South Jersey Butterfly B/Log

Upcoming Field Trip: McNamara WMA on May 23, led by Jack Miller

Posted on May 12, 2015 by connorj

A southern cloudywing photo’d by Jack Miller at McNamara WMA on May 20, 2014

Let’s meet at my house in Petersburg at 9 a.m. There are no bathrooms at McNamara and parking is problematic, but it’s only five minutes from my house. We can carpool from my place – and ferry anyone back to their own car easily.

My address is 16 Nordic Drive, Petersburg, NJ (may come up as “Woodbine” on Internet maps). From Rt. 610 Dennisville/Petersburg Road, look for Killdeer Road which tees into 610. After turning onto Killdeer, proceed about 50 yards and take the first left which is N. Meadowridge. Proceed another 50+ yards and take the first right onto Nordic. My house is gray. Please feel free to call my home number: 609 628 3440. Once we are under way, I will have my cell: 609-408-1403.

I have seen over 30 species of butterflies at Mac during the week that the trip is scheduled for, including both cloudywing species in near proximity. It also has a rich diversity of plants, herps, and breeding birds. Most everything can be seen from the dirt roads we will follow.

Ticks can be a problem. Staying on the roads, rubber boots, and careful checking are the best ways to prevent them.

The dirt roads can be muddy after rain.

I am looking forward to having folks join me in exploring a delightful area.

It would be helpful for my planning if those thinking about joining the excursion would email me ahead of time: spadefoot53ATgmailDOTcom. Thank you!

Jack Miller

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More April Pix & an ID Challenge

Posted on May 6, 2015 by connorj

Eastern pine elfin at Lizard Tail on April 28, photo’d by Mike Hannisian.

Several observer/photographers on our team had some good luck in the last couple of days of April. And we also have a photo illustrating how Henry’s and frosted elfins can require careful looks.

Juvenal’s duskywing photo’d by Mike Hannisian at Lizard Tail on April 28.

Wild indigo duskywings at Palmyra Cove Park, photo’d by Gibson Reynolds on April 28.

Falcate orange-tip in flight, photo’d by Mike Hannisian at Lizard Tail on April 28.

Falcate orange-tip at Lizard Tail on April 29, photo'd by Jack Miller.

Falcate orange-tip at rest at Lizard Tail on April 29, photo’d by Jack Miller.

A Henry's elfin photo'd by Jack Miller at Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve on April 29.

A Henry’s elfin photo’d by Jack Miller at Lizard Tail on April 29.

And what about this one?

Is a Henry's or a frosted? Comments and analysis is welcome! Photo by Mike Hannisian at Lizard Tail on April 28.

Henry’s or frosted? Comments and analysis are welcome! Photo by Mike Hannisian at Lizard Tail on April 28.

If you are willing to share your photos of South Jersey butterflies, send them to nacotejackATgmailDOTcom. (Please log the data in first.)

Thank you!
jc

Posted in ID Challenges & Tips, Lycaenids, Skippers | 2 Comments

April pix…so far

Posted on April 27, 2015 by connorj

A mated pair of falcate orange tips, also our first report of the species, photo'd by Chip Krilowicz at Winslow WMA on 4-16-15.

A mated pair of falcate orange tips, our first report of the species, photo’d by Chip Krilowicz, Winslow WMA, 4-16-15.

April has a few days to run, but here are some interesting photos from the month through our last April weekend.

Our first brown elfin for the year, found and photo’d by Chip Krilowicz at Warren Grove on 4-15-15.

Hoary elfin, one of three photo’d by Jim Springer on 4-18-15 near Lakehurst

An intriguing and unusual gathering of azures photo’d by Jack Miller on 4-22-15 at McNamara WMA.

Our first reported wild indigo duskywing, photo'd by Jack Miller at McNamara WMA on 4-24-15.

Our first wild indigo duskywing, photo’d by Jack Miller along Estell Manor Road in Cumberland County on 4-24-15.

Falcate orange-tip photo’d by Dave Amadio on 4-19-15 at Riverwinds Scenic Trail.

A male eastern tailed-blue photo’d by Pat Sutton on 4-24-15 on the Songbird Trail at Cape May NWR.

And let's throw in this lovely photo from last month -- a Henry's elfin photo'd by Harvey Tomlinson on March 31.

And let’s throw in this lovely photo from last month — a Henry’s elfin at Cox Hall Creek by Harvey Tomlinson on March 31.

Thanks to the photographers here for passing along these shots. Keep exploring, posting your data, and (if you are a photographer) capturing your finds in pixels.

I am always looking for photos of the butterfly records you have posted — if you are willing to share, send them to nacotejackATgmailDOTcom.

Thank you,
jc

Posted in First Emergences, Lycaenids, Skippers | Comments Off

Glassboro WMA Field Trip, Saturday, April 25

Posted on April 16, 2015 by connorj

Henry’s elfin photo’d by Dave Amadio at Glassboro WMA on
April 10, 2014.

Plan on meeting at around 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning, April 25, at the South Delsea Drive Park (also known as the Senior Citizen Center Park) located at 152 S.Delsea Drive & William Scaffidi Drive.

Coming from the South: on Delsea Drive Route 47, pass through the town of Clayton. Travel past the Clayton Borough complex on your left (across from Carpenter Street). See NJ Delorme page 62 quadrant C-9. We will be entering Carpenter Street later in the morning for most of our exploring. But first we will meet at the above-mentioned park located approximately 0.8 miles north of Carpenter St. Coming from the south, it will be on your right.

Coming from the North: from the intersection of Rt 322 & Rt 47 travel south for about a mile or so. You will pass the Motel 6 (formerly Royal Inn) on your right and then a Gulf gas station on your left. Just past the Gulf station you will see the entrance to the South Delsea Drive Park.

From either direction, drive into the park and drive to the end at the park office (which will be closed on Saturday). There is a door marked “rest rooms’, but this will likely be closed. There are at least a couple of portable toilets on the park property.

We will enter Glassboro WMA from here for the shorter of two hikes. All WMA roads are dirt, and very flat terrain, usually pretty dry. Bring the usual: water, snacks, lunch, and tick repellent if desired. There is a Heritage Dairy (sandwiches, coffee, etc.) in Clayton as well as a Dunkin Donuts. In Glassboro, there are several fast-food restaurants.

Hopefully, the weather will be suitable for many butterflies. We will be looking for Azures, Henry’s, Brown, & E.Pine elfins, as well as cloaks & anglewings. Hopefully by the 25th we will be seeing Falcate Orangetips and maybe a surprise White-m Hairstreak.

For any further info contact me at dlamadio@comcast.net

Dave Amadio

Posted in Field Trips | 2 Comments

Field Trips in 2015

Posted on March 29, 2015 by connorj

Blueberry azure ("marginata" form) photo'd by Jack Miller on April 1, McNamara WMA.

Blueberry azure (“marginata” form) photo’d by Jack Miller on April 1, 2014 McNamara WMA.

As you huddle against the cold and wind that have now persisted deep into March, and you fantasize about the appearance of the first azures, maybe you can perk up your spirits by marking your calendar for the field trips we have planned for the coming year:

 Glassboro area (Gloucester County), led by Dave Amadio, April 25.

 Warren Grove (Burlington/Ocean County) May 16 [CANCELLED]

 McNamara WMA (Cape May County), led by Jack Miller, May 23.

 Franklin Parker Preserve (Burlington County), led by Stephen Mason, June 13

 Selected areas in Salem County, led by Dave Amadio, August 1.

Details of times and meeting places will be posted here on the blog as we get closer to those dates. And we may possibly be adding another trip or two to this list — depending on turn-out for these and our volunteer leaders’ schedules.

If you are willing to lead a trip to any area in South Jersey, please email me (nacotejackATgmailDOTcom) with a date, a brief site description, and list of a few of the species we might hope to see. I’d would be happy to add other trips to the set above.

Also, if you are leading a trip for another group about butterflies and you are willing to let members of our group tag along, just let me know that and I will add that to our list as well.

Keep exploring, everyone.

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Some August Finds

Posted on August 26, 2014 by connorj

Ocola skipper photo’d by Shawn Wainwright in his garden in Toms River (OCN) on 8-24-14

We have had a number of good finds in the last week or two.

Shawn Wainwright’s Ocola skipper is the first of the year for our log, species #90, and he spotted it in Ocean County, where it is usually especially challenging to find. In fact, we have only one previous record of the species for OCN on our log (2008-2014) and that also came from Shawn in his garden, 9-21-12.

Dave Amadio photo’d a giant swallowtail at Wheelabrator Refuge, a first for GLO this year and first outside CMY — but the third time Dave has managed to record that species in GLO in the last four years:

Giant swallowtail in Wheelabrator Refuge (GLO), 8/24/14 photo’d by Dave Amadio

Finally, how about a round of applause for two of our observers who managed to photo cloudless sulphurs this month? 2014 seems a down year for our most eye-catching “wrong-way” migrant, at least so far. And even in an up year it is always a challenge to photograph. We have had very few reports: one in May and just a handful so far this month. But both Chip Krilowicz and Harvey Tomlinson have managed to capture resting individuals with their cameras:

Clouded sulphur photo'd by Chip Krilowicz at Heislerville (CUM) on 8-16-14

Cloudless sulphur photo’d by Chip Krilowicz at Heislerville (CUM) on 8-16-14

Cloudless sulphur, photo’d by Harvey Tomlinson at Forsythe NWR (ATL).

Posted in Pierids, Skippers, Swallowtails | Comments Off

A Cat Emerges…

Posted on August 18, 2014 by connorj

Look close! Can you spot the shelter?

Chris Herz reports on a neat addition to her yard list — wild indigo duskywing caterpillars.

“I just planted the wild indigo last fall (three small plants) after purchasing them at Clemenson Farms Native Plant Nursery in Estell Manor. The eggs were tiny and you had to look with a lens to see when they opened. Then I noticed the leaf shelters and found three caterpillars.”

A young wild indigo duskywing caterpillar on August 10 in Chris Herz's garden in Audubon

A young wild indigo duskywing caterpillar emerges from hiding on August 10 in
Chris Herz’s garden in Audubon (CAM)

How many other kinds of naturalists can have such a direct positive effect on the organisms they pursue?

Keep at it, all your butterfly gardeners out there!

Posted in Eggs, Cats, Chrysalids, Skippers | Comments Off

European Peacock in Gloucester County!

Posted on August 5, 2014 by connorj

An European peacock butterfly has landed in New Jersey -- found and photo'd by Dave Amadio in his garden in West Deptford, GLO, on August 3, 2014. See Dave's account below.

A European peacock butterfly has landed in southern NJ — found by Dave Amadio in his garden in West Deptford, GLO, on August 3, 2014. His account is below.

[August 5 Update: See bottom of this post for more from Dave as of the evening of August 5 — and new photos]

I was checking out my garden [on Sunday, August 3] amidst overcast skies and threatening skies, when a medium-sized Nymphalid landed on the tallest of my Mexican sunflowers. This Tithonia must be 9 feet tall or so. At first I thought aberrant buckeye. Then my thought process went to tortoiseshell. After scrambling to get my bins and camera, I realized that this was not a North American species at all. I knew I had seen it in book somewhere but could not remember what it was. I finally figured it out: European peacock, Inachis io. I had to climb a ladder to try for images since it almost always chose the tallest flowers. Not too steady on a ladder in damp soil with a macro lens and sore knees!

My thinking is that it likely came in on a container ship from Europe, Asia, or Japan. As the crow flies, I am only about five miles from the Port of Philadelphia — where huge numbers of containers come and go on ships. The butterfly is in too good condition to have flown here.

The host species is stinging nettle, so I would think that butterfly houses would shy away from this one, and I have visited at least six commercial butterfly houses and have never encountered this species. They do seem to be a popular attraction in European butterfly houses, however.

In the end I can only speculate about its origin and means of getting here.

It was here still when I arrived home from work tonight [August 4]. It is roosting on the wooden overhead structure of my deck. It is well protected by vines, twigs, and leaves.

The moral of the story: you never know what you will find next!

Dave Amadio

Dave’s Update as of August 5:

I went in to work late today in order to observe and snap some more images of the peacock. It moved from its night time roost around 8:45 a.m. Zabs, silver-spots, tigers, and a broad-wing all were actively flying before the peacock took flight. Once it became active, it nectared on Tithonia, Zinnia, Lantana, Joe-Pye weed, and silver lace vine. It briefly checked out a marigold and some tropical milkweed but showed no interest in nectaring on them. I observed it from 7:30 a.m roosting till 10:20 a.m.

When I came home from work it could not be found. Chris Herz stopped by after work but unfortunately was unable to see it. Was hoping that someone else would get to see such a beauty.

Posted in Nymphalids | 2 Comments

Mid-Summer Photo Gallery

Posted on August 1, 2014 by connorj

A zebra swallowtail — apparently the first photographic record ever for southern New Jersey — found and photo’d by Jim Dowdell in his Villas garden (CMY) on July 28, 2014.

Thanks to all our South Jersey Butterfly Project loggers carrying cameras and cell phones into the field with them, here’s a selection of some of the best photographs of butterflies in South Jersey so far this summer — chosen for the importance of the record, the beauty of the shot, or both.

Pipevine swallowtail, photo’d by Jesse Amesbury in his garden in Cape May Courthouse, July 25.

Pipevine swallowtail, photo’d by Amy Gaberlein, in her garden in Goshen, CMY, July 15.

Spicebush swallowtail, photo’d by Ruth Cranmer in Moorestown (BUR), July 16.

Harvester, photo’d by Dave Amadio, Chestnut Park, GLO, July 27.

Harvester cats and aphids, photo'd by Dave Amadio, Chestnut Neck, GLO, July 27, 2014.

Harvester cats and aphids, photo’d by Dave Amadio, Chestnut Park, GLO, July 27.

Bronze copper photo’d by Steve Glynn in CUM, July 12.

Bronze copper nectaring on milkweed with rare skippers, photo'd by Harvey Tomlinson on the Cohansey River, CUM, July 27, 2014.

Bronze copper nectaring on milkweed with rare skippers, photo’d by Harvey Tomlinson in CUM, July 27.

Edward's hairstreak, photo'd by Jack Connor, on the Galloway NABA Count, July 5.

Edward’s hairstreak, photo’d by Jack Connor, on the Galloway NABA Count (ATL), July 5.

Striped hairstreak, photo’d by Pat Sutton on the Belleplain NABA Count, June 25.

Oak hairstreak, our only record this year & photo’d at night by Jim Dowdell in his Villas yard (CMY), June 20 — one of two unusual butterflies photo’d at night this summer (see Anne-Marie Woods’ dion skipper later in this gallery).

A juniper hairstreak in Gloucester Gardens (only our second county for GLO), captured by phone by Chris Herz, July 21.

Red-banded hairstreak, photo’d by Will Kerling in Dennisville, CMY, July 18.

Gray hairstreak, one of four hairstreak species photo’d by Will Kerling nectaring on dogbane in Dennisville field on July 18.

White-m hairstreak, another of the hairstreak species nectaring on dogbane in single small field in Dennisville (CMY), photo’d by Will Kerling, July 18.

Summer azure, photo’d by Shawn Wainwright in his garden in Toms River (OCN), July 23.

Meadow fritillary photo’d by Steve Glynn in Pennsville (SAL), July 14.

Monarch nectaring on common milkweed, photo’d by Pat Sutton on the Cumberland NABA Count,
June 24.

Fiery skipper in Jesse Connor’s garden, Port Republic (ATL), July 11.

Northern broken dash, photo’d by Shawn Wainwright in his garden in Toms River (OCN), July 21.

Rare skipper photo’d by Dave Amadio in the Salem River area (one of our very few records of the species in SAL), July 25.

An apparent dark form of mulberry wing, photo’d by Brian Johnson at Head of River, July 6.

A dion skipper found and photo’d at a moth light by Anne Marie Woods in Warren Grove, July 24.

Brazilian skipper, photo’d by Ben Werner on the Cape May NABA Count, July 15.

Thank you to each of these photographers for sending in their pix. Anyone willing to share their shots on our blog is invited to send them in jpeg form to nacotejackATgmailDOTcom.

Keep at it, everyone!

Posted in Lycaenids, Milkweed Butterflies, Nymphalids, Skippers, Swallowtails | 1 Comment

Appalachian Brown, Up Close & Personal

Posted on July 15, 2014 by connorj

Thanks to Will Kerling’s patience and macro lens — and to a very cooperative butterfly — we can take a close look at this Appalachian brown, photo’d on July 13 in Cape May County.

We are always looking for photos of butterflies in South Jersey to feature in our blog and on the Welcome Page of our log. Send your jpegs to nacotejackATgmailDOTcom.

Thank you!

Posted in Nymphalids | Comments Off