I checked out my usual area of south point trail. I have a good routine since I have been doing this count since its inception in 1999. I did miss two years in that stretch though. I recall 1999 being an excellent year.
Monarchs were in good numbers, and in fact, it was the most popular butterfly. I ended up with over 50 in my area.
Perhaps due to the late season, there were few flowering plants, except for Common Milkweed. One of my best spots is the old Dillon dump area where Common Milkweed has become quite prolific over the last few years. It is quite thick with the plant and seems to increase each year.
I did not find a big variety of butterflies there, but of course Monarchs were happy there. Quite a few Northern Broken-Dash and a few Silver-spotted Skippers were making their rounds.
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| Northern Broken-Dash |
Banded Hairstreaks are always there, but most seemed to be high in the Sumacs. I did not bother to get a photo.
I checked a bit of the Dillon Trail where I found a Mulberry Wing a couple years ago. There were mostly mosquitoes! I did see a Swamp Darner at one point there, but it perched in a bad position and I could not get a photo.
There were more dragonflies than anything on the count, but most were meadowhawks and Blue Dashers.
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| Blue Dasher |
An American Painted-Lady was the only lady I saw.
I went back around 1:30 p.m., but as I expected, activity had subsided probably due to the heat of the day.
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| Summer Azure |
Appalachian Brown and Northern Pearly-eye were in respectable numbers.
I did find a very late Hobomok Skipper. Quite worn, of course.
I watched for birds along the way, but nothing of note was seen. The White-winged Dove was at its favourite perch as I drove by, singing for a mate.
I ended up with 19 species in my area, below average. The overall results have not been compiled yet, but obviously numbers are way below average.
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