating. I'm sure there were many more butterflies; I was walking my dog and interacting with other dogs and dog owners.

70 deg., sunny, calm

The Silver-spotted Skipper went from flower to flower down my row of late blooming hostas. Sunny 80 degree afternoon.

Clear, 74 degrees, gentle breeze. On the way to my mailbox I noticed all sorts of activity in the strip that's not mowed along the driveway.

Three monarchs on my purple aster. After a long wait, I caught them all with my Canon.

Banner day for Duskywings.

A pair of fritillaries were interacting around a clump of asters. I think they are Aphrodite, which is rare in this area, in my experience. Both individuals lacked the black spot on the upper forewing.

This butterfly was feeding on the zinnias in my garden in the late afternoon, 68 degrees, sunny
(Only the 9th Painted Lady reported this year. MR)

low to mid seventies, partly sunny light wind

partly sunny, breezy, 70s

74F, mostly sunny, light breeze; Leaf cutter bees, metallic green bees, small carpenter bees and halictid bees busy on the asters.

Mostly sunny, started around 65F and ended 73F; 5-10mph wind off the bay. Great weather!

Partly cloudy, breezy, 78F. Fritillaries seen on New England aster and goldenrod flowers.

These butterflies were feeding in my zinnia garden on a sunny, light breezy day of 72 degrees.

In a grassy pasture, around 1:00 p.m.

I walked around Lake LaGrange on trails. This was my first Gray Comma in the southern half of the state in three years. My new late date for Holcocephala calva.

72F, sunny, calm; Many solitary bees too. Asters in full bloom.

Attracted to my moth bait.

Mid 60s in the morning warming up to high 70s but with the warming came the wind. The Purplish Copper count was conservative. I had a hard time counting all of them in the mowed grass area around the bathrooms at the rest area. I had never seen one there before. They were landing on the grass then moving down to the ground.

We walked 2 miles in the grassland and we each walked a different 1/2 mile of roadside. The Purplish Coppers were on both sides of Archer Road within 250 meters of the road (2 were in the roadside), all less than 1/2 mile wet of County Hwy W. The Variegated Fritillary was nectaring in the same patch as a Purplish Copper and was pestering the copper.

Sunny, low 70's, no wind. Happy to finally see an Orange Sulphur this year and also pleased to see another Red Admiral. The Red Admiral sightings seem to have been pretty scarce this summer for me.

This is probably an undercount as there seemed to be more butterflies as we retraced our steps to the car, but we were no longer counting.

Afternoon and sunny

We walked 2.5+ miles in the grassland and about 1/4 of the time there was standing water. This ties our latest date in the year for seeing a Regal Fritillary. The (male) Regal Fritillary was in the same plot where we found our first one this year on June 25.
The mosquitoes were bothersome.

Very windy, cloudy, 70 degree late afternoon.

Clear skies, light winds, low 80s. Always a great place to observe Monarchs during peak migration.

Sunny, low 80's and quite windy. Happy to see an Eastern Comma and my first Painted Lady of the year. Unfortunately the Painted Lady was too quick for my camera. Every where I went a Clouded Sulphur greeted me!

Early afternoon ,mostly sunny,breezy

In addition to seeing this beautiful prairie in all its late season glory and a good number of butterflies, we saw a leopard frog, a garter snake of unidentified species, two bald eagles and an osprey.

Sunny, warm, breezy.

Edge of the prairie, on thistle. Near noon, sunny, high 70's.

Sunny, breezy, 65 degree afternoon.

Windy, Sunny, late afternoon

Late afternoon visitor. Have not seen a Viceroy in two years. The Apple Trees were the draw.

Warm, sun and windy.

86 degrees. Sunny.

low 80s, slight breeze, partly sunny

Beautiful, warm, sunny day, slight breeze, noisy with tree crickets.

80's slight breeze, partly sunny

Sunny, 85, light breeze, afternoon. Observed 3 fresh looking Monarchs while taking care of fall chores in my garden. Also, the monarch chrysalis spotted back on Sept 4 is starting to turn a darker green. The Autumn Joy sedums are buzzing with activity again--bumblebees, honey bees, many smaller bees and flies.

The Compton Tortoiseshell was landing on the siding of our cabin similar to last September. Windy, sunny, 80 degree afternoon.

I viewed 2 specimens of the Compton Tortoiseshell at our cabin. They were visiting our cabin area within an hour or less, of each other. One is fresh, one is worn.

The fritillary was looking pretty good for almost 3 months old!

New late date of RSP for me.

Very windy, partly sunny, 77 degree morning.

Warm breezy and clear.

A new late date for Holcocephala

Beautiful sunny day with temps in the mid 60s.

Picture was taken today around 3:30 p.m.

Walked from Picnic Point to Allen Centennial Garden and back.

Windy, sunny, and near 70 degrees.

Upper 60's, early afternoon, sunny with some wind. Always happy to see a new butterfly for me! (First one reported this year! MR)

Upper 60's, sunny, medium wind, late afternoon. ETB puddling and a new species for this location.

Saw these Cabbage White while on a walk through the neighborhood. Very windy, sunny, 68 degree afternoon.

60 degrees and sunny

The butterfly flew into the Dock door when it was open and landed on the ground.

Very windy, sunny, 75 degree afternoon.

Many asters blooming, but few butterflies. The ones we saw were mostly in the grassy areas. Windy, sunny 64 degree morning.

Incidental sightings while birding. Sheridan Drive connects Sheridan Park to Warnimont Park.

Tattered wing. Early fall. Needed to rest often. Spotted in backyard.

Most butterflies seen at this location this month.

80 deg., calm, sunny

Sunny and 72!

With lighter winds today, there was more butterfly activity. Photographed a juvenile red-tailed hawk sitting on a fence near us as we walked the edge of the prairie. Sunny, 75 degree morning.

80 degrees, light wind, sunny, plenty of asters, goldenrod, and other nectar plants. This is the first time since June that I haven't seen a Monarch while surveying.

80 deg., completely clear and very calm. The prairie between the parking lots and the lake was full of flowering asters.

My brain was doing weird flips as I watched this butterfly this morning...What is it? What is not making sense? It's a Viceroy with almost no hindwing black cross band on the upper surface. I have never seen this before. A better Monarch mimic is born!

About the smallest Eastern Tailed-Blue that I have ever seen.

Warm sunny afternoon, light wind. large numbers of Clouded Sulphurs everywhere.

Beautiful fall afternoon--sunny and 78. Wind was calm. Still quite a bit of butterfly activity in the unmowed strip along our driveway.

My first Fiery Skipper here this year, a female.

We walked about 1.3 miles in the grassland in plots north and south of Archer Road, and we each walked 0.5 different mile of roadside along Archer. The male Purplish Copper was 150 meters south of Archer Road, about 550 meters west of County Hwy W. The Question Mark was flying south like we have often seen Mourning Cloaks do in the autumn, and it was fighting a headwind.

Surprised in the number of butterflies all cramped into a small square of prairie in a urban park.

Sunny, mid-70s, calm. While working in the yard and garden I spotted this common gartersnake hanging around. Butterfly traffic has slowed down in the garden the last couple of days. Still quite a few bumbles and honey bees.

13:26-14:03, 73 f, E wind, 7 mph, sunny. This area used to be loaded with migrating Monarchs but I have seen very few monarchs there this year. People are planting fewer tithonia and old fashioned zinnias than in the past. There were plenty of various bees and wasps.

Besides butterflies, we saw a pair of Sandhill cranes along one of the trails. Sunny, 75 degree morning.

Sunny, 78 degrees, gentle breezes. The Silver Spotted Skipper and Dun skipper were in my garden while the rest of the butterflies were spotted in the unmowed strip along my driveway. I was surprised to see the Dun Skipper this late: I haven't spotted any for a few weeks.
(The Dun Skipper is a new late date by over three weeks and only the third ever in reported in September. MR)

Both Sleepy Orange were males and spent all the time that I was able to watch them, patrolling for females. One along the road was so fast I couldn't keep up with it, even if I could run like when I was young. The second one in the tall grass just flew circles around me and stopped once for enough time for me to think I was going to be able to photograph it.

Along these roads in the vicinity of Rettenmund Prairie SNA, there have been vast fields of Alfalfa with Thousand(s) of Clouded Sulphurs and a few Orange Sulphurs. They are a spectacular sight and it has been this way for at least two and a half weeks. This is the way the Universe should be!

Incidental while biking and collecting seeds as part of the SNA work. Asters were being pollinated by the butterflies

Seen with Robbye Johnson.
46.294980, -91.842806

Monarch was nectaring before flying off to the south over the trees

Incidental while gardening