May 2023 Sightings

2:00-5:45. Windy, low 60s, overcast with occasional brief episodes of sun later in the day. Certainly not optimal butterflying conditions, but figured I'd give it a try. A few Clouded Sulphurs finally showed up in the field near parking lot M during one of those sunnier moments. Beach Plum and Spurge in full bloom. [moderators: Kudos to Joyce for devoting nearly 4 hours to searching for butterflies during weather that kept most of us from even thinking of looking for butterflies.]

2:00-2:45 partly sunny, mid-50s
Walked ZuZu along the entrance road from the Goodale Road parking lot to around the field by the office. Luckily our stroll coincided with the longest sunny period of the day. The orangetip was a male.

1:30 pm to 3:30 pm, high 60s, partly sunny turning to cloudy. Observing butterflies incidental to birding.

With perfect warm, sunny weather, the first joint field trip of the New Jersey Butterfly Club and the (brand-new) South Jersey chapter of NABA was enjoyed by 16 participants, who saw 16 species. (We were not really in Monmouth County, but in Burlington/Ocean.) The two Hessel's Hairstreaks were found at the last stop, and were lifers for 3 people. Thanks to trip leader Jack McDonough, ably assisted by Jack Miller, for ordering up such a fine day.

3:30 pm to 4:45 pm, low 70s, sunny and light breeze. I stopped counting the tailed blues at some point, which seemed to be everywhere there was blooming rock cress.

3:30- 5:15. Hazy sun to start, then overcast. In the 70s. Mourning Cloak was very worn, Pearl Crescent very fresh. Also an anglewing flyby.

Early afternoon visit. Low 70s and sun through high clouds. The very fresh Juniper was nectaring at Cypress Spurge and, surprisingly, buttercup (Ranunculus)

Warm and sunny, 3:00 to 6:00.

1:00-3:00. Mostly sunny, in the 70s. Question Mark was very worn. Also 1 dark swallowtail flyby. Quite a few ticks, quads, and off-road motorcycles.

A beautiful late morning walk, sunny, no clouds, high 60's.
Purple Martins were colonizing the Martin house gourds.
A first-year Bald Eagle flew to the top of a lakeside cedar to perch for a short time.

American Lady laying eggs on pussytoes.

Low 70's, sunny, slight breeze, early afternoon.

Numbers for Brown Elfin and Juvenal's Duskywing probably more than what I entered. [Moderators: Skyline Drive (aka, Crater Lake Road) is one the most reliable and convenient places in North Jersey to see numbers of Brown Elfins which, along with Juniper Hairstreak and Eastern Pine Elfin, are usually found nectaring on the alien, invasive, Cypress Spurge in April and May. Visitors to Skyline Drive should check the status of this road on the NPS website as the road will be closed on weekends and holidays beginning sometime in May.]

A few butterflies I saw while out looking for Odes. [moderators: We believe that this is the first report of Silver-spotted Skipper this year in north Jersey].

Sunny in the 70's.

Took a walk with Tom looking for butterflies, birds and odes. 9:45-3:00 partly cloudy temps in 60's. Good day for butterfly and birds, not bad for odes either.

10 AM - 12:30 PM. Warm and sunny. Pleasant Plains Rd. continues to be a nearly butterfly-free zone. [Moderators: Although an overall decline in butterfly abundance has been apparent in recent years, reports from most sites in North Jersey this year include the usual spring species albeit in lower numbers. So, the almost complete dearth of butterflies at this location is certainly puzzling and disturbing.]

Warm afternoon at several park locations.

Sunny in the 70's [Moderators: The first Monarch of the year in north Jersey certainly merits special mention. Also, nice to see a report of at least one species in double figures when ones and twos seem to be the rule.]

Sunny and warm. Wind calm.
Rather unusual, the third Juniper Hairstreak was nectaring on Bluets in the middle of the path. [Moderators: Nice list from a very scenic location in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Don't forget, the club has a field trip to this location on May 20. Remember to bring tick repellent!]

Sunny - temps in 70's

Leaderless Walk with 7 participants. Sunny in the 70's. And, yes there were 15 Harvesters - that number is not a mistake.[Moderators: First report of Harvester for North Jersey (and none yet from the South). The 15 reported here equals or exceeds the double-figure reports - all in summer - from 3 different South Jersey sites in 2022.]

Three butterflies seen incidental to birding.

9:15 AM - 2:15 PM. Sunny, high temp 78F. One dark swallowtail sp, one small orange fly-by, likely a Pearl Crescent. Nice to see a slight increase in species and numbers.

sunny and warm 80s

I was part of the Leaderless Walk that John Collins reported on yesterday. Here is a shot of 6 of 8 Harvesters. [Moderators: Mike's photo of "only" 6 is probably the largest gathering of this uncommon species ever photographed in NJ.]

80s and sunny.

[Moderators: This worn FOY Sachem looks as though he had a tough flight up from Cape May.]