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Mt. Mitchell State Park & Savannah Nat’l Wildlife Refuge, SC — August 26-27, 2017

Five members of the north Florida NABA Hairstreak Chapter (Travis & Karen MacClendon, Brian Lloyd, Amy Sang, and myself) made a whirlwind visit this past weekend Aug. 26 & 27) to Mt. Mitchell State Park, NC, and Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, SC, specifically targeting Green Comma and Rare Skipper. The weather on Mt. Mitchell was mostly overcast with cloud banks rolling in on top of us, punctuated with occasional bouts of sunshine. We spent roughly 4 hours there, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The weather at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge was mostly cloudy with a light drizzle at times (tropical system moving by offshore). We only drove the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive at Savannah NWR, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and finishing up 2.5 hours later. Results:

Mt. Mitchell State Park:
Pipevine Swallowtail – abundant (40+)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – 2
Orange Sulphur – 2
Summer Azure – 3
Eastern Tailed-Blue – 2
Pearl Crescent – 4
Painted Lady – approx. 12
Red Admiral – 1
Monarch – 1 (unexpected at this elevation)
GREEN COMMA – 5
Clouded Skipper – 2
Sachem – 3
Unknown Fritillary (male, either Great Spangled or Aphrodite, we could not get close but have photos)

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge:
Cloudless Sulphur – common (at least a dozen)
Sleepy Orange – 2
Red-banded Hairstreak – 1
Gulf Fritillary – common (at least 8)
Zebra Heliconian – 1
Red-spotted Purple – 1
Zarucco Duskywing – 1
Long-tailed Skipper – 1
Tropical Checkered-Skipper – 2
Broad-winged Skipper – 3
RARE SKIPPER – 7
Unknown Skipper (probable Tawny-edged)

It was a good, although exhausting, trip. Special thank you to Dennis Forsythe for information about Savannah NWR and Rare Skippers. Past Carolinaleps trip reports were also invaluable.

Greater Charlotte Chapter — Anne Springs Close Greenway — June 24, 2017

On Saturday, June 24th. the Greater Charlotte Chapter of the Carolina Butterfly Society held a walk at Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill SC. Participants were Leader Carolyn Seaton, Jean Fontaine, Rob Gilson, and Chris Talkington. The weather was cloudy with a few short peaks of sunshine temps between 77 in the morning to 88 degrees in the afternoon. Very muggy. Here is the list for the day.

Butterflies
12 Tiger Swallowtail
1.  Red- banded Hairstreak
1.  Hairstreak Sp.
2.  Summer Azure
13 Pearl Crescent
2   Polygonia Sp.
2   American Lady
1.  Common Buckeye
2.  Hackberry Emperor
1.  Carolina Satyr
1.  Little Wood Saytr
1.  Gemmed Satyr
25. Silver-spotted Skipper
2.  Hoary Edge
1.  Horace’s Duskywing
2.  Least Skipper
5.  Fiery Skipper
2.  Sachem
3.  Dun Skipper
2.  BYSSUS SKIPPER.    Our target species for the day.
2.  Clouded Skipper
1.  Ocola Skipper

–Chris Talkington