April 2020 Sightings

Cloudy, windy, 55 degrees, so these were a pleasant surprise.

Mostly cloudy, about 56 degrees.

Overcast with a few sprinkles.

Sunny until I got there. Cloud cover 60
I decided to climb the hill anyway
I had 2 small brown butterflies or moths on the walk but I missed getting a positive ID. My thinking is Brown Elfin. I'm going back tomorrow with the forecast of more sun.

Sunny and pleasant, muddy areas produced, lots of trees down, leaf litter

115-2:30pm, 65°F, cloudy with some peeks of sun

low 60s. cloud and sporadic sun.

10:30-12:30
4 male 1 female Falcate Orangetip
Newly emerged Tiger Swallowtail
Highlight juvenile Black Racer

A sunny, somewhat warm day (59-65º F) while exploring Mercer County Park West Picnic Area & East Picnic area plus two nearby areas along the power lines in that area (Caspersen Rowing Center (40.269491, -74.639406) & the end of Bruntsfield Drive (40.266415, -74.617952). Looking for possible extensions of the Falcate orangetip habitat, I found that neither of the latter two places had any of the larval food plant - Hairy Rock Cress - that is found in the park. The East Picnic area and Campground proved to be an area that had a great deal of Hairy Rock Cress and there was at least one Falcate orangetip (possibly 2, but I am erring on the side of caution as chances were 50-50 that it was a Cabbage white. The Spring azure was also sighted in that location (40.263017, -74.622082).

Saw a low flying Spring Azure while walking on a path in the woods near my house. Such a pretty sight!

Sunny and close to 70 from about 4-5pm. My first photo of a Mourning Cloak!

1:15-2:30pm. 64°F, sunny
Duskywing sp. 1

2:15pm-3:15pm. 65°F, sunny

3-5 pm
66f and sunny with little wind…finally got the Brown Elfin photo at the end of the day feeding…
Arched Hooktip (moth) 1

Tiger Swallowtail photographed by Laura Newgard this morning.

66°C

Flying along side of road.

We took our daily walk at the Preserve this afternoon.
It was sunny, calm and in the mid-60s.
The Clouded Sulphur was extremely fresh with a beautiful pink edge.

Falcate Orangetip 1 male 1 female

Beautiful sunny afternoon in the mid-60's. The Mourning Cloak was photographed on an old fruit cluster of Staghorn Sumac, and the Bluish Spring Moth was nectaring at Early Saxifrage. This day-flying moth can easily be mistaken for a Spring Azure. Readers should be aware that all NJ state parks and forests as well as county parks are closed until further notice. We were fortunate to visit this lovely SF just before the closures were announced. However, the many wildlife management areas in NJ are under the jurisdiction of the Division of Fish and Wildlife and remain (as of this writing) open. Many of these tracts support good butterfly habitat, but check on the status of these areas before visiting.

With thanks to Wade Wander for identifying the swallowtail as a dark morph female ETST

Main parking lot for the hawk watch at the end of Upper Hibernia Road

Brown Elfins found on White trail on East side of Hank's Pond

Overcast with a few sprinkles changing to partly cloudy.

Along with the butterflies, we saw a Bluish Spring Moth, a Grapevine Epimenis and several unidentified Tortricids flushed from the trail edges.

sunny turning windy and cloudy, 60s,
caddis flies, grapevine epimenis,