April 2018 Sightings

Checked Weis for Comptons. They don't tap the maples any more. I did see an anglewing sp.

58 degrees

47 degrees, sunny, chilly breeze. Butterfly was basking on dirt road.

Partly sunny, 48 degrees during a late morning walk along the A-C trail and along the pipeline cut.

Hard to believe it took until April 12 for the first cabbage.

Mid-70s, filtered sun. Trail off of Hansen Lane (spelled Hanson on Google Maps). Disappointed not to see Compton Tortoiseshell, as we had good numbers of the summer brood here in 2016. But it looks like even the Cloaks and Commas are just getting started.

High 70's, sunny. 12:30-2:45 PM.

It was warm (80º F) with full sun and a 15 mph wind. I had visited on 4/12/2018 as well and saw no butterflies, but was able to get back again today for about an hour and a half. In that time, there were 4 Falcate orangetips, 3 females and 1 male. None stopped to rest or nectar, all were fly-by sightings. No other butterflies were present.

Very warm (70's) and sunny. All of the butterflies were seen on dirt roads. Most of the commas looked good whereas the tortoiseshell was very ragged. Other notable observations included 4 The Infant (Archiearis infans) moths (a day flier), 1 Oblique-lined Tiger Beetle (Cicindela tranquebarica), and a kingfisher nest. No Harvesters. Observers: Marge Barret, Alice Koster, and Wade Wander. Note that the road through Tillman Ravine was closed.

Arrived late in the day. Warm and sunny conditions became windy.

12:00pm-1:00pm, 78F, scouting trip to see status of season, very little green growth and no nectar sources yet, 78F

3:15pm-4:15pm, both shrubs and trees starting to bud, 77F

1200 to 1400; variably cloudy; breezy. Cabbage Whites seen flying N to S at different times. no attempt to nectar on the approximately 400 Daffodil flowers in my yard.

16 of them on Road up to Mt. Nebo

10:30 - 11:30

1:45pm-2:30pm, scouting trip to see status of season, very little green growth yet. 78F

Around 1400 the stiff breeze lessened a bit and a Cabbage White flew by and settled on a patch of sand in the sunlight, trying to get warm.

Late yesterday afternoon this dead monarch was laying in my back flower beds. I’ve cleaned out the beds with a leaf blower 3 times already this spring and there is no way it was there before. The beds aren’t that big and I definitely couldn’t have missed it. Other than being a little tattered and worn she’s in pretty good shape, not desiccated, all legs and both antennae in place. There is another record of a live Monarch at Beach Haven from today, so I'm guessing she flew in on the nice warm southerly winds over the weekend and then perished with the cold and lack of nectar sources after that. As of yesterday, this was the most northerly report of a Monarch in North America.

With the largely butterfly-less April so far this year in central New Jersey (this is only the fourth species so far), I was very happy to find this extremely tattered Red Admiral late yesterday afternoon when it had finally warmed up a bit. I don't think they are supposed to overwinter in New Jersey but I find it hard to imagine this one flew any great distance on those ratty wings.

2pm, low 50,s and windy

One lonely individual

Sunny, 56 degrees, cool breeze. Many fewer Commas than last week, and still no Harvester.

Sunny, 60 degrees, light breeze.

Butterfly season is still running behind schedule. Very little in flower. Brown Elfins were mint.
2:50pm-4:00pm, 70ºF, Sunny.
I had given up thinking I might see an orangetip at the preserve today and was almost back to the parking area when one flitted by. I followed it down the road and along a path for about 15 minutes before it stopped long enough for me to get a photo.

Afternoon walk through the forest, temps near 70.