Yesterday while mowing the meadow trails I saw Hummingbird Moths sipping nectar from the Monarda. Hummingbird Moths are just one of about 100 types of Sphinx moths. They really look like small hummingbirds as they hover in flight sipping nectar from flowers. This photo was taken a few years ago by Denis Manchon.
Right now the meadows have a lot of color. There are several colonies of Monarda in bloom. Goldenrods are blooming. Queen Anne's Lace is in bloom. The small native sunflowers are in all stages of flower development.
One of the big surprises of the morning was about a half dozen Spicebush Swallowtails. Members of Mariton's Nature Club have been emailing each other for the last month about a lack of Swallowtail sightings. We have all been concerned. Mariton has lots of food for larval butterflies, so we knew it wasn't food related. Six Spicebush Swallowtails is not a lot of butterflies, but it is the most that I have seen at one time all summer.
One theory is that the wet cool summer has depressed some butterfly populations. I looked back at my rainfall records and the butterfly counts, and it does seem that lower counts of Spicebush Swallowtails occurred during years with wet summers. (I just took a quick glance at the records and did not actually analyze data. Nor did I compare temperatures.)
I also saw an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. This is another species that has been uncommon this year. There were a couple dozen Silver-spotted Skippers, a dozen Fritillaries, and a half-dozen Monarchs.
