Washington Area Butterfly Club


Field Reports



September 2000



September 1 - 3 — Mark Garland, Senior Naturalist

For the 3rd consecutive year I'm doing a monarch study at Cape Charles, VA (the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula). There were very few migrating monarchs but good butterfly diversity. Here's the list of butterfly species seen in the Cape Charles area, Sept. 1 - 3:

  • E. Tiger Swallowtail
    		•
  • Viceroy
    		•
  • Spicebush Swallowtail
    		•
  • Hackberry Emperor
    		•
  • Black Swallowtail
    		•
  • Tawny Emperor
    		•
  • Palamedes Swallowtail (still very common; I did not see any in Sept. '98 or Sept. '99)
    		•
  • Common Wood Nymph
    		•
  • Cabbage White
    		•
  • Monarch
    		•
  • Orange Sulphur
    		•
  • Silver-spotted Skipper
    		•
  • Cloudless Sulphur
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  • Common Checkered Skipper
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  • Red-banded Hairstreak
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  • Common Sootywing
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  • Great Hairstreak
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  • Swarthy Skipper
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  • Spring (Summer) Azure
    		•
  • Clouded Skipper
    		•
  • American Snout
    		•
  • Horace's Duskywing
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  • Pearl Crescent
    		•
  • Horace's Duskywing
    		•
  • Question Mark
    		•
  • Wild Indigo Duskywing
    		•
  • American Lady
    		•
  • Least Skipper
    		•
  • Red Admiral
    		•
  • Fiery Skipper
    		•
  • Buckeye
    		•
  • Crossline Skipper
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  • Red-spotted Purple
    		•
  • Sachem
    		•
  • Broad-winged Skipper
    		•

    September 3 — Jane Whitaker

    In Canaan Valley near Davis, WV, I saw two American Coppers and two Atlantis Fritillaries.

    September 5 — Denise Gibbs, Park Naturalist

    Black Hill Regional Park, Boyds, MD--Sleepy Oranges are numerous near the public boat launch parking area. The lower parking lot by the lake edge is near a large stand of Wild Senna (Cassia marilandica) where most of the sightings have occurred. The butterflies can be seen nectaring on crown vetch and clovers surrounding the parking lots. Also seen today: hundreds of Sachems, a few Clouded Skippers, Monarchs engaging in directional flight (migrants from further north maybe), one Fiery skipper, one Ocola skipper, and one Cloudless sulphur. Resident butterflies seen today included Red-spotted purple, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail*, Great Spangled Fritillary, Silver-spotted skipper, Clouded sulphur, Orange sulphur, Cabbage White, Eastern Tailed Blue, Pearl Crescent, Zabulon Skipper, Crossline Skipper, Monarch, Viceroy, Least Skipper, Question mark, Checkered Skipper, Wild Indigo duskywing, and Horace's duskywing.

    September 6 - 10 — Mark Garland, Senior Naturalist

    Butterflies seen at Cape Charles, VA:

  • E. Tiger Swallowtail                                              
    		•
  • Spicebush Swallowtail
    		•
  • Black Swallowtail
    		•
  • Palamedes Swallowtail
    		•
  • Cabbage White
    		•
  • Cloudless Sulphur
    		•
  • Clouded Sulphur
    		•
  • Orange Sulphur
    		•
  • Little Yellow
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  • Red-banded Hairstreak
    		•
  • Gray Hairstreak
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  • E. Tailed Blue
    		•
  • American Snout
    		•
  • Variegated Fritillary
    		•
  • Pearl Crescent
    		•
  • American Lady
    		•
  • Red Admiral
    		•
  • Common Buckeye
    		•
  • Red-spotted Purple
    		•
  • Viceroy
    		•
  • Hackberry Emperor
    		•
  • Monarch (still just a very few)
    		•
  • Silver-spotted Skipper
    		•
  • Long-tailed Skipper
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  • Common Sootywing
    		•
  • Horace's Duskywing
    		•
  • Wild Indigo Duskywing
    		•
  • Swarthy Skipper
    		•
  • Clouded Skipper
    		•
  • Least Skipper
  • Fiery Skipper
  • Crossline Skipper
  • Sachem
    		•
  • Dun Skipper
    		•

    September 10 — Mark Garland, Senior Naturalist

    Butterflies seen from the parkland in Talbot County, Maryland, at the north side of the Choptank River Fishing Pier (the old Rt. 50 bridge across the Choptank, just north of Cambridge):

  • E. Tiger Swallowtail
    		•
  • Black Swallowtail
    		•
  • Cabbage White
    		•
  • Cloudless Sulphur
    		•
  • Clouded Sulphur
    		•
  • Orange Sulphur
    		•
  • Gray Hairstreak
    		•
  • White-M Hairstreak (2)
    		•
  • E. Tailed Blue
    		•
  • Spring (Summer) Azure
    		•
  • American Snout (100+)
    It seems to be a banner year for Snouts!               
    		•
  • Variegated Fritillary
    		•
  • Pearl Crescent
    		•
  • American Lady
    		•
  • Common Buckeye
    		•
  • Red-spotted Purple
    		•
  • Viceroy
    		•
  • Tawny Emperor
    		•
  • Common Wood Nymph
    		•
  • Monarch
    		•
  • Silver-spotted Skipper
    		•
  • Wild Indigo Duskywing
    		•
  • Clouded Skipper
    		•
  • Least Skipper
    		•
  • Sachem
    		•
  • Broad-winged Skipper
    		•

    September 11 - 25 — Mark Garland, Senior Naturalist

    Here's a brief update on the monarch project at Cape Charles, Virginia:

    The monarch migration is still essentially nonexistent here at the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. There has been no use noted at the traditional Wise Point Roost site, which we check either in the evening or the morning every night, and various censuses continue to be dominated by zeros with a 1 or 2 every once in a while. We have tagged only 7 monarchs to date. We are hoping the upcoming weather change will finally start things up for us, but to this date the season has been discouraging, to say the least. General butterfly diversity has been good, with 43 species sighted this month. Best by far was Andy Davis' find of a Gulf Fritillary late last week.

    September 27 - October 2 — Mark Garland, Senior Naturalist

    The Monarch migration at Cape Charles, Virginia experienced its first push Wednesday, September 27 through Friday, September 29. Many were observed flying high overhead and seeming to continue southward without a stop around Cape Charles. Brian Sullivan, working at the raptor banding station at Kiptopeke State Park, estimated that 100/minute were flying high for part of the day on Thursday, September 28. We have now tagged about 200 for the year, still far behind our expected numbers. Monarchs almost disappeared over the weekend, but a small number trickled through Monday, October 2, when 38 were counted in the evening around the Wise Point area. Warm weather and south winds are predicted for the next two days, with a cold front on Thursday promising to bring north winds, cooler temperatures, and perhaps a big flight of Monarchs beginning on Friday.

    *For more on the Tiger Swallowtail, Virginia's state insect, click here.


    Page updated October 3, 2000