Butterfly sightings for September 2022

Harvester

Sunny, about noon.

Seen about 9 a.m.

about 80 degrees, slight breeze

Early afternoon, 80s, humid, slightly windy.

Sunny, breezy, 80s, around 11 am. Made a quick stop on my bike route to check out the butterfly activity along the marsh.

70s, mostly sunny, light breeze

Saw this giant swallowtail on the neighbors phlox. I'm sure i'd never seen this species so I snapped a picture. The metadata contains the gps coordinates. The attached photo shows the Giant Swallowtail hovering.

Eastern Tailed-Blue, on leaf of small holly hock in my southern butterfly habitat . First ever sighting of Eastern Tailed-Blue.

Painted lady, and the Viceroy were both newly eclosed. They were seen “hopping” down the trailhead.

All five Monarchs were nectaring on Rough Blazingstar in the front yard.

9:15 to 10:30 a.m. Only 15 minutes of sun after 10, 71°. Most sightings in those 15 minutes

mostly cloudy, calm, about 72 degrees

partly sunny, breezy, about 70 degrees

Warm, muggy, late afternoon.

Sunny, 82 degrees, late afternoon. Spotted these while out for a walk in the woods after the rain ended.

Seen about 4 in the afternoon.

mostly sunny, about 75 degrees, calm

The "resident" Sandhill Crane family was busy eating at the edge of the prairie. They'll be migrating south any day now.
Sunny, 76 degree morning.

Only had a short time here around 10 am because I had a 11:15 apt. Sunny and warm.

8:00-8:35 a.m., occasional drizzle, no sun, 70 degrees F

Distinctive light brown/grayish zebra markings on underwings with two dark eye's on the lower outer angle of the hindwing consistent in size with the markings on the outer margin. The upper eye-spot being slightly larger than the lower. I only saw the upperwings ever so briefly but I believe I saw a bluish purple, possibly a male. The antenna were b/w stripped with pale clubs with a bit of orange. This was my first sighting of this species in Wisconsin. This field is disturbed with this butterfly on Birdsfoot Trefoil.

Abysmal butterfly weather. 65 and cloudy.

Breezy conditions, cloudy and sunny intervals, 68 degrees

Incidental while collecting seeds for replanting within the SNA

Windy, warm sunny late afternoon.

Sunny, 79°, very slight breeze

Monarch very busy on mums

Fluttered around on flocks. The butterfly would not land to rest but kept moving from flower to flower.

Sunny, 78°, very light breeze

Butterfly was tattered but still going

Very pleased to see Regals today. All seemed to be female and if they landed it was to head deep into the grass and continue to crawl around. I wondered if they were laying eggs but did not observe any. Love a good Butterfly Warrior and the Pearl Crescent earned the honors today.

The views at Hogback are outstanding and was so pleased to visit this unique prairie in Southwest Wisconsin.

Sunny with a breeze and temps around 70 F.

It feels like it’s mid October already. 66 and cloudy.

Incidental while gardening

Seen about 5 in the evening. Light breeze.

First Monarch I've seen in a while. Mostly cloudy 68 degree morning.

A pleasure to see a Variegated Fritillary, a first for me. It stopped for a brief moment on the path, enough time for a few pictures, at least of the dorsal side.

My garden

Beautiful, sunny, and cool, with a Lake breeze. The big dragonfly movement seems to be over.

The Gray Hairstreak is a first for me. I am so pleased it opened its wings for the camera, too. When a relative says 'you should go here to look for butterflies' you never know what you will find!

Sunny with no wind and temps around 75F from 3:00-4:30.

I first spotted The Common Checkered Skipper along the river on 081822 but not seen since until today. Only the second time I've seen a Tule Bluet here this summer, what luck!

Warm, light wind, Sunny.

Seen about 9 a.m. Clear sunny weather.

Just a few butterflies while I was bird watching this morning

First Great Spreadwings of the year.

Extremely disappointing results. This is the week is usually see Tortiseshells and Cloaks here.

Lots of Great Spreadwings here.

Sunny and Warm about noon

Laurie had a caterpillar kinda day!

Trails and Dike at north end of N-S stretch of Harvey Road.

Dog Trial grassland and grassland just to east.

1:50 hours.

High 70s, calm, partly cloudy. Most monarchs I've seen in one place at one time all year.

Incidental sighting in residential neighborhood

A great Monarch-Rocky Mountain Blazing Star Liatris ligulistylis show! All monarchs on it.

Beautiful day

My first Common Checkered-Skipper of the year. This area has more Partridge Pea than any other area in the state that I know about. I am surprised that there isn't more Little Yellow here.

Saw this butterfly for several days on zinnia flowers around July 15, 2022.

So many Yellow and black Garden Spiders.

sunny, 75 degrees

2:40 hours.

Late morning, high 70s, light breeze, partly cloudy.

Surprised that I saw no Monarchs today. Mid-day, sunny and warm.

Incidental while gardening

Mostly morning finds with the grass still wet but saw the Viceroy later in the afternoon. The Meadow Fritillary and the Pearl Crescents were battling it out for the most until the Meadow Fritillary pulled ahead. Did note that the Pearl Crescent seemed to be more prevalent at both ends of a field and the Meadow Fritillary numbers were higher in the middle. Woods on one end but that didn't seem to make a difference.

Sunny with no wind and temps in the upper 70's.

My garden - this butterfly's wings were very worn or torn, so they were constantly in motion, and it never fully landed. It hit several flowers in the garden but kept returning to this zinnia.

Seen about 9 a.m. Calm sunny weather.

Two-thirds of the Silver-spotted Skippers were nectaring on Rough Blazingstar.

82 degrees, sunny, breezy. 12 species. Afternoon.

Incidental while picking seeds for replanting into SNA

9:15 to 10:30 am. 73 degrees, sunny.

Crazy amounts of Fiery Skippers! Most were in the trial garden.

Mostly sunny and 76 deg.

Cool, damp, mostly cloudy, late morning.

Warm sunny afternoon.

The most exciting sighting were two Fawn Darners feeding mid afternoon to dusk along a now very shallow Root river.

Partly cloudy, early afternoon, light wind, warm. The Reakirt's was on Stolte rd.

Finally some interesting species. I saw a grayish-white skipper in the grass but it quickly fled. It wasn’t a checkered so I’m not sure what it was.

I was really surprised by the amounts of crescents! I would say 75% were really fresh looking as well. I only found 1 Marine Blue in the area that they had been in.

Cool overcast day. Many Least Skippers and Northern Crescents. Several Bronze Coppers. Single Chickweed Geometer.

An Orange Sulpher. A common butterfly, but rare to photograph with wings spread

This butterfly must have been trapped inside of the shed we found it in. It was hanging upside down from the insulation on the ceiling. I was able to get it to cling to my finger in an attempt to get it water and warmth. It had little life left in it. Not sure if it was able to revive itself.

Cool, cloudy, breezy - more Robber flies than butterflies. Seen but not photographed - a Swamp Darner.

surprised to see any butterflies after the heavy rain yesterday.

A young hognose snake was crossing the gravel road.

Stopped by on my way home from having my car serviced. I didn't have my camera, only the cell phone. While trying to get close enough to the skippers to photograph them, I came across a mantis hinding in the plants.

The Regal Fritillary was a female apparently laying eggs. The first time I saw a spider in its hole!

Zinnia and Mexican Sunflower provided the hot spots for butterfly visitors today. Unfortunately not much time to count butterflies today (12-1).

It was a beautiful sunny day, no wind, temps in low 80's F.

11 am to 2 pm, hazy sun, 72°

Incidental while gardening

Sunny, slight breeze, 70s

low 60s, cloudy, slight breeze

A few butterflies that I didn't see yesterday at this location. It seems that I seldom see the American Lady so happy to see this one even if it was beat up. I very seldom see butterfly predators when I am out and about but in the last few days I spotted the Meadow Fritillary under attack by three different predators: a bird literally swooped down in front of me and snapped one up, a Garden Spider had one wrapped in his web and today an Ambush Bug had one in it's clutches.
Another beautiful sunny day with no wind and temps in the lower 80's F.

60s, sunny, breezy

The butterflies were in the prairie filled with blooming goldenrod and some tall sunflower. 8:31 - 10:14, cloudy to foggy, 1.83 mi

Walked the prairie with a Sandhill Crane family today getting within 20 feet of them. Saw at least 10 Chickweed Geometer Moths among the wildflowers, plus a lost dog which we were able to reunite with her owner. Sunny, 70 degree late morning.

73 degrees and sunny. Went for a short walk and took binoculars along. Didn't take camera. We saw more than we expected. 6 species.

2:30-4:00. Sunny and mid 70s. Not a lot of variety but there was only the eighth Horace's Duskywing reported since 2000 and the first since 2018. Also, lots of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

fewer butterflies since they mowed the fields. I got quite excited by a brown butterfly with an interesting pattern, but it turned out to be a Celery Looper Moth, still it was pretty and lively.

Found lots of Partridge pea which is very unusual for this area.

about 3 p.m. warm, humid

Near the Green Lake County Line. Three Six Spotted Tiger Beetles and Five Twelve Spotted Tiger Beetles

Very few butterflies today despite nice weather and many nectar sources available. Sunny, 76 degree early afternoon.

78 degrees partly cloudy with south wind 10-15 mph

Saw my latest sightings of both Promachus vertebratus and Efferia pogonias.

This place hosts numerous Great Spreadwings in late summer and can be a nice spot for Skippers near the power lines, although quiet today.

Late-morning, hour-long tour around the sunny sections of the gardens. Partly cloudy, low 70s, light wind.

36 minute, 0.72 mi. Wet area with many willows.

9:15 to 10:30 a.m. Hazy sun, 73°. No skippers. The American Lady and Eastern Tailed Blue were the only fresh things I saw. Most of the Rough Blazing Star flowers are now gone.

While birding, before noon.

A very brief walk through the prairie. I seem to see a Common Buckeye wherever I go these days.

75 degrees, sunny, and very humid.

Sunny, breezy, early afternoon. Made a 10 minute stop at a marshy area along my bike route. It feels like summer but it's starting to look like fall on the marsh. Fewer butterflies each time I visit this spot.

Not very many butterflies considering the amount of nectar sources, but I was happy to see some Closed Gentian.

Warm and sunny. At least 10 different Monarchs.

Started out cloudy and scattered sprinkles in the morning to partly cloudy and at times very windy. I walked the entire length of the East -West ridge starting from the Paul Brant dedication plaque on both sides of the ridge. There were large numbers of Cabbage whites, orange sulphurs, and fewer clouded sulphurs.

Cloudy, mid-70s, breezy, 3:30 pm. Spotted while out in the garden this afternoon.

2 to 3 p.m. 71°, hazy sun. Nothing but Monarchs, feeding on Goldenrod. Mostly, if not all, females.

Sightings during the Lake Park bird walk today. My photo of the Question Mark is not very revealing, but a friend who is taller, got a good photo of the "question mark" mark. I thought the pretty "yellow butterfly" was a Dainty Sulphur, until it landed, and turned out to be a common Chickweed Geometer moth. They are so pretty though.

Started out sunny but quickly turned cloudy and some spits of rain. 1 six spotted Tiger Beetle and two 12 Spotted Tiger Beetles. The 12 Spotted Tiger Beetles were on the G Segment of the SNA

As soon as I headed outside it seemed like it got cloudy but still some butterflies around.

Very windy and mostly cloudy from 11:45- 12:45 with temps in lower 70's F.

Cloudy, low 70's, racing the rain. Fantastic tree cricket chorus!

I struggled to get a picture of the Duskywings with a digiscoping method.

Mostly cloudy with some showers. 82.

Found on Giant Blue Sage, wetland woodland edge, wildlife gardens

More large frits than I was expecting but they were all very worn, I saw four Aphrodite Fritillary on one group of Stiff Goldenrod and three Great Spangled Fritillary on one group of thistle. Three of the Monarchs were nectaring on the largest patch of Red Clover that I saw.

Butterflies around today that I didn't see yesterday. Sunnier today and warmer (lower 80's) and not as windy.

One of my favorite moths today, a White-lined Sphinx feeding on Jewelweed.

New England Asters were the most common host plant followed by Rigid Goldenrod. Skies were sunny, with temperatures in the mid-70's with a westerly wind around 7 mph. Noticed fewer species this check with the Red Admiral, Common Buckeye and Black Swallowtail noticeably absent.

I walked the ridge heading south and found eight Southern Dogface and then found one more on the East/West ridge. Pretty excited to see nine Southern Dogface including a mated pair.

Sunny and 80s. Lots of activity in the neighborhood today.

3 hours. This is our latest date for seeing a Regal Fritillary by four days, and close to or actually our latest Aphrodite Fritillary date. Two female Regals in different plots nectared very near us on different kinds of thistles, then a Regal Fritillary flew right above the 2nd one kept going without us figuring out its gender. The Purplish Coppers were in 4 plots in 3 widely separated areas. The Common Checkered-Skipper was in fresh wing condition and was along Lake Road.

Beautiful day to check out the gardens. Many butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Not as many Monarchs seen as in previous years. Sunny, 74 degree late morning.

I was so surprised to see so many butterflies this late in the year!

1.75 hours. The Meadow Fritillary here was our 6th kind of fritillary seen today, combined with sightings at Buena Vista WA. This is close to our latest date in the year, or is our latest date, for seeing Variegated, Aphrodite, Great Spangled, and Silver-bordered Fritillaries. Lots of fresh male Purplish Coppers, so this flight could last a while longer: 45 of the Purplish Coppers were along Apache Avenue east of County Hwy W (44 of them on the south side), 5 were along Archer Avenue west of County Hwy W, and one was well south of Archer.

Mainly everything was in the trial garden

Calm, sunny, mid-70s.

76 degrees, a perfect day. I made 2 stops on Stolte Rd. This is only the 2nd time I've seen a Fiery Skipper.

10:30 am to 2:30 pm. Cloudy to full sun, 82°
Returned to see if the Common Wood Nymph was still flying where I had seen it last week. I didn't see any. Quite a few Common Buckeyes, on flowers and along the road, near turkey tracks. The Regal Fritillaries were attracted to the blue color of my bag.

This place seems to have no formal name. It is rather obscure.

I knew that it was going to be a good butterfly day so I decided to try Russell Hill where I had a good chance to find two species I have not seen - a Southern Dogface and Little Yellow. The Little Yellow was pretty easy to find but one Southern Dogface cooperated, too. The Common Buckeye is having a good year. I very seldom see more than one a day! The White-lined Sphinx Moth was the fourth one for me to see in the last three days.

It was a very long walk from 9:30 - 1:30 with an occasional breeze and temps between 72-80 F.

I decided to go here when my weather app said it was going to be sunny all afternoon. Rained after I got to where I wanted to go.

This was my first Variegated Fritillary of the year. Lots of Prairie Gentian here!

Combined sightings for September 19 and 20. Sunny and 80° plus. 3:30 to 5 pm. Lots of Fiery skippers and sulphurs. First time for me to see the Common checkered skipper this year. Many White-lined sphinx all of a sudden. First time to see the Bronze copper at this location.

The Ocola Skipper was nectaring the flowers along one of the main walkways just northeast of the Sunken Garden.

Mostly cloudy, windy, and 77 degrees

Cold front blowing in. Probably not much butterfly activity the next couple days. Went to 2 new places, Kohl Park Hiking Trail and a roadside prairie along with the Mequon Nature Preserve, but didn’t see anything.