The Triad Chapter of the Carolina Butterfly Society held our scheduled butterfly walk in Reynolda Gardens, Winston Salem, NC, on Saturday, July 22, despite the forecast of sunny, very hot, and humid weather. The forecast was right. We began about 9:00 am with a temperature of about 83 degrees, which wasn’t too bad. However, the garden was very humid due to an early morning watering of the flowerbeds and lawn, and there was almost no air movement to cool things.

Despite the heat, we enjoyed walking through the beautiful gardens, and we managed to accumulate a small list of 10 species. There is a long flowerbed that forms a median at the entrance. It was alive with skippers, too many to count. Most were Fiery Skippers with Silver-spotted Skippers a close second, and also a scattering of Sachems and a few Ocola Skippers.

After an hour and a half, the temperature had risen to close to 90, but the heat index made it feel much hotter, so the group decided to end the walk. Here is our list for an hour and a half this morning:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – 3 (all black form females)
Cabbage White – 3
Red-banded Hairstreak – 1
American Lady – 1
Silver-spotted Skipper – 20+
Horace’s Duskywing – 5
Fiery Skipper – 30+
Sachem – 5+
Dun Skipper – 1
Ocola Skipper – 6

Dennis Burnette

Report Reynolda Gardens Butterfly Walk 7-22

The Triad Chapter of the Carolina Butterfly Society held our scheduled butterfly walk in Reynolda Gardens, Winston Salem, NC, on Saturday, July 22, despite the forecast of sunny, very hot, and humid weather. The forecast was right. We began about 9:00 am with a temperature of about 83 degrees, which wasn’t too bad. However, the garden was very humid due to an early morning watering of the flowerbeds and lawn, and there was almost no air movement to cool things.

Despite the heat, we enjoyed walking through the beautiful gardens, and we managed to accumulate a small list of 10 species. There is a long flowerbed that forms a median at the entrance. It was alive with skippers, too many to count. Most were Fiery Skippers with Silver-spotted Skippers a close second, and also a scattering of Sachems and a few Ocola Skippers.

After an hour and a half, the temperature had risen to close to 90, but the heat index made it feel much hotter, so the group decided to end the walk. Here is our list for an hour and a half this morning:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – 3 (all black form females)
Cabbage White – 3
Red-banded Hairstreak – 1
American Lady – 1
Silver-spotted Skipper – 20+
Horace’s Duskywing – 5
Fiery Skipper – 30+
Sachem – 5+
Dun Skipper – 1
Ocola Skipper – 6

Dennis

On Saturday, June 17, thirteen of us explored part of the Poteat Farm in Jamestown, Guilford County, until about noon. The weather was mostly overcast, very humid, with temperatures in the mid 70s. This was a joint trip with the T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society of Guilford County.

The Poteat Farm in Jamestown, which is about 70 acres, is a privately owned nature preserve along the Deep River between High Point and Greensboro. Owner Marie Poteat has reintroduced native grasses and other flowering plants in the old farm fields and wooded areas to attract butterflies, birds and other wildlife. Marie actively manages her property to reduce non-native plants.

Marie also has actively increased the number of milkweed species and numbers of milkweed plants all over the property, so butterfliers who are interested specifically in milkweeds had the rare opportunity to see and compare about a dozen milkweed species on this one site. We also found several host plants for other butterflies.

Although we had a great time seeing the plants and birds, the weather conditions were not conducive to butterflies. We saw only the following five species:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1, Carolina Satyr 1, American Lady 2, Sachem 2, and Dun Skipper 2.

We appreciate Marie opening her property to us!

Dennis Burnette

Butterfly Field Trip Report Forsyth County, NC

On Saturday morning, June 10, members of the Carolina Butterfly Society Triad Chapter held a butterfly walk in Historic Bethabara Park in Winston-Salem, NC. This outing was rescheduled from May due to rain on the original date. The weather this time was warm, sunny and muggy with the high temperature reaching about 80. Fifteen folks participated.

We were met by Harriet McCarthy, the volunteer in charge of the gardens and a CBS member, who showed us the Monarch Waystation that she organized three yeaers ago and put in place with other Master Gardeners. She also give us an informal tour of the vegetable and herb garden that has many of the same varieties of plants that the early Moravian settlers are thought to have planted on this historic site.

After checking the butterflies in the gardens, we walked a short part of the adjacent greenway. Butterflies were scarce there, possibly because flooding in the past weeks has suppressed nectar flowers. We finished the walk along the edge of the woods on the way back to the parking area.

The following is a cumulative list of 18 species for the group. Thanks to Gene Schepker for compiling it.

Spicebush Swallowtail 1
Cabbage White 10
Orange Sulphur 1
Eastern Tailed Blue 3
American Snout 1
Variegated Fritillary 4
Great Spangled Fritillary 2
American Lady 2
Red Admiral 1
Common Buckeye 4
Hackberry Emperor 1
Silver-spotted Skipper 3
Common Checkered Skipper 1
Common Sootywing 1
Fiery Skipper 3
Crossline Skipper 1
Sachem 1
Dun Skipper 1

Dennis