CBS — Weymouth Woods — June 3 & 4, 2017

Carolina Butterfly Society Trip Report

Chris Talkington led the Carolina Butterfly Society on walks at several sites in North Carolina on June 3rd and 4th. At all sites, the weather was mostly sunny and hot.

Weymouth Woods, Moore County
6/3/17 9:30-12:00
In attendance were Bud Webster, Rob Gilson, Roger Shaw, Taylor Piephoff, Claire Dayton, Susan Campbell and Dave and Marty Kastner.

Spicebush Swallowtail 3
Edwards’ Hairstreak 1 (lifer for many)
King’s Hairstreak 3 (lifer for some)
Gray Hairstreak 2
Summer Azure 2
Azure species 7
Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
Common Buckeye 3
Red-spotted Purple 1
Creole Pearly-eye 1
Horace’s Duskywing 4
Duskywing species 1
Skipper species 1

Sandhills Gamelands, Richmond County
6/3/17 1:00-3:00
In attendance were Bud Webster, Rob Gilson, Roger Shaw, Taylor Piephoff, Claire Dayton and Dave and Marty Kastner.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
Spicebush Swallowtail 5
Sleepy Orange 1
Gray Hairstreak 5
Azure species 5
Eastern Tailed-Blue 5
Gulf Fritillary 1
Variegated Fritillary 11
Pearl Crescent 14
American Lady 1
Common Buckeye 51
Red-spotted Purple 1
Southern Cloudywing 1
Cloudywing species 1
Horace’s Duskywing 3
Zarucco Duskywing 2
Least Skipper 1
Fiery Skipper 1
Dun Skipper 1

Sandhills Horticultural Gardens at Sandhills Community College, Moore County
6/3/17 3:30-5:00
In attendance were Rob Gilson, Roger Shaw, Claire Dayton and Dave and Marty Kastner.

Spicebush Swallowtail 1
American Lady 7
Common Buckeye 6
Carolina Satyr 1
Satyr species 2
Silver-spotted Skipper 1
Horace’s Duskywing 3
Duskywing species 1
Fiery Skipper 4
Dun Skipper 1
Dion Skipper 6 (lifer for some)

Carvers Creek State Park, Cumberland County
6/4/17 9:30-12:00
In attendance were Rob Gilson, Roger Shaw, Claire Dayton and Dave and Marty Kastner.

Spicebush Swallowtail 1
Cloudless Sulphur 3
Summer Azure 1
Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
Variegated Fritillary 5
Pearl Crescent 5
Common Buckeye 13
Red-spotted Purple 2
Carolina Satyr 1
Horace’s Duskywing 1
Clouded Skipper 1
Skipper species 1 (possible Dion)

Marty Kastner
Blythewood, SC

Triangle Chapter — Picture Creek Barrens, Butner, NC — May 26, 2017

Today (May 26), seven Carolina Butterfly Society members — Lori Carlson, John Jarvis, Roger Shaw, Carla Oldham, Gene Schepker, Lois Schneider, and I — walked the powerline clearing at the Picture Creek Barrens natural area near Butner looking for butterflies and wildflowers. Of course, we didn’t have to sweat out finding the plants, as I knew where they were. I was quite surprised that many dozens of Marshallia legrandii were already in bloom! The weather wasn’t as sunny as predicted, though we did get about 60% sun, and a breezy but mild day. Here are the results:

Pipevine Swallowtail 12 excellent number; interestingly, the males were fresh and the females worn
Zebra Swallowtail 5 surprising numbers; very long tails (second brood just beginning)
Black Swallowtail 5 all males
E. Tiger Swallowtail 7
Spicebush Swallowtail 2 low
Orange Sulphur 3
Cloudless Sulphur 4
Sleepy Orange 2
Juniper Hairstreak 5 good number; mostly nectaring on patches of wild quinine
Gray Hairstreak 2
E. Tailed-Blue 25
Summer Azure 1 low
Variegated Fritillary 2
Great Spangled Fritillary 35
Pearl Crescent 3 probably just beginning the second brood
Question Mark 4 plus a couple of anglewings that got away
American Lady 25 variety of fresh and worn ones
Common Buckeye 15
Red-spotted Purple 3
Appalachian Brown 1 quite a surprise here, in upland hardwood forest edge, though sedges are present
Little Wood-Satyr 18 couldn’t find Carolina, Gemmed, etc.
Monarch 1 not surprisingly, at a stand of common milkweed not quite in bloom
Silver-spotted Skipper 25
Southern Cloudywing 1 low; often on spring visits the two cloudywings are similar in numbers
Northern Cloudywing 16 excellent number; some fresh but some worn
Horace’s Duskywing 3 two fresh males and one female
Swarthy Skipper 12
Crossline Skipper 9 low; on some late spring trips in past years, the most common butterfly
Southern Broken-dash 1 fresh
Little Glassywing 20 good number
Zabulon Skipper 4 worn males
Dun Skipper 4

32 species (at the tally at the end, we had 31, but I had forgotten to write down Common Buckeye, Glad I caught it now!)

Harry LeGrand
Raleigh

Triangle Chapter — Homeschool Butterfly Caterpillar Raising Class — May 23, 2017

John Jarvis and I hosted four homeschool families for a Caterpillar Raising Workshop for Black Swallowtail caterpillars. The day before about 19 Monarch butterflies eclosed from chrysalis and soon became the stars of the rainy, dreary afternoon. The class was comprised of about a dozen children ages 3-11. Parents learned along with their children the basics for caring for a Black Swallowtail caterpillar and chrysalis. Each family went home with at least two caterpillars to raise along with a fennel plant.

Once the objective of the class had been accomplished the Monarch butterflies were brought out and distributed for the children and parents to enjoy, identify the sex, and eventually release outside. Everyone greatly enjoyed wearing two or more butterflies.

Greater Charlotte Chapter — Brunswick County — May 20, 2017

On Saturday May 20 The Greater Charlotte Chapter of the CBS held a butterfly walk in Brunswick County.  We started the morning checking blooming Chinquapin looking for Hairstreaks but with the overcast conditions we decided to head for the Green Swamp Eco. Area. Sunny conditions in the Green Swamp didn’t bring many butterflies but the plant life was abundant. The Flytraps were in bloom and gorgeous. We were also able to find Rosebud Orchid or Spreading Pogonia, Grass Pink, Nodding Ladies’ Tresses, Slender Ladies Tresses, and three species of Pitcher Plant. We then decided to head to a couple areas in the Green Swamp Gamelands and work our way back toward Ocean Isle Beach Rd. The afternoon weather was much better at the Chinquapins and we were treated to 5 Oak Hairstreaks with very close looks “1 foot” on several occasions. Special thanks to Taylor Piephoff for leading the walk and sharing his experience and knowledge of the area. Other participants were Chris and Cheryl Talkington. Here is a complete list for the day.

Yarbrough St. Morning
1 Banded Hairstreak
1 American Lady
1 Variegated Fritillary
1 Cloudywing Sp.

Green Swamp Eco. Area
8 Palamedes Swallowtail
1 Southern Cloudywing
2 American Lady
6 Pearl Crescent

Green Swamp Gamelands
1 Cloudless Sulphur
15 Varigated Fritillary
8 Buckeye
16 Palamedes Swallowtail
2 Fiery Skipper
1 Northern Broken Dash
12 Pearl Crescent

Yarbrough St. Afternoon
2 Am. Lady
5 Oak Hairstreak
1 Gray Hairstreak
1 Zarucco Duskywing
1 Juvenal’s Duskywing
1 Variegated Fritillary

Good Butterflying, Chris

Midlands Chapter — Sumter National Forest Enoree District — May 18, 2017

Carolina Butterfly Society Midlands Chapter Trip Report
Sumter National Forest Enoree District, Newberry County

May 18, 2017

On May 18, the Midlands Chapter tried a weekday trip hoping that we would have some folks come who usually are unavailable on weekends. It worked. We had eleven participants – Dennis Forsythe (leader), Pat and Jerry Bright, John Demko, Rusty Wilson, Caroline Eastman, Jeff Kline, Tom Austin, Matthew Prioleau and Dave and Marty Kastner. The weather was partly cloudy and in the afternoon became sunny. Temps were in the 80’s. There had been no recent rain so the roads were not damp and we did not find the numbers of road puddling butterflies that we had expected, however we had a great time and some people added to their life lists.

Cromer Road and Cromer G Road
Spicebush Swallowtail 1
Cloudless Sulphur 1
Eastern Tailed-Blue 3
Pearl Crescent 1
Question Mark 2
Eastern Comma 1
Anglewing species 1
Common Buckeye 1
Red-spotted Purple 2
Carolina/Intricate Satyr 1
Little Wood Satyr 2
Silver-spotted Skipper 1
Northern Cloudywing 13
Southern Cloudywing 11
Hoary Edge 4
Swarthy Skipper 9
Crossline Skipper 7
Zabulon Skipper 7

Asias Branch Road
Zebra Swallowtail 6
Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
Summer Azure 4
Banded Hairstreak 2
American Lady 1
Common Buckeye 2
Red-spotted Purple 2
Question Mark 2
Anglewing species 4
Little Wood Satyr 2
Satyr species 2
Northern Cloudywing 9
Southern Cloudywing 9
Hoary Edge 4
Crossline Skipper 1
Clouded Skipper 2
Zabulon Skipper 9

Brick House Road
Eastern Tailed-Blue 2
Red-spotted Purple 2
Carolina/Intricate Satyr 1

Flint Hill Road
Question Mark 4
Anglewing species 6

Marty Kastner

Triangle Chapter — Brumley Forest NP — May 17, 2017

Six of us ventured forth through Brumley Forest NP in Chapel Hill, NC starting at 11 AM. Upper 80s with very clear skies, and an occasional breeze. Though some nectar sources had diminished, we still managed to sight 31 species over three hours of exploration. The highlight was sighting a female Monarch and Oak Hairstreak. We had previously seen a Gemmed Satyr, Little Wood Satyr, and Tawny Emperor but had no luck encountering them on this visit. Though we made it to the mud hole there weren’t any swarms of Tiger Swallowtails puddling. A very good day for butterflying!

Brumley Forest NP
American Lady 31
American Snout 5
Azure sp 8
Black Swallowtail 3
Carolina Satyr 4
Clouded Skipper 1
Cloudless Sulphur 1
Common Buckeye 6
Common Checkered Skipper 1
Dusted Skipper 1
Eastern Tailed Blue 44
Gray Hairstreak 2
Great Spangled Fritillary 24
Juniper Hairstreak 1
Least Skipper 1
Little Glassywing 6
Monarch 1 female
Northern Cloudywing 4
Oak Hairstreak 1
Orange Sulphur 54
Pearl Crescent 2
Question Mark 1
Red Admiral 5
Silver Spotted Skipper 19
Silvery Checkerspot 6
Spicebush Swallowtail 2
Swarthy Skipper 1
Tawny Edged Skipper 2
Tiger Swallowtail 6
Variegated Fritillary 4
Zabulon Skipper 17

Anglewing sp. 4
Dark Swallowtails 3
Sulphur sp 11

~ Lori M. Carlson

Triangle Chapter — Homeschool Butterflying Class at Few’s Ford — May 16, 2017

John Jarvis and I conducted our first butterfly ID class for children at Few’s Ford (Eno River State Park, Orange County) followed by an hour long butterflying session. The class was made up of two families and seven kids ranging in ages 3-10.

Though the peak of the butterflies at the site had passed, the children were able to see many Great Spangled Fritillaries, and a very tame Juniper Hairstreak perched on a daisy, as well as the easily sighted Azures and Eastern Tailed Blues. All of the kids quickly caught on to spotting butterflies and moths in the environment. One of the older children, Alexander, called out to us he saw a butterfly and it turned out to be an elusive Anglewing. A new world of exploration had been opened up to them. By the end of the hour’s walk I teased them by asking if they would be up for doing it for six hours as we always need participants for butterfly counts. While there wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm for the duration, many were interested in helping for a couple of hours.

Together we saw the following butterflies:

American Lady 6
American Snout 6
Anglewing sp. 3
Azure sp. 7
Carolina Satyr 6
Great Spangled Fritillary 18
Gemmed Satyr 2
Juniper Hairstreak 5
Eastern Tailed Blue 8
Tiger Swallowtail 6
Spicebush Swallowtail 3
Silvery Checkerspot 5
Sulphur sp. 2
Zabulon Skipper 6
Zebra Swallowtail 1

~ Lori M. Carlson

Triangle Chapter — Eno River at Few’s Ford — May 10, 2017

Yesterday on May 10th, John Jarvis, Harry LeGrand, Lori Carlson, and four newcomers: Roger; Phil, Krista, and their son Damon, ventured forth to look for butterflies in the field and along the powerline cut at Few’s Ford at the Eno River State Park. Temperature was in the low 80s, no breeze, and skies were sunny.  Below are the numbers Harry recorded for the day’s butterflying observations. The group sighted 31 different species total.

Species # Seen Comments
American Lady 22
American Snout 15 quite common
Cabbage White 2
Carolina Satyr 16
Clouded Skipper 3 one female seen ovipositing
Cloudless Sulphur 2
Common Buckeye 2
Common Checkered-Skipper 1
Dun Skipper 1
Dusted Skipper 3 one female seen ovipositing
Eastern Comma 1 nectaring on privet
Eastern Tailed-Blue 4
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 12
Great Spangled Fritillary 12
HARVESTER     1 tame; on the dirt track along the east side of the field
Juniper Hairstreak 26 near state record total; fresh, worn, and in-between
Least Skipper 3
Little Glassywing 5
Little Wood-Satyr 1
Northern Cloudywing 4
Orange Sulphur 1
Pearl Crescent 7  “scarce”!
Pipevine Swallowtail 1
Sachem 2
Silver-spotted Skipper 2 low
Silvery Checkerspot 25 some fresh, but many worn; some copulating
Southern Broken-Dash 1 photographed
Spicebush Swallowtail 2
Summer Azure 15
Variegated Fritillary 1
Zabulon Skipper 11

~Lori M. Carlson
Hillsborough, NC

Greater Charlotte Chapter — Latta Plantation NP — May 6, 2017

Seven Butterfliers walked the Gar Creek ROW from 10 am – 12:15 pm. Weather: Cool and breezy, partly cloudy. 13 species.

Butterfly List:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 4
Orange Sulphur 2
Eastern Tailed-Blue 1
Variegated Fritillary 1
Pearl Crescent 2
Question Mark 1
American Lady 18
Common Buckeye 8
Silver-spotted Skipper 2
Northern Cloudywing 1
Cloudywing sp. 1
Sachem 3
Zabulon Skipper 1
Dusted Skipper 12

– Kevin

Triangle Chapter — NCBG Spring Plant Sale — April 29, 2017

Triangle Chapter members Ellen Brown, John Jarvis, and Lori Carlson braved the first 90°F day of the year and conducted community outreach at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens Spring Plant Sale in Chapel Hill. That morning a little more than a dozen Monarch caterpillars had been discovered in John and Lori’s garden. They, along with a couple dozen Black Swallowtail caterpillars and a newly eclosed male and female Black Swallowtail butterfly, were the stars of the afternoon.

In addition to providing gardening questions and information about raising butterflies, a quick “make and take” project of a DIY fruit plate feeder for butterflies proved to be popular.