Guilford butterfly sightings

Epmanshell at aol.com Epmanshell at aol.com
Sun Aug 16 08:37:42 EDT 2009


On Saturday, 8/15, I made a scouting trip to the sites in Guilford I will  
be visiting on next week's CBA field trip. 
 
The first stop, Jared Elliot Preserve was extremely quiet with very few  
butterflies.  This was due, at least in part, to the fact that the field  was 
recently mowed and there are very few flowers blooming at the  site.  
However, the fact that the site was recently mowed may not have made  a difference 
because only small numbers of butterflies were found on the  blooming 
flowers that remained.  The list for the site is as follows:
 
Cabbage White (10)
Pearl Crescent (2)
Monarch (2)
Least Skipper (1)
Peck's Skipper (5)
Tawny-edged Skipper (2)
Zabulon Skipper (1)
Broad-winged Skipper (12) (A very low number for this species at a coastal  
locality in August)
 
The second stop, Chaffinch Is. Park, proved to be more productive because  
the heavy rains of 2009 helped the hackberry trees to flourish.  The list  
for that site is as follows:
 
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (1)
Spicebush Swallowtail (1)
Black Swallowtail (1)
Orange Sulphur (1)
American Snout (1) (My first of the year)
Question Mark (1)
Hackberry Emperor (1) (My first of the year)
Tawny Emperor (1) (My first of the year.  This is the  second consecutive 
year this species has occurred at this site.  Perhaps it  has become a 
temporary breeding resident rather than an immigrant.)
Monarch (2)
 
The Emperors were patrolling the hackberry trees along the western side of  
the park, from the telephone pole hidden in the grove of trees south 
through the  area with the picnic tables.  They were staying high in the hackberry 
trees  and not coming down near the ground.  
 
If anyone wants to try for them, I suggest they wait until late morning or  
the afternoon since these two species is not active first thing in the 
morning  and to look for butterflies perching in a sunny spot or dogfighting 
high in the  hackberries.  The American Snout and the Question Mark also favor 
the  hackberries, but they tend to stay closer to the ground.
 
On the way home, I stopped at Van Wilgens Nursery on the North  
Branford/Branford border.  While the nursery was for the most part, quiet,  I found the 
following butterflies on the group Buddelia that are  offered for sale:
 
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (1)
American Lady (2)
Monarch (1)
Least Skipper (1) (This is the first time I ever saw this species on  
Buddleia.  Normally, it stays in tall grass where it is  resident.)
Tawny-edged Skipper (2)
Little Glassywing (1) (Very worn)
Sachem (1) (My first of the year. A worn male.)
Broad-winged Skipper (1)
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