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