Butterfly sightings for August 2023

I spotted what I think is a Western White while out on a hike.

Observed resting on leaves. 82 F, mostly sunny, calm.

13:40 - 15:21, 1.5 miles, 82-83 F, SW wind 5-7 mph, cloudy. Two of the Orange Sulfurs were mating.

morning, sunny, light wind, warm

Incidental while removing sweet clover at the SNA, during the evening

Sunny 75 degree morning.

Sunny, low 80s. Incidental; all seen nectaring on Swamp Thistle near the frog pond. This is the third year in a row that we have seen Giant Swallowtails here.

Low 80s, partly cloudy, light wind. Observations were from a brisk walk around the perimeter, so just a sampling. There are shady areas and prairie areas at the dog park. Lots of butterflies! I also saw fritillaries and skippers, but I couldn't get close enough to ID them. And, unfortunately, I only had my iPhone with no zoom.

Was sunning on wood chips then moved to vegetation (milkweed then violet). 8:30 am, warm, breezy morning.

9:36 - 11:09, 1.4 miles, 75-9 F, S wind 7 mph, cloudy. Good variety of plants are blooming.

Feeding among the bee balm

I went back to compare with last year's butterfly count done on August 3rd at this location. The total is about half with 69 this year vs. 136 last year. Where I saw the most discrepancy was with skippers. Last year I saw 37 Silver-spotted Skippers and this year I only saw 1. I saw 10 Tawny-edged Skippers last year and 2 this year. I saw 28 Peck's Skippers and 2 this year. My species count last year was 16 vs 12 this year but I can end on an upbeat note with the Monarch. Last year I saw three Monarch and this year 9. The Monarch photo is of a newly eclosed specimen.

Sunny and hot with no breeze between 2:00 - 4:30 with temps in the 80's F.

Incidental while removing invasive plants

Sightings while out checking the bluebird boxes.

First Giant Swallowtail of the year!

Is the Duskywing Wild Indigo or Funereal? I've never seen a Wild Indigo with so much white on the edges of bottom wings.

Lots of activity in the backyard shade garden today. Earlier, saw a female Monarch laying eggs, later male and female mating, then the male in the photos resting and nectaring on swamp milkweed. Also, at least two tiger swallowtails swooped through around the same time.

Lots of wildflowers blooming in the prairie area of the park, but no butterflies there. We only saw butterflies on flowers along the trail. Also watched a Great Blue Heron flying low over the river and a Green Heron perched on a branch of a dead tree along the shoreline. Sunny 78 degree morning.

Two mated pairs of Monarchs.

Sunny and 87

I was thrilled to see the large female Tawny Emperor and the American Snout.

Finally more female Purplish Coppers are showing up in the Persicaria. I saw three different females, so the gender distribution on this day was about 50/50 for the first time. One of the tiger swallowtails was a black form, but she had no interest at all in being photographed.

Warm and sunny. The Joe Pye Weed, Swamp Milkweed, and BeeBalm are really drawing in the polinators.

Mid-morning, partly cloudy, light breeze, mid-70s.

FOY Fiery Skipper and it appeared to be laying eggs in my grass, on certain weeds.

This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail-black form was flying all around my yard to my native and non native flowers, for over a half hour. I was able to get his pic when she landed on my allium. I’ve never seen one here before. Pretty neat!

Incidental; mid 80s, sunny, and humid; All Eastern Tiger Swallowtails were nectaring on Purple Coneflowers.

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., mostly sunny, 82 to 85°

Tried to beat the heat, but found a pocket of fog. The one robber fly was HUGE, about an inch and a half long.

Lots of bumble bee and butterfly action on this field dominated by yellow coneflower

Within a wetish area filled with blue vervain and common boneset. Hot afternoon. Many bee flies. The second image shows a butterfly being eaten by another insect (green).

Made a quick stop to see the clover field. Checking out the sunning spots and was rewarded with my first Sachem of the year.

Around 7:45 p.m. with temps still in low 80's.

Along one of the upper trails I spotted this beauty! Have never seen this type of Swallowtail before. I believe it is the Giant Swallowtail.

Giant Swallowtail, sipping nectar on flocks.

The Harvester was a lifer! I saw it land, then it appeared to scope out a spot to lay its eggs before laying. After it fluttered away, I noticed aphids further down the branch it laid its eggs on.

I also found two cool flower species- Prairie Fame Flower and Downy Rattlesnake Plantain- along with a Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar.

Sunny 75 degree morning.

75 F, sunny, calm. Hazy.

Beautiful afternoon on the prairie. One tandem pair of Monarchs.

A few sightings while working on this sunny beautiful day.

89, somewhat hazy with sun. 2:00-3:45. Looking for blazing star here. I saw some but no flowers yet. I am hopeful for Leonard’s Skipper here. There was more Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis) here than I have seen in any other site in Wisconsin.

Happy to see a few more skippers today and pleased to see the most Eastern Tiger Swallowtail I have ever seen in a day. The ETS is certainly having a good year!

Sunny and calm from 2:15-4:30 with temps around 90.

1:45 to 4:30 p.m. 89 to 84°. Mostly sunny, humid.

Only the second buckeye I have seen all year. More tiger swallowtails than I have ever seen in the arb in a day. Gnat Orges (robber flies) were more abundant than they have been all year.

Hardly any butterflies! Not sure why we got so skunked. Very disappointing.

Sunny and 78.

Sunny,breezy,hot afternoon. 15 minute walk.

There were very few "good" nectar sources. It was mostly flowering spurge with some knapweed and meadowsweet.

Also saw two unidentified sulphurs.

4 to 5:30 p.m., 82°, sunny.

2:00-3:00pm cloudy and 79 degrees. walked just to the prairie as I was looking for robber flies.

74 degress partly cloudy, breezy

4 to 5 p.m., cloudy, drizzle, 77°. This area had many more species last year this time, but it was used to pile up snow last winter, and most of the habitat was destroyed.

Incidental while removing invasives

Giant Swallowtail was flying around, and landed on multiple zinnias that are in a grouping along my house. It stayed around for awhile, and it let me get close enough to take some great pictures. I have not downloaded them yet, but would love to share. This happened approx. 4:00pm today 8/7/2023.

Incidental while performing Bumblebee Survey and determining if the Rusty Patched Colonies were still present in 2023. Did find a few Rusty Patched but the numbers were back to the 2021 numbers. One Punctured Tiger Beetle, that was very small. One unknown grass skipper.

Mostly sunny 78 degree afternoon.

mostly cloudy, 78 F, variable wind direction ~5mph, 0.7 miles

Warm, light wind, sunny. Dry, and few nectar sources. I also saw 7 unidentified greater fritillaries.

9 to 11:30 a.m., hazy sun, 69 to 73°

Overcast, 74-degrees around noon. Lovely Black Swallowtail hanging out on my newly purchased butterfly bush.

All Meadow Fritillaries on Hoary Vervain.

Last August, I found two Purplish Coppers in different filelds and wondered if they blew in. Today, I found a healthy population in the tall grasses at the edge of the pond. They showed territoriality/mating behavior. I think last year's individuals had drifted away from the pond in search of nectar.

Also a Rusty Patched Bumble Bee.

Visiting Joe Pye in native garden

10:30 - 12:03, mostly cloudy, W wind 5 - 9 mph, 74 - 81, 1.2 miles. One Eastern Tailed-Blue was a female. The Mourning Cloak looked skeletal from missing much of its wings; at the ends of the wings there were only the rays of the veins left. It wouldn't let me get close enough to take a cell phone photo.

2:05 hours. We found 49 Monarchs in one half-mile transect in an oldfield with super-super heavy dead plant litter on the ground that created a mulching effect so that most of an estimated 100,000 Common Milkweeds in the plot were flowering, vs. fewer than 10% of other milkweeds we've seen this week.

2:50 hours. Surveying mainly areas we hadn't looked for regal Fritillaries yet this year. We found them in 2 of the survey plots and saw Regals incidentally in 4 units, for a total of five new "Regal presence" plots for 2023 and one repeat plot.

9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sun and clouds, 71 to 82°. Several roads closed north of Reception Center, due to fallen trees. Northern Crescent was feeding on a dead snake in the road. Rough Blazing Star just starting to bloom, otherwise just a few Joe Pye weeds. Saw a few Fritillaries, but not close enough to identify.

80s, partly cloudy, breezy-

85 and mostly sunny.

partly cloudy, 80 degrees. Fiery skipper feeding on clover

Feeding on the Phlox that is blooming in the school’s garden which is adjacent to the woods.

Besides the butterflies seen at work today, there was a lovely Hummingbird Clearwing Moth and several tiny White-lined Black Moths.

Several Cabbage White around flower bed

80s, mostly sunny

80s, mostly sunny

Warm, sunny, light wind. Not as much blazing star as other years I could only find one small stand and only a handful of plants in that stand just starting to bloom. I did manage to find one Leonard's skipper near that patch. I quit counting Eastern Tailed-Blues at 23 and saw many more.

3 to 4:30 p.m. 85°, one hour of sun.
Skippers were feeding on clover, abundant along trail, but they were found in just one small patch of it.

Incidental while birding- late morning.

On wet part of gravel driveway.

mostly cloudy 70 - 77, 9:49 - 11:00, 1.8 miles, NW wind 3 - 6 mph

2 to 3 p.m., sunny, 80°. First time to visit. Small area, all prairie. Bee Balm, Rough Blazing Star and some Milkweed in flower. One small patch of clover on the trail attracted the Eastern-tailed blue.

Also a pair of Trumpeter Swans on the lake.

75 F, mostly sunny with some clouds, breezy. Monarchs and Cabbage Whites observed in courtship dances.

Quick stop here to check the senna plants.

My first Autumn Meadowhawk of the year. Lots of Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)

a few sightings while checking the Bluebird boxes today.

Sunny, temps in the 70s. Cardinal flower in bloom.

This sighting was made incidental to looking for bumble bees and other invertebrates.

Incidental while gardening

Plant survey for USFWS. Calm and dry, lower to mid seventies, overcast then clearing towards noon.
Non-butterfly shots are ambush bugs on ironweed and a habitat shot: grey-headed coneflower, anise hyssop, and wild bergamot in mesic tall-grass prairie.

Buckeye was very battered. It’s been a poor year for southern species.

Question mark by parking lot of Shea section.

Most finds were on the private prairie with a few additions from the Wildlife Area. Both locations had lots of Coneflowers.
Sunny with no wind from 10 am - 1 pm wit temps ranging from 70-80 F.

One lap around the prairie/hill area. Lots of birds, dragonflies, and bees. Not as many butterflies as I usually see here, but maybe it was the 10-15 mph wind. Partly cloudy, 80F.

Partly sunny. light breeze, about80 degrees

partly cloudy to start, turning mostly cloudy with approaching storm, windy, warm. A little more blazing star here but not as much as most years. There has been quite a bit of mowing. It was nice to find some Leonards' skippers on Murphy, Curry, and James Rds.

After an evening rain storm, many butterflies seemed to magically appear.

Thanks Doug and Skye for a fun day! Weather mostly cooperated after a much needed rain the evening before. Windy and sunny/cloudy with temps between 70-80 F. from 9:30-1:00.

9 to 10 a.m., 70°, 10 minutes of sun

mostly sunny, 80s, windy

3 to 4:30 p.m., sunny, 86°

Late morning, Sunny, windy, mid-seventies. Stolte Rd was damp, and I really expected to see more butterflies. There is not a lot of Blazing star this year. What was there was blooming. Most of the butterflies I saw were on the north end of the rd.

I was across the yard and saw fluttering on my Tiger Lilies up against my garage. I ran to get my camera praying it would still be there. It was. Trying to calm myself, I took two shots to see what it was and was stunned. I believe the pictures are clear enough to see it is a Giant Swallowtail. It stayed for about half an hour. I was beyond excited!!

Incidental while removing invasive plants

I saw one yellow-morph tiger swallowtail and one dark morph.

70 to 83 degrees. Sunny. 16 observers in 1 to 2 parties found 23 species which is about 5 species below average for this annual Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Association field trip. Not bad considering that this area has been in extreme drought. The migrant and immigrant species, besides Monarchs, were the high number of Common Buckeyes, the Painted Lady and the Fiery Skipper.

Backyard - afternoon

1 to 4 p.m., 82°, sunny, very windy on the bluffs where I saw only swallowtails.

Bronze Coppers still there! Right by river's edge.

Holy cow, what a surprise to find a bunch of Western Whites. Apparently, this species has irrupted in SE Manitoba and western Ontario, with iNaturalist also showing apparent records recently from NE MN and the north side of Lake Superior. Notably, there have been no Checkered White reports in the state this summer and weather has been dominated by cool NW winds, not warm SW winds that typically bring that species northward. Attached photos represent 8 unique individuals, including a mix of males and females.

4 areas. We did not know until August 20 that others had seen Western Whites in Wisc. recently. On today's 1st survey Ann got a great look at a male Western White above and below as it nectared. She told Scott when we got back together that she'd seen a Western White, and Scott said in his area he'd seen two Checkered or Western Whites flying E into the wind more than 500 meters from Ann's location and that the whites never landed.
The Sachem was a female.

2 spots, 30 minutes. We also saw an unidentified tiger swallowtail. Everything was in low numbers, just like 2+ weeks ago here . We think Common Branded Skippers were past peak, but we found more of them today than at the end of July.

I wanted to look here for the Western Whites to see if they were anywhere near the lake. This area is always a good area to look for strays. Just as we were walking back to the car past the ball fields one of the females flew by. We saw two males and two females

Light brown wings with distinctive light yellow/tan markings

A perfect day for butterflying!

Two areas, 38 minutes

Looking for my first Leonard's Skipper of the year.

4 sites, 54 minutes. It is typical for us to find 200 or so Wood Nymphs here on the August visit.

Trying to find Purplish Fritillaries at the Same 4 bogs and their roadsides as on July 25. The Buckeyes were out on the bog at Milchesky Road 1.15.

I wanted to check here for the Western Whites since it was likely that they migrated through this area. Robbye has a photo of one from about a week ago that she thought was just a Checkered White. We saw two near the parking lot near the end of the point. The robber fly had a Tri-colored Bumble Bee as prey.

Not much flying, but I did see the first Painted Lady that I've documented at this location, as well as a dark form Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. The Painted Lady was nectaring on yarrow and flat-topped aster, while the tiger was focussed on anise hyssop. Monarchs less in evidence than they had been.

Sunny, breezy, low 70s. Perfect.

Interested in what the tiger beetle might be. It was near the surf in the pebbles, occasionally hit with wave action and therefore possibly mildly injured. Ran fast, but no flying. I think it might have some mud stuck to its head.

Question mark was huge and brilliantly colored.

Also, found 50+ Milkweed Tussok Moth cats

I drove up to Washburn to see if I could find any of the Western whites that had been reported. Sunny, light wind becoming windy. I saw five in a mowed area between W Omaha St. and a power line ROW. Six at the ballpark on Memorial Park Dr. and four others walking around town. Four of them were busy depositing eggs.

Thrilled to see some southern strays. 2 L Yellows were males and one female.

My cat saw this little beauty before I did. She was perched on the bottom edge of our dining room, window, sunning her wings. She flew away, but fluttered around near our window for the next 20 minutes or so. I was elated to get this photo, even through the screen! A Red Admiral, wow!

My first Great Spreadwing of the year and my first female Fiery Skipper.

9:30 to 10:30 a.m., sunny, 73°

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail along with a Snowberry Clearwing this afternoon..

Sunny and breezy, low 70s. All before noon.

Today's might be our first Milbert's Tortoiseshell sighting of the year.

In the sand of play area were black and white wasps
iNaturaluist gives 4-banded Stink bug wasp (Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus)