Below are descriptions from various observers about where to find this butterfly, which seems to prefer basking in the late afternoon. Pepper and Salt has only one brood per season. According to Glassberg, its flying season is about four weeks.
Now, if anyone can top this: I left early and headed west to the summit of Blue Mountain bordering Fauquier and Warren Co., VA. to look for the elusive Cherry Gall Azures (none found, no leaf galls). Driving up Freezeland Road, I began noticing several Red Admirals at virtually any wet or damp spot (from Tuesday's rain) along the roadside. They became more frequent until I started noticing that they were flying across the road at intervals of one every 100 feet. Arriving at the great concentrations of roadside Blackberries approaching the summit, I parked and was astounded to see virtually HUNDREDS of Red Admirals swarming all over the Blackberries. I have never seen anything like this with Red Admirals. They were clearly taking advantage of the first sunny, warm day in 10 days. No general movement indicated, just a lot of feeding. A very rough count was for 1000 (over 3 hours) up over the summit along Freezeland Road, but a more accurate count would probably have yielded considerably more.
What's even more interesting was the presence of American Painted Ladies in considerable numbers, more than I have ever seen. Their numbers would have been news as well, had they not been overshadowed by their close cousins. A very rough count of these was at least 200 over 3 hours, also on the Blackberries.
To top things off, Zebra Swallowtails are also having a regionalized irruption with record numbers as well. These were flying all over the summit, especially throughout the woodland. Count was roughly 150 in 3 hours. And as a bonus, the Pipevine Swallowtails are similarly experiencing their best year in many. It was very difficult to keep count of the butterflies, since this would have required a devoted effort. Complete summary of butterflies on Blue Mountain along Freezeland Road (no observations in Thompson WMA itself), Warren Co. side: (+ means approx. count, ++ means counting stopped and I estimated a conservative figure, actual numbers much greater):
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 43
Spicebush Swallowtail - 3
Pipevine Swallowtail - 80+
Zebra Swallowtail - 150++
Cabbage White - 5
Orange Sulphur - 8
Clouded Sulphur - 3
Appalachian Azure - 300++ (normal numbers)
American Painted Lady - 200++
Red Admiral - 1000++
Red-spotted Purple - 1
Mourning Cloak - 6
Pearl Crescent - 2
Juvenal's Duskywing - 2
Dreamy Duskywing - 3
Hobomok Skipper - 1
Back home at Herndon, I counted 2 Red Admirals moving in an easterly direction through my garden. Counted 40 American Painted Lady caterpillars in nests on Pussytoes. In the afternoon, travelling to Hemlock Landing Regional Park in Clifton, Fairfax Co., VA., Red Admirals again were the highlight. This time, behavior seemed to be the interesting part. Here, they were primarily a woodland butterfly, occupying virtually every patch of dappled sunlight on the forest floor. In some cases, two or three males occupied the same sunlit patches, engaging in continuous aerial displays. A more accurate count was possible because all I had was my notepad, but keep in mind that this is simply a very tiny cross-section (2-mile loop) of the park. If one extrapolates for the region, we are talking incredible numbers of butterflies, not millions, but billions!
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 1
Zebra Swallowtail - 11
Pipevine Swallowtail - 2
Cabbage White - 1
Orange Sulphur - 2
Pearl Crescent - 1
Red Admiral - 375+
Red-spotted Purple - 1
Dreamy Duskywing - 1