August 2022 Sightings

9:20-11 AM, sun and high cloud, 72-80 F. Most butterflies on Purple Loosestrife and Liatris; Grass-leafed goldenrod just starting to bloom. And one recently-deceased Monarch in the clutches of a mantis.

Partly cloudy, 90 degrees, 12pm to 5pm

partly cloudy, hot and humid, 10:15-10:45

12:15 pm to 3:45 pm, mid-80s degrees and partly cloudy with light breeze. Walked the powerline ROW for a few miles and back, and through woods. Many acres of blooming wild Bergamot, Joe Pye, Goldenrod, but butterfly numbers pretty low. Highlight was a Clamp-tipped Emerald dragonfly that landed in front of me.

11:15 to 11:45, low 80s and sunny. Lots of wild Bergamot in bloom, as well as Goldenrod

This Juniper Hairstreak was resting in a houseplant plant on my deck.

Clear, 78°F-86*F, 10:00am-2:00pm
White Snakeroot a potential nectar source just coming intol bloom. A modest patch may be found just south of the Raccoon Ridge peak along the Appalachian Trail. Minimal interest by pollinators so far,

Observations for the 2nd and 3rd.

9:30-12:20, 73-83 and full sun

The purpose of this visit was to search for Common Roadside Skipper, which is anything but common. We have found this species here for many consecutive years until this year. We usually search for the first brood in mid-May. But we were late this year and may have missed it. There is a little known, and perhaps not annual, second brood in late July and early August ( I have a slide photo from this site taken in early August). Did not find it on this visit but we did find a very fresh Swarthy Skipper and 4 very worn and ragged Edwards' Hairstreaks (new late date by 1 day). Only 2 Orange Sulphurs in an area that in the recent past has supported large numbersas well as lesser numbers of Cabbage Whites and Clouded Sulphurs. Our 3 hr. total of 21 species and 138 individuals is well below recent totals. So many 1s and 2s!

Extremely hot day.

Finally had a few butterflies around my house.

Surveying managed fields north of Kelly rd. Much Wild Bergamot in bloom. Mostly sunny, warm and humid.
10:30 - 11:30

Leaderless Walks - 12 participants
Sunny, warm in 80's

Sparrow Fields/ Riverside
2 pm - 3:10pm
90 degrees, 40% cloud cover with storms threatening later
Minimal breeze
Very birdy
Butterfly diversity good but numbers low, dragonfly numbers low

3:10-3:40 90's and sunny - Quick walk through the sunflower field. Lots of pollinators out. Likely large numbers of sachems in this field.

1:30 - 4:00. Mostly sunny, in the nineties. A total of fifteen Harvesters seen! Nine were observed at a single location, frolicking and pairing off around a Beech tree whose twigs were particularly loaded with Woolly Aphids, and one of those began laying eggs on the twigs near the aphids. All in all, an amazing sight!

sighted and id by Don Torino during Hummingbird day at the garden

extremely hot humid afternoon. found what might be an Appalachian Azure caterpillar (?) on the underside of a cohosh leaf but it was as small as you would imagine. one female zab. Joe pye weed, monarda, hibiscus, sweet pepper bush, asters, thistle, golden rod, Queen Anne's lace blooming, esp in the garden adjacent to the "event" building.

2 Dark Tigers

Very warm and humid under partly cloudy skies.

Observations made through most of the day. Highest one day yard total this year. Second brood of Zabulons emerged on Aug. 5. Very fresh Red-banded Hairstreak was the first we have seen here since May. In addition to the 22 species identified we saw an anglewing or a lady zip by.

We could not resist including two photos of Royal Walnut Moth that appeared at our moth lights on Aug. 3. First sighting for yard.

2:00 pm to 2:30 pm. low 90s. Hot and breezy.

Clouds, intermittant sun, 80 F, strong breeze. Large butterflies mostly on Purple loosestrife and Joe Pye Weed; Liatris blooming, Grass-leafed goldenrod getting started.

no hairstreaks :(
incredible stonecrop blooming this tear and I did finally see a cabbage white and a zab on it.

Field trip in morning from 9:30-11:45 followed by annual club picnic. As many as 23 participants on field trip with a few more attending the picnic. Good food and good company. Congrats to Betty and Henry for making the long trip west.

Very warm and humid under partly cloudy skies.

Here are a few photos from today's NABA NJ annual picnic/butterfly walk.

We started from the small gravel lot at the end of
Pequot road. Walked though that meadow, through the woods and came out at the hatchery, circled back through the Archery Range. We spent a few minutes in the Parking lot by the power cut on Oxford road as well.

We were able to ID 12 dark Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, and undoubtedly many of the distant and/or fast dark Swallowtails we couldn't ID were dark. Most of them were in the farther places from the road, and most were worn. There were three at the power cut lot.