Queens in Washington, DC

[Hilton, Rob]

On Monday, August 27, while assisting on a marsh bird survey along the
Anacostia River in northeast Washington, DC, I saw a female Queen
(Danaus gilippus) at near point blank range at around 1:13 pm.  I first
noticed the butterfly when it was about 2 feet from my right knee at a
spot along the edge of the river, at the Langston Golf Course.  The
butterfly came closer, perhaps 8 inches from my knee, before finally
drifting away into binocular range.  It made several stops at various
Polygonum flowers.  For two months earlier this summer I had been a
volunteer docent at the Wings of Fancy Butterfly Show at Brookside
Gardens, Wheaton, Maryland, where there were from one half to three
dozen Queens on each of my visits.  I became quite familiar with the
appearence of the species as a result.  

Its behavior was the same as the several Monarchs we saw along the edge
of the river: flying slowly downriver with frequent stops at Polygonum
and other flowers.  It was in view for 4 or 5 minutes before it
disappeared behind a bunch of Polygonum.  It was a fresh, bright, intact
butterfly.  

This sighting was a complete surprise to me!  I know about the one
sighted ?this month in New Jersey, as I see the LEPS-L list at an
archive site, but I never expected to see one myself.  But even more
surprising was the sighting of a (another?  the same??) female Queen at
the National Arboretum on Saturday, August 25, posted on the
Virginia/Maryland/Delaware 'bugs' list.  The Arboretum is less than a
mile upriver from the spot where I saw my Queen.  I understand that
there have been still other sightings in the northeast this summer, so
something seems to be going on.  

Newly resubscribed to the LEPS-L list and on "nomail". 

Rob Hilton
rhilton at csa.com
Silver Spring, Md. 

 
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