Skippers! (and stuff..)

Clay Taylor ctaylor at worldnet.att.net
Fri Jun 2 10:22:33 EDT 2006


Hi all - 

I have been very remiss in writing this note, but the last week was heaven for me, as 1) I was home, 2) the weather was great, and 3) the Skippers are coming out!   Starting with last Thursday, here are my first-sighting dates for the following species;

5/25 (Thursday) Peck's Skipper, Moodus (home)
5/25 Tawny-edged Skipper, home
5/26 Hobomok Skipper, home
5/27 Horace's Duskywing, Wapowog WMA, East Hampton
5/27 Dusted Skipper, Wapowog WMA
5/28 Indian Skipper, Moodus, New Yard Butterfly!  WooHoo!
5/28 Common Sootywing, home (first one in my yard in a few years)
5/28 Silver-spotted Skipper, Wapowog WMA
5/29 Wild-Indigo Duskywing (ovipositing on baptisia), Wapowog WMA
5/30 Zabulon Skipper, Echo Farm S.P. (I have heard it's now called Machimoodus S.P., but I'm sticking with Echo until I get it confirmed), Moodus
5/30 Northern Cloudywing (3), Echo Farm S.P., Moodus

also,
5/27 (2) Azure sp. (very fresh, not a Spring Azure - Dave, possibly a Summer Azure?  I know nothing about the "other" azures that might be present in CT), Wapowog WMA
5/31 Black Swallowtail (4; 3 male and 1 female), Echo Farm (Machimoodus) SP, Moodus

My yard was great all weekend, with Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtails, Clouded Sulphurs, Red Admiral and Question Mark, Monarch, American Lady, Juvenal's Duskywing, and of course Peck's, Tawny-edged, Hobomok and Com. Sootywing all seen on multiple days.  The Indian Skipper was a one-shot wonder on the big patch of fleabane that I did not mow down in the middle of the yard.
A Red-spotted Purple was here on Tuesday, the 30th.

Wapowog had the three duskywings (Juvenal's, Horace's, and Wild-Indigo), as well as a few Dusted Skippers, Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtails, and Clouded Sulphur.    The Hooded Warbler was calling across the road, while the regular birds were all singing loudly.  Apparently, no Cerulean this year.

Echo Farm (Machimoodus?) was truly amazing.   The diversity wasn't great, but the numbers were as high as I've ever seen in CT for some species.  There are somewhere between 1000 and 10,000 Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars - they are Everywhere!   There won't be an un-chewed English Plantain left in the place!   The Cloudywings were just to the right of the main gate, down by the "point of rocks".    Also present were 50+ Common Ringlet, 300+ Little Wood Satyr, 3 Clouded Sulphur, 1 Monarch, 100+ Tawny-edged Skippers, 25+ Peck's Skippers, 5 Hobomok and 2 Dusted Skippers.  All that, and I never got past the first ponds to check out the woods or the overlooks!

Oh yes, I watched a Dusted Skipper oviposit on a blade of grass.   Wags or Andy - do you want it?   I can dig up the clump for you.

At Echo, the Orchard Orioles were easy to find, and Big Daddy was in one of the trees by the Upper Pond giving me a ration of abuse (I am assuming that at least one nest was nearby.)     Also of interest was an Osprey checking out the ponds.   I don't know if it was just passing through, or if it is a local making the rounds.    If it's a local, that would be VERY cool.

Clay Taylor
Moodus, CT
ctaylor at att.net
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