We had a great walk with Ellen, Karen & Joe, Barbara & Tom, Lynn, and Carla. It was mostly sunny and 77 degrees. We saw the following butterflies:
Brown Elfin – 1
Henry’s Elfin -1
Elfin sp. – 5
Juvenal’s Duskywing – 24
Falcate Orangetip – 2
Morning Cloak – 2
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – 2
Spicebush Swallowtail – 1
Eastern Comma -1
Anglewing sp. – 2
John Jarvis
Hillsborough, NC
Left: Brown Elfin; Right: Juvenal’s Duskywing
Photos by Barbara Driscoll
John Jarvis and Lori Carlson hosted an open house of their extensive butterfly garden in Hillsborough, NC to CBS members and others, to show what plants work well at attracting butterflies, or serve as host plants. Visitors were welcome to bring their own plants to swap, or take home any of the giveaways to plant in their own yard. John and Lori gave personalized tours showing visitors the different host and nectar plants and explained the history of their gardening adventure. General education and information about butterflies and gardening was also provided.
The yard had been fairly absent of butterflies but the release of a dozen Monarchs that morning in the garden seemed to encourage other species to show up. A total of 24 different species were sighted during the day. About 24 people came to see the garden and take home some plants. A second open house is scheduled for August 12th when the butterflies will be at or near their peak as a follow-up.
Plants ready to be swapped or given away
We partnered with Big Bloomers Flower Farm for the first annual Butterfly Day to offer general education and information about butterflies, conducted a raise-a-caterpillar workshop, and Creating Your Own Butterfly Garden presentation. Crafts and a DIY butterfly fruit plate activity were also offered. Attendees got to see Black Swallowtail and Silver Spotted Skipper caterpillars. Thirteen Black Swallowtail caterpillars went home to be cared for by workshop participants. The event ended with a butterfly release of a Monarch, six Black Swallowtails, and one Silver Spotted Skipper.
Highlights of the event were posted on the Big Bloomer’s Facebook page along with a live video stream.
The Triangle chapter of CBS held a trip to Penny’s Bend, June 4, 2017. The weather was sunny, with little or no wind, temp in the mid 80’s. in attendance were Carla Oldham, Gene Schepker, Lois Schneider, Bud Webster(organizer), and Richard Stickney(leader).
Pipevine swallowtail-11
Eastern tiger swallowtail-1
Spicebush swallowtail-1
American lady-11
Buckeye-8
Variegated frit-6
Hackberry emperor-1
Summer azure-1
Monarch-1
Banded hairstreak-3
Gray hairstreak-1
Northern pearly eye-2
Sleepy orange-1
Eastern tailed blue-11
Pearl crescent-4
Horace’s duskywing-2
Wild indigo duskywing-4
Fiery skipper-3
Sachem-2
Dunn skipper-4
Little glassywing-5
Least skipper-1
Swarthy skipper-5
Crossline skipper-1
Bud Webster, Raleigh, NC
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
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.
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
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
| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail | 15 |
| Cloudless Sulphur | 1 |
| Eastern Tailed-Blue | 6 |
| Azure sp. | 1 |
| American Snout | 1 |
| Pearl Crescent | 6 |
| Polygonia sp. | 1 |
| American Lady | 1 |
| Red-spotted Purple | 2 |
| Gemmed Satyr | 5 |
| Carolina Satyr | 30 |
| satyr sp. | 15 |
| Silver-spotted Skipper | 1 |
| Juvenal’s Duskywing | 2 |
| Zabulon Skipper | 1 |
Dragonflies included Swamp Darner, Springtime Darner, Ashy Clubtail, Stream Cruiser, Blue Corporal, Common Baskettail, and probably something else I forgot to write down!