Folks:

It was a lot tougher butterflying at Holly Shelter Game Land, Pender Co., NC, than on the Carolina Butterfly Society trip there two years ago. Two years ago, there was no drought. In 2008, though the creeks are full, the savannas and other “uplands” are crackling dry. Nectar sources are fewer, few herbaceous plants are doing anything except in the scrapes and borrow pools, etc. Somehow, thanks to excellent weather (mostly sunny, highs near 80, and low humidity — and windy but sheltered by the trees), and a very nice-sized group of 13 people working through the two main hotspot areas, we managed to see all five target species! But, Dusky Roadside-Skipper was a major challenge, and it looked like we had missed it until Derb Carter found one as we were heading out for one last chance. At the first stop, we found the first target — Yucca Giant-Skipper after a few minutes, then a Reversed Roadside-Skipper was found, and most folks got to see one or two, but looks weren’t great. The third target — Dusted Skipper — was also there (but, as it can be seen in the Piedmont, it isn’t a key species).

To the second spot with two targets to find, we quickly had decent numbers of fresh Frosted Elfins, another target. But we must have spent 1.5 hours fanning though the savannas and flatwoods at this second spot, before Derb flagged down our vehicles as we were moving out. Even then, it was a few minutes before the little black bug — the Dusky R-S — would stop flying, settle down, and get to places where we could all see it and get photos. But, we stayed with it for a few minutes.

The afternoon was spent mostly photographing carnivorous plants. Thankfully, I know the game land well enough to know where the key borrow pools are for carnivorous plants, and one had several hundred Sarracenia flava in bloom — a beautiful yellow spectacle; some S. purpurea were in bloom (maroon flowers); along with lots a blue butterwort, and lots of non-blooming Venus flytraps. At the second butterfly spot, we saw some yellow butterworts in bloom; but, alas, the small butterwort (Pinguicula pumila) could not be found in a powerline clearing where I had seen then on earlier trips.

Here is the meager list, but with all the key targets, for April 19:

E. Tiger Swallowtail 8
Palamedes Swallowtail 70
Spicebush Swallowtail 5
Cloudless Sulphur 15
Red-banded Hairstreak 5
Frosted Elfin 14 target
Pearl Crescent 30
American Lady 1
Red Admiral 1
Silver-spotted Skipper 1 seen along the NE Cape Fear River
Northern Cloudywing 2
Southern Cloudywing 2 spring brood cloudywings are hard to ID, so 
totals a bit shaky, but both species seen
Juvenal’s Duskywing 1 very worn
Reversed Roadside-Skipper 3 target
Dusky Roadside-Skipper 1 target
Dusted Skipper 7 target
Yucca Giant-Skipper 2

And, after the trip had ended, Will Cook’s carload stopped by a place in Rocky Point (Pender Co.) and added the following:

Zebra Swallowtail 1
Carolina Satyr 1
Silver-spotted Skipper 1
Clouded Skipper 1

A great time was had by all, though this leader was sweating out the Dusky Roadside-Skipper! And, let’s hope the region gets more rain!

Harry LeGrand
Raleigh

Folks:

I believe a total of 11 people participated on the May 9-10 Carolina Butterfly Society foray to the northern half of Haywood County. As Sunday the 11th was a cloudy, cool, and occasionally wet morning, the foray ended on May 10. The weather for both May 9-10 was good to excellent for butterflying — partly cloudy to mostly sunny, and temps reaching into the 70s.

May 9: We covered the length of Harmon Den Road, from I-40 to Max Patch, starting at noon. As it had rained overnight and early a.m., the dirt road was damp and had hundreds and hundreds of butterflies! It was hard not to run over Pipevine Swallowtails! Even so, we couldn’t really muster up a truly red-letter find.

May 10: Three of us covered Purchase Knob, a new acquisition of the National Park Service as an addition to Great Smoky Mountains NP, and dirt roads west of I-40 south of Waterville. The other group of 6-7 covered the Cataloochee Valley portion of the eastern end of GSMNP. The latter group had well over a thousand butterflies, whereas the first group had much fewer, as Purchase Knob is still a tad “wintry” on May 10. And, again, we failed to find a red-letter find.

We tallied up the results at the Super 8 Motel in Waynesville each evening. Here are the totals for each of the two days — May 9 and May 10. The two lists of May 10 are combined.

Pipevine Swallowtail 1000, 2528 — yes, that’s over 3500 for the two days!
Black Swallowtail -, 1
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 210, 485
Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail 40, 9
Spicebush Swallowtail 20, 6
West Virginia White 10, 14
Cabbage White -, 2
Falcate Orangetip -, 2
Clouded Sulphur -, 1
Orange Sulphur 5, 17
Cloudless Sulphur 3, 3
American Copper -, 11
Red-banded Hairstreak 2, 4
Eastern Tailed-Blue 10, 3
Spring Azure 2, 7 very worn
Summer Azure 2, –
Appalachian Azure 8, 1
AMERICAN SNOUT 1, – scarce in the mountains; probably a migrant
GULF FRITILLARY 1, – very early; migrant
Variegated Fritillary -, 9
Meadow Fritillary 2, 3
Pearl Crescent 85, 110
Mimic Crescent -, 4 new to county
Question Mark 3, 1
Eastern Comma -, 1
Mourning Cloak -, 1
American Lady -, 1
Red Admiral 1, 7
Common Buckeye 1, 18
Monarch 1, 1
Silver-spotted Skipper 80, 26
Dreamy Duskywing 120, 101
Sleepy Duskywing 3, 8
Juvenal’s Duskywing 100, 107
Horace’s Duskywing -, 1
Wild Indigo Duskywing 1, –
Clouded Skipper -, 1
Sachem 1, 8
Zabulon Skipper 3, 3
Pepper and Salt Skipper 1, –
COMMON ROADSIDE-SKIPPER 1, – new to county

Total — 41 species

Everyone had a great time, seeing a lot more butterflies than we ever thought we’d see.

Harry LeGrand
Raleigh

Hi All,

Despite the weather being good and my advertising, there were only two of us for the Carolina Butterfly Societies field trip to the Francis Marion NF, Charleston Co., SC on 24 May 2008. We met at the Seewee Visitors Center at 10 and spent the next 2 1/2 hours looking for butterflies along several forest service roads including: I’On , Willow Hall, and 230. We had the following species and approximate numbers.

E. Tiger Swallowtail-1
Spicebush Swallowtail-4
Palamedes Swallowtail-15
Cloudless Sulfur-1
Little Yellow-2
Mourning cloak-2 fresh
Common Buckeye-5
Pearl Crescent-6
Hackberry Emperor-4
Horace’s Duskywing-6
Swarthy Skipper-1
Crossline Skipper-2
Delaware Skipper-1
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper-1
Twin-spot Skipper-15

Cheers,

Dennis
— 
Dennis M. Forsythe PhD

Three of us (*) had a very good day of butterflying in Iredell County, at Allison Woods and the Iredell County Greenway from about 9:30 until 3:00 today (May 31). In addition to butterflies we encountered many, many toads of all sizes, from 1/4 inch long up to 4 inch size.

1 Pipevine Swallowtail
11 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
2 Spicebush Swallowtail
3 Cabbage White
9 Clouded Sulphur one albino
18 Orange Sulphur
9 Cloudless Sulphur
4 Sleepy Orange
2 Harvester
1 Banded Hairstreak
1 Gray Hairstreak
13 Eastern Tailed Blue
27 Summer Azure
1 American Snout
4 Variegated Fritillary
5 Great Spangled Fritillary
25 Silvery Checkerspot
3 Pearl Crescent
7 Questionmark
2 Eastern Comma
4 Mourning Cloak
12 American Lady
4 Red Admiral
4 Common Buckeye
5 Red Spotted Purple
12 Hackberry Emperor
1 Tawny Emperor
2 Southern Pearly-eye
1 Northern Pearly-eye
2 Carolina Satyr
9 Little Wood Satyr
6 Silver Spotted Skipper
2 Hoary Edge
2 Northern Cloudywing
12 Clouded Skipper
2 Least Skipper
3 Sachem
5 Zabulon Skipper

* – Jim Nottke, Gene Schepker, Tom Tomlinson

Jim Nottke
Pfafftown, NC

Folks,

Nine of us (*) had a great time today (June 1) doing the 3rd annual Surry County Butterfly Count in the Pilot Mountain area. We identified 38 species of adult butterflies, including 5 New County Records! We also encountered snakes, toads, lizards, and some odd birds.

15 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
2 Spicebush Swallowtail
8 Cabbage White
2 Clouded Sulphur one was extremely pale, but not quite albino
7 Orange Sulphur
1 Harvester new county record
10 Eastern Tailed Blue
52 Summer Azure
6 Variegated Fritillary
33 Great Spangled Fritillary
3 Silvery Checkerspot
5 Pearl Crescent
1 Questionmark
2 Mourning Cloak
6 American Lady
1 Red Admiral in the grip of a robber fly
1 Common Buckeye
4 Red Spotted Purple
1 Hackberry Emperor new county record
1 Southern Pearly-eye new county record
2 Creole Pearly-eye new county record
1 Appalachian Brown new county record
2 Gemmed Satyr
11 Carolina Satyr
17 Little Wood Satyr
1 Monarch (larva)
1 Silver Spotted Skipper
3 Hoary Edge
4 Southern Cloudywing
7 Northern Cloudywing
1 Horaces Duskywing
1 Clouded Skipper
2 Least Skipper
3 Fiery Skipper
1 Tawny Edged Skipper
15 Crossline Skipper
2 Little Glassywing
5 Zabulon Skipper
1 Dusted Skipper

* – Beth Brinson, Charlie Cameron, Kathy King, David McCloy, Jim Nottke, Gene Schepker, Lois Schneider, George Wheaton, Pam Wooten

Jim Nottke
Pfafftown, NC

Congaree National Park’s (Richland County, SC) NABA count on Saturday June 28th resulted in 45 butterfly species discovered by 42 observers with 452 individual butterflies seen. Conditions were partly cloudy, low 90s with thunderstorms developing mid-day. Torrential rain and strong winds scattered our observers and the potential of seeing more butterflies after 1:30 p.m. Thanks to all participants (listed below) including Dennis Forsythe who observed on the other side of the Congaree River in Calhoun County. (Glad you didn’t get rained on Dennis)

Thanks to observers: Raymond Bennett, Jonathan Bennett, Hudson Bennett, Emily Bennett, Mohan Family (4), Ed Vincent, Chris Vincent, Jane Schwantes, George Mavroftas, Conrad Nieman, Helen Lathrop, Dennis Forsythe, Robin Carter, Carol Venning, Ashley Venning, Angela Venning, Crystal Venning, Sudie Daves, Susan Creed, Chuck Lee, Stephanie and Robert Eaddy, Bill Bardsley, Paul Berrian, Allison Aitchison, Morgan Aitchison, Michael Aitchison, Mary Aitchison, Patrick Aitchison, Kate Eccles, Mark Proctor, Kimberly Meitzen, John Grego, Roxanne Brogdon, Terra Slaton, Kenneth Brogdon, Theresa Yednock, Whitney Wurzel , Christina Hulslander.

Zebra Swallowtail-56
Black Swallowtail-4
E. Tiger Swallowtail-6, 1 dark female
Spicebush Swallowtail-10
Palamedes-2
Checkered White-4
Cabbage White–4
Orange Sulfur-4
Cloudless Sulfur-5
Sleepy Orange-28
Gray Hairstreak-9
Red-banded Hairstreak-10
E. Tailed-Blue-6
American Snout-22
Gulf Fritillary-2
Variegated Fritillary-4
Phaon Crescent-1
Pearl Crescent-14
Question Mark-1
Vanessa species-1 unidentified as Painted or American Lady
Common Buckeye-77
Red-spotted Purple-13
Hackberry Emperor-5
Southern Pearly-Eye-5
Creole Pearly-Eye-3
Appalachian Brown-1
Gemmed Satyr-3
Carolina Satyr-23
COMMON WOOD NYMPH-1
Silver-spotted Skipper-4
HOARY EDGE- 3
Southern Cloudywing-1
Horace’s Duskywing- 15
Common/White Checkered-Skipper-9
Swarthy Skipper-1
Clouded Skipper-2
Least Skipper-2
Southern Skipperling-1
Fiery Skipper-30
Whirlabout-2
Sachem-1 male worn
Zabulon Skipper-11, including mated pair
Dun Skipper-35
Lace-wing Road-side Skipper-1
Eufala Skipper-1

45 Species
452 individuals
42 observers

FYI- Another Congaree Count will be held on Saturday September 27th beginning at 11 a.m. Mark your calendars to help observe in late summer.

Here are the results for the Augusta-N. Augusta, GA/SC butterfly Count held 19 July 2008 with 10 participants.

Pipevine Swallowtail-7
E. Tiger Swallowtail-15
Spicebush Swallowtail-3
Palamedes Swallowtail-5
Zebra Swallotail-5
Orange Sulfur-8
Cloudless Sulfur-1
Little Yellow-1
Sleepy Orange-17
Red-banded Harstreak-1
Eastern Tailed-Blue-1
American Snout-4
Gulf Fritillary-17
Variegated Fritillary-13
Question Mark-2
American Lady–8
Red Admiral–1
Common Buckeye-12
Pearl crescent-7
Red-spotted Purple-9
Viceroy-5
Hackberry Emperor-74 many feeding on a DOR Armadillo
Tawny Emperor-9
Silver-spotted Skipper-15
Long-tailed Skipper-4
Hoary edge-6
Southern Cloudywing-9
Northern Cloudywing-4
Horace’s Duskywing-6
Wild Indigo Duskywing-2
Common/White Checkered -Skipper-7
Least Skipper-41
Fiery Skipper-22
Whirlabout-4
Little Glassywing-1
Zabulon Skipper-2
Broad-winged Skipper-22
Dun Skipper-1
Ocola Skipper-12

Cheers,

Dennis
— 
Dennis M. Forsythe PhD

Here is the list of butterflies seen on the July 30 count in Transylvania:

Pipevine Swallowtail 463
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 140
Spicebush Swallowtail 2
Cabbage White 6
Orange Sulphur 9
Cloudless Sulphur 2
Harvester 1
Gray Hairstreak 1
Red-banded Hairstreak 1
Eastern Tailed-Blue 32
Spring Azure 46
American Snout 1
Variegated Fritillary 1
Diana Fritillary 5 (all males)
Great Spangled Fritillary 4
Aphrodite Fritillary 1
Meadow Fritillary 5
Silvery Checkerspot 1
Pearl Crescent 32
Question Mark 3
Eastern Comma 3
Common Buckeye 1
Red-spotted Purple 4
Viceroy 1
Appalachian Brown 1
Monarch 1
Silver-spotted Skipper 133
Long-tailed Skipper 1
Horace’s Duskywing 2
Wild Indigo Duskywing 2
Common Checkered-Skipper 1
Clouded Skipper 3
Least Skipper 1
Fiery Skipper 8
Peck’s Skipper 5
Crossline Skipper 1
Whirlabout 1
Sachem 43
Hobomok Skipper 2
Dun Skipper 2
Lace-winged Roadside Skipper 1

Total species – 41. Despite the drought, this was our highest species count. Thirty-seven species in 2005 was our previous high number. Participants included Bob and Nancy Baldwin, Gail Lankford, Lynn Smith, David Stebbing, Simon Thompson, and Ruth Young, compiler.

Butterfliers,

At gathering time in the Museum of Life and Science parking lot in Durham on the morning of the Durham Butterfly Count this past Sunday (8/10/08), about 20 butterfliers questioned both their sanity and the local weather forecasters as we sat in our cars and stood under umbrellas in the pouring rain. The forecast predicted a day of partly cloudy, upper 80s and a 30% chance of isolated showers. Hmmm, we were getting soaked! The radar, however, was encouraging as it showed the system moving through early, giving hope that we might yet salvage a day of butterflying.

So we waited for a couple of hours and our spirits brightened with the skies. By 10:30 or so we set out for various destinations and by 11am were kicking up a few leps out of the wet vegetation.

This auspicious start combined with last year’s major drought had several of us wondering if we’d see many (or any!) butterflies on this year’s count. But by the end of the day, we were a pretty happy bunch and, in ten years of conducting this survey, had tallied an impressive 3,430 individual butterflies, comprising 59 species (one short of the all time record), and TWO FIRST COUNT RECORDS!

Brian Bockhahn & Ricky Davis found a first count record worn GULF FRITILLARY, of which Ricky got a nice photo. But Will Cook’s group stole the show with a first count record and ~5th state record GREAT SOUTHERN WHITE, that flew up, perched briefly with slightly open wings, and then flew off. Excellent details of the sighting were written up in the field.

Other great finds of the day included Harry LeGrand’s second count record of WHITE M HAIRSTREAK (two of them in fact!), a NORTHERN CLOUDYWING and a EUFALA SKIPPER both found by Brian & Ricky, and a LITTLE YELLOW found by Will’s group. Tom Krakauer’s group found the only Clouded Sulphurs of the count and Randy Emmitt’s group succesfully located a few of the Appalachian Brown colony in the count area. Thanks to all the nectar plants in the Duke Gardens, Jeff Pippen’s group tallied the most individual butterflies with 1136 (most of which were skippers)! And Will Cook’s group tallied the highest species number by a single group of 41.

We set new all time Durham Count high numbers for Pipevine Swallowtail (22), Eastern Tailed-Blue (352), Common Wood-Nymph (10), and Wild Indigo Duskywing (14). No new all-time record low numbers were set except for the big miss of Eastern Comma (first time ever missed on this count). Our other big miss of the day was Tawny Emperor (second time ever missed on this count). In the “missed by a day” category, Randy Emmitt found a Great Purple Hairstreak in his count area the day after the count. Had it been present the day of the count, it would have been only the second ever on the Durham Count and we would have tied our all time species record!

Overall, it was a great day and I wish to thank Uli Hartmond and The Museum of Life & Science for providing a meeting location for our compilation and free admission to the facility on count day. I also thank all of the participants who helped out! I believe Dave & Marty Kastner win the prize of having traveled the longest distance to participate (South Carolina), followed closely by Bob & Nancy Baldwin from the NC mountains. Thanks to everyone: Bob & Nancy Baldwin, Brian Bockhahn, Will Cook, Ricky Davis, Wendy Elliott, Randy Emmitt, Ted Gilliland, Cyndy Hummel, Clinton Jenkins, Dave & Marty Kastner, Tom Krakauer, Harry LeGrand, Allison Leidner, Jennifer Maher, Owen McConnell, Meg Millard, Jim Nottke, Jeff Pippen, Freddie-Jeanne Richard, and Carl Rothfels.

Here are the count totals:

Pipevine Swallowtail 22
Black Swallowtail 15
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 62
Spicebush Swallowtail 29
Cabbage White 8
GREAT SOUTHERN WHITE 1
Clouded Sulphur 9
Orange Sulphur 12
Cloudless Sulphur 155
Little Yellow 3
Sleepy Orange 67
Juniper Hairstreak 2
White M Hairstreak 2
Gray Hairstreak 25
Red-banded Hairstreak 16
Eastern Tailed-Blue 352
Summer Azure 12
American Snout 3
GULF FRITILLARY 1
Variegated Fritillary 76
Great Spangled Fritillary 3
Silvery Checkerspot 1
Pearl Crescent 171
Question Mark 10
American Lady 22
Red Admiral 6
Common Buckeye 253
Red-spotted Purple 8
Viceroy 21
Hackberry Emperor 18
Northern Pearly-Eye 17
Appalachian Brown 2
Gemmed Satyr 2
Carolina Satyr 25
Common Wood-Nymph 10
Monarch 86
Silver-spotted Skipper 171
Hoary Edge 10
Southern Cloudywing 3
Northern Cloudywing 1
Horace’s Duskywing 29
Zarucco Duskywing 1
Wild Indigo Duskywing 14
Com. Checkered-Skipper 33
Swarthy Skipper 8
Clouded Skipper 101
Least Skipper 42
Fiery Skipper 525
Tawny-edged Skipper 2
Crossline Skipper 16
Southern Broken-Dash 41
Northern Broken-Dash 1
Little Glassywing 32
Sachem 713
Delaware Skipper 3
Zabulon Skipper 122
Dun Skipper 21
Eufala Skipper 1
Ocola Skipper 10

butterfly sp. 3
caterpillars 33

Total parties 6
Total party hours 31
Total party miles 23
Total garden watchers 0

Good Butterflying!
Jeff
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jeffrey S. Pippen

Folks,

We had a great Forsyth County count yesterday; 16 observers* and great weather (cloudy to mostly sunny, 70 to 85 degrees, light winds). We found 48 species and 1080 adult butterflies. That is 9 more species and 150 more butterflies than our previous best. We missed some “easy” species, like American Snout, American Lady, and Orange Sulphur. BUT we added a new county record; Creole Pearly-eye!! And we found Painted Lady, Gulf Fritillary, and Pecks Skipper, which are rare here. The main sites were Bethabara Park, Reynolda Gardens, and Gene/Lois’ yard combined with our farm. Thought you might like to see the breakdown by site, as well as the totals.

The first column of numbers is Bethabara Park, the second column is Reynalda Gardens, the third is the farm, and the last is the Total

Pipevine Swallowtail 0 0 3 3
Zebra Swallowtail 0 0 1 1
Black Swallowtail 1 0 2 3
E. Tiger Swallowtail 15 1 19 35
Spicebush Swallowtail 3 1 2 6
Cabbage White 4 19 2 25
Cloudless Sulphur 0 1 17 18
Sleepy Orange 0 4 250 254
Gray Hairstreak 0 0 1 1
Red Banded Hairstreak 4 0 2 6
Eastern Tailed Blue 4 1 3 8
Azure 9 0 5 14
Gulf Fritillary 0 1 0 1
Variegated Fritillary 0 0 1 1
Great Spangled Fritillary 0 0 6 6
Silvery Checkerspot 2 0 0 2
Pearl Crescent 7 0 2 9
Eastern Comma 0 0 1 1
Painted Lady 0 1 0 1
Common Buckeye 6 0 7 13
Red Spotted Purple 0 0 4 4
Hackberry Emperor 0 0 2 2
Tawny Emperor 1 0 0 1
Northern Pearly-eye 8 0 9 17
Creole Pearly-eye 1 0 0 1 new county record
Appalachian Brown 4 0 0 4
Gemmed Satyr 0 0 2 2
Carolina Satyr 66 0 45 111
Common Wood Nymph 0 0 4 4
Monarch 6 3 5 14 (and 11 caterpillars)
Silver Spotted Skipper 25 19 24 68
Long Tailed Skipper 0 0 5 5
Hoary Edge 1 0 1 2
Hayhursts Scallopwing 0 0 1 1
Horaces Duskywing 0 2 1 3
Common Checkered Skipper 7 0 1 8
Common Sootywing 1 0 0 1
Clouded Skipper 11 2 0 13
Least Skipper 7 0 0 7
Fiery Skipper 19 50 9 78
Pecks Skipper 0 1 0 1
Crossline Skipper 6 0 0 6
Little Glassywing 8 0 0 8
Sachem 66 173 23 263
Delaware Skipper 1 0 0 1
Zabulon Skipper 15 4 12 31
Dun Skipper 2 3 0 5
Ocola Skipper 0 11 0 11

Thanks to the following folks for their expertise and participation:

*John & Margaret Barlow, Don Bowden, Beth Brinson, Dennis Burnette, Charles Cameron, Cathy King, Donna Machen, David McCloy, Lea Nading, Jim Nottke, Elizabeth Riggs, Gene Schepker, Lois Schneider, Gloria Strader, George Wheaton

Jim Nottke
Pfafftown, NC

The inaugural Southport butterfly count was held on Saturday, Aug. 30 under typical weather and skies for the place and time — very warm, partly cloudy, and VERY humid, with a few sprinkles in the northern part of the circle in the afternoon. Seven people participated, include one person from Ontario! Thanks to Jeff Pippen, Will Cook, Ted Gilliland, Taylor Piephoff, John Cromer, and John Lamey for helping me with a successful count. Here are the results:

Giant Swallowtail 1 Caswell Beach yard
E. Tiger Swallowtail 4
Spicebush Swallowtail 4
Palamedes Swallowtail 152
Cabbage White 1
Cloudless Sulphur 460
Little Yellow 8
Sleepy Orange 87
Gray Hairstreak 12
Red-banded Hairstreak 14
E. Tailed-Blue 2
Gulf Fritillary 210 abundant in Southport
Variegated Fritillary 61
Phaon Crescent 51 Fort Fisher; might be new to NC counts, but very common here
Pearl Crescent 4
lady sp. 1 (American or Painted)
Common Buckeye 25
Viceroy 4
Carolina Satyr 3
Monarch 8
Silver-spotted Skipper 26
Long-tailed Skipper 13
Horace’s Duskywing 21
Zarucco Duskywing 8
Common Checkered-Skipper 6
Swarthy Skipper 9
Clouded Skipper 7
Least Skipper 4
Southern Skipperling 25 almost all in one large abandoned field near 
Southport
Fiery Skipper 97
Whirlabout 17
Southern Broken-Dash 22
Delaware Skipper 4
Byssus Skipper 2
Yehl Skipper 1
Broad-winged Skipper 5
Dun Skipper 9
Eufala Skipper 17
Twin-spot Skipper 20 Boiling Spring Lakes powerline area
Salt Marsh Skipper 46
Ocola Skipper 15

Total – 41 species

Comments: Brushfoots were scarce, as has been the case all summer, even inland. No Red Admirals, practically no ladies, anglewings (not much habitat), satyrs/browns scarce, etc. But, we did well on typical migrants – Little Yellow, Long-tailed Skipper, Ocola Skipper, etc. And, we got a decent variety of wetland skippers, mainly in the Boiling Spring Lakes area – Yehl, Twin-spot, Delaware, Byssus, Broad-winged, etc. Fort Fisher and Carolina Beach were disappointing, but Fort Fisher can be very good in October and late September. Several vacant lots/fields, full of verbena, in the Southport area, were quite good.

Harry LeGrand
Raleigh, NC

The Croatan National Forest butterfly count was held yesterday (Aug. 31), probably the latest date it has been held (typically on the last Sunday of August). We had excellent participation (11 observers), though I only had folks in two parties. Helping me out were Jeff Pippen, Will Cook, Ted Gilliland, and John Lamey (all who helped out at Southport on Aug. 30); plus John Fussell, Jack Fennell, Carol Reigle, Mike Smith and wife (from Virginia), and Salman Abdulali. The weather was like at Southport – sunny to partly cloudy, very warm, and humid, with a few sprinkles in the northern portion in the afternoon. It was a successful count, as we found the key target species, and the weather didn’t really hamper us. Here are the results:

E. Tiger Swallowtail 11
Spicebush Swallowtail 2
Palamedes Swallowtail 173
Orange Sulphur 1
Cloudless Sulphur 178
Little Yellow 5
Sleepy Orange 33
Great Purple Hairstreak 1
Gray Hairstreak 11
Red-banded Hairstreak 83
Summer Azure 1
Little Metalmark 28 good total
Gulf Fritillary 2
Variegated Fritillary 1
Pearl Crescent 28
Common Buckeye 25
Red-spotted Purple 3
Viceroy 2
Southern Pearly-eye 3
Carolina Satyr 33
Georgia Satyr 39
Common Wood-Nymph 28
Monarch 1
Silver-spotted Skipper 6
Zarucco Duskywing 1
Common Checkered-Skipper 2
Swarthy Skipper 8
Clouded Skipper 19
Least Skipper 6
Fiery Skipper 14
Tawny-edged Skipper 43
Crossline Skipper 5
Whirlabout 9
Southern Broken-Dash 12
Northern Broken-Dash 1 rare in circle
Arogos Skipper 1 missed last year; barely hanging on in NC
Delaware Skipper 6
Byssus Skipper 35 excellent total; missed last year!
Dion Skipper 1 usually missed (count too early?)
Berry’s Skipper 9 remarkable total; 2 is previous high here
Dun Skipper 11
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper 11 lower than usual; roadside impacts
Carolina Roadside-Skipper 17 ditto as for above
Twin-spot Skipper 77

Total – 44 species

Comments: Brushfoots and spread-winged skippers were scarce. Failure to get a lady or Red Admiral, or a Horace’s Duskywing, were surprises. We did get most of the target wetland skippers – Arogos, Berry’s (nine!), Byssus, etc., and a Dion was unexpected, though it ought to be regular if the count were held in September.

Harry LeGrand
Raleigh, NC

At Congaree National Park on Saturday Sept 27 Christina Hulslander, Marty and Dave Kastner, Stephanie and Robert Edy, Susan Creed, Creed Branham, Louise Watkins, Elaine Stonecypher, and Dennis Forsythe (on the Calhoun Co. side of the Congaree River) searched for leps from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Results were:(C) represents Calhoun Co. sighting- area includes agricultural fields and roadsides, some wooded edges(R) represents Richland Co. sighting- area is hardwood bottomland forest with cane understory and open field near stream.

Palamedes Swallowtail-1 (C)
Checkered White- (C) 2 usual location by silo just off Hy 601
Cloudless Sulfur-135(C) 7(R)
Little Yellow-40+ (C), 7(R)
Sleepy Orange-125+(C)
Red-banded Hairstreak-1(C)
Gray Hairstreak-2 (C)
Hairstreak sp. unid 1 (R)
Eastern Tailed-Blue-2 (C), 5 (R)
Blue sp. 2 (R)
Gulf Fritillary-160+ (C), 25(R)
Variegated Fritillary-50+ (C)
Question Mark-1 (C)
Comma sp. 1 (R) 
American Lady-(C), 2 (R)
Painted Lady-1 (C)
Common Buckeye-8 (C), 2 (R)
“Seminole” Texas Crescent-10 (C) 
Pearl Crescent-2 (C), 56 (R)
Phaon Cresent 2 (R) 
Red-spotted Purple-2 (C), 4 (R)
Viceroy-1 (C) Hackberry -3 (R)
Southern Pearly-Eye 24 (R) understory of cane growth in forest
Creole Pearly-Eye 3 (R)
Appalachian Brown 58 (R) Only 1 spotted during June count of same area
Gemmed Satyr 4 (R)
Carolina Satyr-7 (C), 12 (R)
Monarch-3 (C), 1 (R)
Silver-spotted Skipper-2 (C), 2(R)
Long-tailed Skipper-5 (C), 5 (R)
Horace’s Duskywing-1 (C)
Common/White Checkered-Skipper-20+ (C)
Clouded Skipper-20 (C), 26 (R)
Southern Skipperling-2 (C)
Least Skipper 3 (R)
Fiery Skipper-15 (C), 3 (R)
Whirlabout-2 (C)
Little Glassywing 2 (R)
Dun Skipper 27 (R) few with golden head coloration
Zabulon Skipper-1 (C) 3 (R)
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper-5, (C), 24 (R) explored forest trails with cane growth throughout
Ocola Skipper 2 (C) 41 species.

(No observations of Snout or Great Purple Hairstreak both seen on 2007 fall count and 2008 June count)

Christina S. Hulslander