We had a great morning on the Butterfly Walk. The Milkweed is beginning to bloom. This attracts butterflies and holds them on a blossom so you can focus your binoculars and look for field marks. Today, we saw some old favorites along with some unusual finds. One of the "Unusual Suspects" was a black morph Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. The Tiger Swallowtail is the familiar yellow butterfly with black stripes on its wings. But it also has a black morph which is black instead of yellow and has cream markings along the edges of the wings. I have trouble distinguishing it from the Spicebush Swallowtail and the Black Swallowtail. This morning I studied it with the guide as a reference. Next time I encounter one, we will see how well I studied.
The other uncommon sighting was when Virginia spotted a Common Checkered Skipper. It was beautiful, but I understand not common. This photo was taken by Carole Mebus last year. Some of the other species were the Silver-spotted and Hoary-edged Skippers. The Hoary-edged is usually less common, but we saw them about as often as the Silver-spotted Skippers. We saw Little Wood Satyrs, although not as many as we saw last Tuesday. There were more Spicebush Swallowtails this week; and more Great-spangled Fritillaries also. We saw a few Northern Cloudywings. (I think I am getting the feel for this species, but will be tested when the Confused Cloudywings and Southern Cloudywings come onto the scene.)
One of the interesting (non-butterfly) finds on the walk was a pair of Box Turtles mating.
This Saturday, the milkweed should be perfect when we do the Butterfly Census (9 a.m. - noon). So, join us and watch some of the most beautiful creatures out there.
