Red Admirals

[Clay Taylor]

Hi all -

    While birding at Point Pelee National Park in Ontario, Canada over the weekend, there were hundreds of Red Admirals in all parts of the Park.  Most were pretty fresh, although about 1/3 showed some obvious wear, and a few could at best be described as "tattered".  If I had done a systematic count throughout the Park (in the manner of a July 4th Butterfly Count), I have no doubt that the six miles of Point Pelee is harboring thousands of them.  I don't know if these all originated at the park, or if they overflew Lake Erie from the Ohio side, but I would guess that the fresh ones would indicate local origin.  

    Overall, leps were few there, with one Spicebush Swallowtail, a few American Ladies, scattered Cabbage Whites, and two Pearl Crescents rounding out my list for the weekend.  The birding was decent, too.

  Perhaps Alan Wormington can put the weekend's Red Admiral sightings into perspective relative to recent or historical sightings.

Clay Taylor
Moodus, CT
ctaylor at worldnet.att.net 
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