[Ctleps-l] A great day

[Peary Stafford]

Folks:
      Up here in our little patch of the Northwest corner  we've been 
reading the posts about Giants, Red-banded Hairstreaks, Fiery 
Skippers, etc. and have developed a severe case of butterfly envy 
with none of them showing up in our neck of the woods.  Until 
yesterday, that is.
	When we walked into Macricostas the butterfly garden was quiet; the 
sun hadn't hit it yet.  But when we got to the top of the hill there 
was a tall ragweed with a small butterfly basking; Red-banded 
Hairstreak!  First time ever for Steep Rock!.
	Fifty feet later a sluggish butterfly in the dewy grass that turned 
out to be a beautiful Painted Lady; we had seen only one other in 
this part of CT in ten years of watching.  The rest of the day would 
produce another dozen between Macricostas and our gardens at home.
	No Buckeye at the place that we normally see them but a gorgeous 
male Fiery Skipper at a clover blossom was an wonderful 
substitute.  Then in the middle of the agricultural field, first a 
worn Variegated Frit -- something we see maybe once a year --  and 
shortly thereafter two Common Sootywings, a species that has been 
absent for a couple of years.
	Flushed with excitement over our day at Macricostas, we returned 
home only to pull into the drive way and be greeted by a Giant 
Swallowtail nectaring at the purple Buddleia.  And  accompanying it 
were a couple of Painted Ladies as well as two Zabulon 
Skippers.  After lunch we walked out the door of the house and there 
was a Common Buckeye working the mint in the small garden.
	We haven't added a yard butterfly to the list in a couple of years 
and today there were four!   Quite an extraordinary day!

	Here's the list:
Black Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Spicebush Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Clouded Sulphur
Orange Sulphur
American Copper
RED-BANDED HAIRSTREAK
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Great Spangled Fritillary
Variegated Fritillary
Pearl crescent
Painted Lady
Viceroy
Appalachian Brown
Common Wood-nymph
Monarch
Silver-spotted Skipper
Wild Indigo Duskywing
Common Sootywing
Least Skipper
Fiery Skipper
Zabulon Skipper

Peary and BK