Butterfly sightings for May 2022

First butterflies I've seen this year!

Sunny (finally) breezy, 48 degree afternoon.

Sunny but windy, temps approaching 60.

54 degrees and mostly sunny. Finally.

FOY butterfly for me--a Mourning Cloak simply resting on the gravel at the edge of a parking area by the Apple River. Sunny, calm, near 60 degrees. Finally.

Incidental while turkey hunting.

Mid-Afternoon. Sunny to Partly Sunny, Mid-50's to Low 60's...No other butterflies seen. Lots of Yellow Trout Lilly and Bloodroot Flowers.

FOY in the Arb along Nakoma Rd

An early try at 5 Henry's Elfin long-term monitoring sites. The first Olympia Marble had crinkled wings, as if it had just emerged from its chrysalis. All sites also have Karner Blues and Olympia marbles, but we saw no Wild Lupine leaves or Rock Cress flowers.

Mourning Cloaks everywhere! 60 degrees and sunny today.

Only saw one Cabbage White butterfly along the trail, but saw and heard many birds including Yellow Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Also saw many turtles sunning themselves on logs along the river shoreline. Sunny 65 degree afternoon.

2-3 pm, mostly overcast, mid 60's. 3 pictures of the same individual, only butterfly seen. Also saw several Festive Tiger Beetles.

I found this butterfly in a rhubarb plant in my garden

Incidental while biking between SNA locations of the Oshkosh Larsen Prairie SNA

71 degrees, sunny, windy

Mid-day, sunny, warm, light wind. All were seen puddling at the parking lot or along the access road from the parking lot to where the road exits the property to the southwest.

Dark butterfly with yellow edging around the wings

Surprised to see a West Virginia White! I first saw them here last year. 60 degrees and sunny.

60 degrees, cloudy, windy

Incidental while birdwatching. The birds are about ten days behind in migration, feels like the butterflies are about ten days behind too??

Five patches inside the Park and one other nearby. 64-71 degrees F, sunny. We also saw one unidentified duskywing.

also a lady, but not sure if it was cardui or virginiensis as it flew past at quite a high speed

Sunny, 69 degrees

Nice to finally see some wildflowers blooming! Had fun when a Mourning Cloak landed on my hat and my husband was able to get a photo. Also saw lots of birds including a catbird, red-tailed hawk and a great blue heron. Sunny, breezy, 70 degree afternoon.

Sunny, around 60 degrees, breezy

Also the first spear of milkweed in our garden - slightly late compared to other years.

This butterfly was sipping the sap from a newly cut birch tree on the shores of Payment Lake.

Azure was in Lost City Forest. 6 spotted Tiger Beetle was on the Ice Age Trail near Cross Plains.

First sighting of flowering Sand Cress, and with it, first sighting of Olympia Marbles

Sunny and 73.

Sunny and 64.

3pm it became slightly sunny and I saw these two species.

upper 60s, partly cloudy, breezy

Saw the Cabbage Whites flying in our yard before the wind picked up with gusts over 35 mph for the rest of the day. Sunny, 70 degree, breezy early morning.

All butterflue seen before 10 am.0

High speed winds and very dry conditions here in the northeast. Amazed I saw any butterflies. Major fire danger.

64 degrees, breezy, mostly clear

Warm, partly cloudy, late morning. Sightings were incidental while birding.

Three cabbage whites seen in flight. Wild plum is usually in full bloom here on May 7. The flowering buds on wild plum shrubs I checked today (May 10) are barely swollen and not showing any white at all. Plant phenology is at least 8-10 days late this year. Ditto, I would presume, to see elfins and spring blues in full flight.

The Monarch and Black Swallowtail were both surprises! Neither landed while I watched them fly away. There were few nectar sources at both sections that I visited.

Saw an orange and brown angle-wing butterfly, but it flew by and I couldn't see if it was a Comma or a Question Mark

In my yard

Found a patch of blooming forbs with plenty of bumblebees. The elfin was in a swamp with a couple of pine trees, I was rather hoping it would be my first Henry's, turned into a Pine Elfin

79 degrees F, cloudy. We saw 208 of the Mustard Whites in 1.25 miles of walking in a grazed part of the grassland and (a minority) just outside the fence in 1 mile of walking next to those patches. 14 other Mustard Whites along roads.

Spent the day looking for a Henry's Elfin and with 12 miles of hiking

Three species, one photo.

Only butterflies seen on one-mile big walk were the azures.

All early morning butterflies.

90 and sunny with very little wind. The American Lady was laying eggs on Pussytoes. Two of the Cabbage Whites were mating.

about 70 degrees, mostly sunny, breezy

9:44 - 12:27 mostly on the Turtleville Trail exploring 2 barrens. The Mourning Cloak was displaying in the sandy parking lot.

73 degrees, cloudy, moderate breeze

8:40 - 8:50 This is not the first set of CAWH I have seen in the neighborhood but they were the most abundant so far.

All seen by 9:30 am when it clouded over. Cool to see azure nectaring.

Hot and Windy.

Large planted prairie habitat, actively managed mesic and dry oak woods.

Hot, windy, with few nectar sources.

Nothing flying on the bog mat that I could see.

Saw it flying along the creek behind Kromery School.

Sunny and breezy. Nice warblers.

Steamy late morning, light wind.

My first of the year.

Lots of ramps, like at Ada Lake.

Perfect weather.

9:15-11am, sunny, 71 F to 80F. Optimal conditions.

Hot and dry.

86 degrees.

8:24 - 11:10, 2.04 miles. Primarily birding.

29 Monarch eggs today on 10-12 milkweed spikes, each about 3" tall. Reported to Journey North.

89 degrees. Mostly sunny. Black Swallowtails were male and female. 9 butterflies. We quit early and went for ice cream!

Mostly sunny, 80-97 degrees F. We walked 9 miles in barrens sites, all but one of which has Frosted Elfin records: Dike 17, North Brockway East, several in the Bauer-Brockway area, Stanton Road, west of Hunter Haven Road, and 1 other area. All of the Henry's Elfins were that were 0.05-0.5 miles west of Brockway Road in about 6 different survey units. Butterflies seemed to shut down activity before 1 pm, presumably due to dessication. We saw no butterflies in the last 2.4 miles of surveying, when we were in the best Frosted Elfin sites we tried today.

9:15-11am, sunny, 71 F to 80F. Optimal conditions.

Walked the trail from the north access off W River Dr.

Sunny and low 90s. This Blue was enjoying the soil amendments in my sandy garden. I think that it's a Spring Azure, but I'm not 100 percent since this is a first sighting.

Went out early before it got too hot. Lots of ground ivy, dandelions, and wild violets blooming. The Cabbage White butterflies were mostly in flight, few were landing. Also saw two Sandhill Cranes with their young colt feeding along the river's edge. Sunny, breezy, 80 degree morning.

Lots of things flying, but they had a stiff tail wind speeding their flight, so identification was difficult. Glimpsed what was either the first monarch of the year or the first viceroy of the year, but, again, that tail wind. . . .

Windy, warm, late afternoon.

Warm, very windy, early afternoon

Very dry with no puddling butterflies at any of the usual places and with few nectar sources. The surprise was seven Henry's Elfin, the most I have seen in one spot outside of Waushara County. I also saw only one duskywing, large and likely a Juvenal's Duskywing, but he never stopped.

Also saw a Ringed Boghaunter, and some baskettail sp.

Trying to find new sites for West Virginia White. Quite abundant here!

Very hot; little activity in bog; perhaps a tad too early for Red-disked Alpine, but likely not by much

Brief search before rain began

Sunny, low 80s, mid afternoon. All visited the garden or yard. This was my first sighting of a Juvenal's Duskywing; interesting profile view.

Eight of us spent 15 minutes scanning an acre of bearberry plants north of a two-track east-west "road" just to the north of Clemens Creek, but no Hoary Elfins were seen. This site has been a sure bet for Hoarys in years past. Two elfins were seen along the road; one was positively identified as a Henry's Elfin. Still early spring up there--buds on red oak scrub shrubs were just starting to swell.

Incidental while removing parsnip

incidental while birding from 10:47 - 11:00

Perfect weather. Rather hot but very sunny. One unidentified large black butterfly.

Sunny, 80-85 degrees F. Five patches in the park, and one nearby.

Surveyed primarily along North Brockway service road (44.31749, -90.741182) and forest land north of Bauer Rd starting at the Bauer-Brockway Barrens project area sign (44.298493, -90.748186). Both Hoary Elfins were found in the latter location. Also carefully looked at patches of birdsfoot violet in areas to the west and south of the main parking area with hopes of finding a Cobweb Skipper, but none were found. We did not notice many lupine plants in that area, and none were flowering. Butterfly activity significantly decreased by the afternoon due to winds and overcast conditions. Also observed Northern Barrens and Oblique-lined Tiger Beetles.

Another Crex to the Barrens butterfly trek, with seven butterfliers joining me.
Temperature in the 70s, but windy. Damp road gravel was not attracting butterflies, but for one Mourning Cloak. Curiously, we saw no coyote scat. Blues were flighty--at least a dozen were seen that could not be positively IDd. Ditto for three more elfins.
Photos by Sandra Peterson. Thanks, Sandy!

Bog was to the east of Namekagon Trail, about a mile north of the Namekagon River. The Brown Elfins were on the bog, the blues were on the damp road gravel. Leather Leaf just starting to bloom. Ten flighty Blues went undetermined. Photo by Sandra Peterson.

In the sandy oak scrub at this site, saw many Olympia Marbles (at least 20) nectaring on the flowers of what I believe is Arabidopsis lyrata ("Lyre-leaved Rock Cress"). Bird's foot violet also in bloom, and the puccoon is just starting to blossom.

Saw my first Monarchs, there could of been as many a 4 that traveled through my yard mainly going north.

First Monarch of the season. This is about two weeks earlier than last year. Sunny and 85.

My first Eastern Tiger Swallowtail of the year while at the farmer's market

Very windy, warm, afternoon

Partly sunny and 62-65. Banner year for American ladies?

Sunny and 73.

Warm and sunny

Lots of azures flying, some of them nectaring on wild blueberry. The elfins were photographed about a 1/4 mile from each other, both at the edge of forest that has a good deal of blueberry and maple-leaved viburnum in the understory.

Warm pleasant sunny day.

A short visit around P.O. Peet Rd. and the north end of James Rd. Warm, very windy, late afternoon, scattered showers. Also saw two bluish spring moths, and several unidentified blues

As Part of Big Brother/Big Sisters took my mentee out birdwatching and hiking but ended up "elfin watching". Saw seven elfins total, I think the five I could not get a picture of were Henry's. My first Hoary Elfin in my life. Also, four Six-spotted Tiger Beetles, one Oblique-lined Tiger Beetle

sunny

Surveyed approximately 3 miles. Lots of broad-leaved toothwort for the West Virginia White.

We walked 14 miles of barrens transects in most of the best Frosted Elfin sites in our Frosted Elfin long-term monitoring (mostly 28-35 year time series). Today probably ranks as about our 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th highest Frosted Elfin day ever in Jackson, Wood, or Jackson + Wood Counties. Five of the 6 roadside ROW and pipeline ROW units along Stanton Creek Road had their highest Frosted Elfin counts ever. Also record-setting was the pipeline ROW diverging to the northwest parallel to an ATV trail about 0.5 mile north of Stanton Creek Road. We also surveyed 7 more miles of transects west of Hunter Haven Road in addition to the pipeline, and 10 survey units in the Bauer-Brockway Barrens area. We also saw at least one undentified elfin and 36 unidentified duskywings.

Very few BFs on this windy day, but it's worth reminding everyone that this is MaxLilacs week at the Arboretum - absolutely worth visiting. Also a sandhill crane is nesting ten feet from the platform at Teal Pond - viewable through a window of the curtain.

Also saw the first tiger swallowtail of the year, but I didn't get a good enough look to be able to say whether it was a Canadian or an eastern.

Late afternoon. 72 and partly sunny.

Most of the butterflies sighted were in flight. Also enjoyed seeing sandhill cranes, turtles, an osprey, a male Baltimore Oriole, and a Great Blue Heron. Breezy, mostly sunny, 70 degree morning.

Sunny, windy and almost 70 degrees. While I was in the garden, I spotted this small individual flitting about. It landed first in the grass and then favored a sheltered flowerbed along my house. It didn't linger, just long enough for a side and top view. Lucky day, my first Elfin sighting ever.

Seven long-term monitoring sites for Henry's (5 sites) and Frosted Elfins (5 sites). 4 sites are Wildlife Area property and 3 are along County Hwy X. The last two Frosted Elfins we saw in Wood County were in 2007 and 2010.

This was my first walk about the prairie and was happy to find a variety of butterflies enjoying the prairie. I even found a half dozen Monarch eggs on young Common milkweed and one adult Monarch flying.

We walked transects in 3 areas: 0.5 miles in a super heavy litter grassland (no butterflies), 0.5 miles each for a total of one mile of roadside ROW (3 Cabbage Whites, 1 Mustard White, 1 Meadow Fritillary, and 2 Mourning Cloaks), and 0.5 miles in a grassland plot 70% mowed in late Summer 2021 (all the other butterflies listed, plus 6 unidentified whites).

Temps around 68 degrees with moderate breeze. Sunny.

sunny, calm, 70s

Filtered sun. Temps around 68 degrees. Moderate breeze.
I also saw 3 Sulphurs but they did not land so I could not get an ID.

Rain early in the day, cloudy and cool most of the day. Sun came out late afternoon. 61 Degrees. I saw the American Copper about 5:30 pm and made two trips around the walking trails, only butterfly seen. Starting to get some nectar sources, including Fringed Puccoon.

This was the annual Jackson County NABA Spring Butterfly Count. Mostly sunny. Temperature was 62 to 80 degrees. 7 observers in 3 parties spent nearly 12 party-hours counting and identifying butterflies with close-focusing binoculars. We foung 249 individuals of 19 species. The count was ended at 1:30 p.m. by a thunderstorm. Thanks to the observers, Mike Reese, Dave Hogg, Donna Williams-Richter, the Leglers and Ann and Scott Swengel. Photos of the Gorgone Checkerspot, Olympia Marble, Persius Duskywing, Juvenal's Duskywing were taken by Donna Williams-Richter.

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was laying eggs on the leaves of my lilac bushes, then took a break sipping nectar from the lilac flowers. Cloudy, 74 degree afternoon.

All sightings were along the trail that runs from Plum Ln to the marsh. Habitat is a mix of northern hardwood forest with plenty of blooming trillium, dandelion, and geranium. Also noted a Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis) feeding on dandelion near the marsh.

I got good looks through binoculars but bad photographs of a skipper I do not see very often.

Short stop, late afternoon, cloudy, very windy, mid-sixties.

I saw two individuals, one fresh and one worn.

Saw both Junvenal's Duskywings basking in sun!

NO, neither of us is incarcerated!

Few butterflies, but did get to see a Pelican, Sandhill Crane, soaring Osprey, and two pair of Wood Ducks. Mostly cloudy 60 degree afternoon.

50's and breezy with partial sun.

Incidental while birding, mostly cloudy and cool, Late afternoon

Cool, partly cloudy, and breezy. One trip around the rim of the sand pit (about 30 minutes).

10:52 -12:24, 1.5 miles, W wind 13 - 26 mph. Henry's Elfin was rubbing his back wings together like a Hairstreak. The 2 Common Sootywings were patrolling their territories along the path and interacting where those territories met. Blooming - wood violets, wild cherry, strawberry, dandelion

63-70 degrees F, 65% sunshine. 4 patches in 2 areas. We also saw an unidentified lady (Vanessa sp.).

Hiked the Ice Age Trail segment around the lake. Three teneral Dusky Clubtails were the only Odonates that I saw. 62 degrees, mostly cloudy with occasional sun.

Was flying around and checking out some of the Bird's Foot Violets!

After a night of near-freezing temperatures, not much was flying.

Lupines are about two days away from peak. Great year for lupines. No Karner Blues yet. Only three different varieties of bumblebees. Cool day just breaking 60 degrees but some action on south facing hill. Three festive beetles, two were being very festive

Incidental while removing Autumn Olive. The meadow fritillary patrolled by me about 40 times before it found a mate to chase

A two-track "road" leads to a boat launch site on the north side of Reed Lake. A beaver, I believe, will occasionally "mark" its territory here with castor, and this substance, marked "scat" in the photo, was attracting blues and dusky-wing skippers. This spot can be the most productive square meter on the entire refuge at times. A few Dreamy/Sleepy Dusky-wings could not be positively ID'd.

4 patches. 45% sun, 63-70 degrees F.

20% sun, 61-72 degrees F. It took too long to get good enough weather, so we only did the 5 highest priority sites: Lyman Lake, Bear, North Bear, Milchesky 1.15, and Milchesky 1.75. The Henry's Elfin, which we've seen only 1-2 times before in these bogs, was at North bear. Red-disked Alpines were at Lyman Lake and Bear Creek Bogs. 36 of the 42 Freija Fritillaries were at Milchesky 1.75 and Bear Creek.

Also glimpsed one of the Vanessas and saw the first tiger swallowtail of the year for this location, but couldn't get a good enough look to tell which one. Likely a Canadian.

Nice weather

61-73 degrees F, 85% sunshine. 13-15 miles East of Fifield along Hwy 70, then south on Forest Roads 137 or 505. These sites are described in Ann Swengel's butterfly watching site guide "Butterflies to Log in and near Northern Wisconsin’s Bogs". Five bogs along Forest Road 137, one south of FR 136, 2 east of FR 505, and one south of Hwy 70 0.5 miles east of FR 137. We've seen Henry's Elfins on or next to the more southerly FR 137 bogs 4-5 times now. All of the Red-disked Alpines and most of the Freija Fritillaries were 0.3-0.5 miles south of the road on the FR 136 bog.

5 pm. Sites along Forst Road 236 near Moquah Barrens State Natural Area. 2 patches. We think most butterflies had settled for the day to avoid desiccation, but it may also just be a low butterfly year here--no NW Wisconsin barrens we visited 23-29 May had a good butterfly showing.

Incidental while gardening

First duskywings I've seen this year.

Also a nice surprise Delia Unson sighting!

In my strawberry patch

Humid and 74. Scattered thunderstorms.

Light wind, sunny, mid- seventies, I saw many Dusky wings and quit counting after the first stop.

Followed the white for about five minutes until I got a good look at it from below. There are both Mustard White and West Virginia White here.

I saw plenty of Monarchs and an American Lady ovipositing on host plants today as well as a few 2nd Monarch instars. I also observed our first emergence of American Coppers. They were everywhere!

All the Duskywings were soaking up some sun and the Monarch and Olympia Marble were just flying around!

First butterfly in three days. Remarkably bad butterfly weather!

Mostly sunny and 72-81 degrees F. Same 5 bogs as May 23 plus Moose Junction East (1 Jutta Arctic), Moose Junction West, Foxboro-Chaffee Road, and Bear Creek Southwest (1 Frigga Fritillary--this bog's specialty). Unusual was a Frigga Fritillary on Milchesky 1.15 bog; decades we saw the species in a dwarf birch bog diagonally across the road from here, and it lives on Milchesky 1.75 bog. All Red-disked Alpines were on the Milchesky 1.75 bog (access actually at 1.9 miles now). All Freija Fritillaries were on the bogs also surveyed May 23: our Freija count today was higher than on May 23 at 3 bogs (28 on Milchesky 1.75 today vs. 21 on 5/23, 2 on Milchesky 1.15 today vs. zero on 5/23, and 19 on Lyman Lake vs. 2 on 5/23), stayed the same on one (Bear Creek--15 on both days), and decreased on North Bear Creek (2 today, vs. 5 on 5/23). We saw 2-3 Freija Fritillaries along the road at Lyman Lake Bog. The Henry's Elfin was apparently "nectaring" on a Cottongrass seed head more than 200 meters from the road on Bear Creek Bog.

Sunny and 70+ degrees F. 4 patches.

Sunny, but early in the day with much shade from trees. 4 patches in 2 areas.

First sunny warm afternoon in a week. Eastern comma very worn

Mostly cloudy, mid-60's. Most early spring ephemerals are done flowering (e.g. trout lilies, spring beauty, toothworts), but others are still going strong (Canada violet, woodland phlox, large-flowered trillium, nodding trillium, bellworts). Also first Monarch of the year!

Late afternoon, light wind, sunny, mid- seventies Many duskywings, gorgone checkerspots, and eastern tailed blues.

sunny afternoon, temp in high 60's, seen in grassy area

Did not sit still for long, hard to capture with phone

We did a 20 mile bicycle loop from our home that took us through the township of Lemonweir, just east of Mauston. Spotted the Black Swallowtail enjoying the dandelions in the ditch on 51st St(my 1st sighting of this species). Also spotted, wild lupines just starting to bloom on 47th St. No butterfly activity, though. Great biking weather; partly cloudy, 69 degrees and breezy.

9:32 - 10:26, 0.84 mi, partly cloudy, 63 - 37 F, S wind 9 mph

Incidental while removing Dames Rocket from SNA

Lots of flowers in bloom - beautiful!!

6pm, 77 degrees, sunny and breezy

Private lands

Partly cloudy to scattered rain. Around 76.

Mostly to partly cloudy, temperature in the 70's. Lots of action today, between butterflies, bees, and tiger beetles!

Sites along Forest Road 236 in the vicinity of Moquah Barrens State Natural Area. 4 patches in 2 areas. 20% sunshine, 71-77 degrees F. We also saw 6 unidentified duskywings.

A check for early Karner Blues at four long-term monitoring sites for them. This year's Karner flight is starting later than average. We also saw 11 unidentified duskywings.

First butterfly with my new D5600 DSLR

Slow day. Mostly cloudy and 72.

Walked barrens habitat starting at the intersection of Parkway Rd and Mirror Lake Rd in Marinette County and headed north. Total time was 2hrs, travelling about 1.2 miles roundtrip in mostly sunny conditions.

Landed on a scat pile.

13:43 - 14:18, cloudy, gusty S wind, 76 F

I saw my first one here on May 6th so they have been flying for more than three weeks at this location. Some sun with temperatures in the upper 60's in the morning. Clouded up quickly after noon with rain showers in the afternoon.

Didn't see any Canadian Tiger Swallowtails in 2021. Thrilled to see this one!

Saw a Shadow Darner ovipositing on the wood of the boardwalk.

New species today!

Four sites in the Park and one site nearby. Half sun, 77-85 degrees F. We also saw 24+ unidentified duskywings.

Saw the Skipppers and Admiral near Beetown. The Swallowtail was spotted in Fennimore. The Pearl Crescents and Monarchs were in both locations.
Late morning at Beetown and mid-afternoon in Fennimore.
Sunny, windy, with temps between 83 - 91

Two butterfly "newbies" and I had about 45 minutes of warm sunshine between gray clouds and even rain. Damp road gravel of the first 100 yards of Hickerson Road north of Co. O had at least six species on damp road gravel. Saw a single undetermined "tiger" swallowtail fly by. Dusky-wings, in particular, were "flighty" and difficult to photograph.

Warm and very windy, Late afternoon

All the butterflies were either flying about in an open field or soaking up some sun!!

wind off the lake over 20 mph, sunny. I was surprised to see any butterflies in the 40 minutes.

82 degrees, sunny, very breezy