Click here to see photos from this trip!
Nine hardy folks braved the dire weather forecast for the weekend of
Saturday, Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27, to look for butterflies and
wildflowers on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was a joint field trip of the
Triad Chapters of the Carolina Butterfly Society and the NC Native Plant
Society. The group had members of each, plus two guests.
Saturday was a
washout for butterflies, but we found a nice selection of
fall wildflowers to
brighten the rainy day. The list is below. Sunday was
beautiful, windy, and
mostly sunny to partly cloudy, with a high temperature
of 68°. We worked our
way northeast along the Parkway from10:00 am to 4:30
pm, ending the day with
18 species of butterflies, including good numbers of
both Aphrodite and
Meadow Fritillaries, which were mountain target species
for our Piedmont
group. We recorded 17 species of showy wildflowers, and
were happy to see
that the autumn leaf color had a good start with the
leaves of six species of
trees showing significant color.
We covered the Blue Ridge Parkway
between Doughton Park in North Carolina to
the Blue Ridge Music Center just
across the state line in Virginia. Below is
our list of butterflies separated
by state. The North Carolina section is in
Alleghany Co.; the Blue Ridge
Music Center is in Grayson Co., VA.
NC + VA = Total Individuals
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1 + 2 = 3
Orange Sulphur 8 + 10 = 18
Sleepy
Orange 0 + 1 = 1
Cabbage White 7 + 3 = 10
American Copper 8 + 4 = 12
Gray Hairstreak 1 + 0 = 1
Summer Azure 0 + 1 = 1
Eastern Tailed-Blue 2 + 2
= 4
Great Spangled Fritillary 2 + 0 = 2
Aphrodite Fritillary 3 + 1 = 4
Meadow Fritillary 10 + 1 = 11
Pearl Crescent 32 + 20 = 52
Common Buckeye 0
+ 1 = 1
Red-spotted Purple 4 + 0 = 4
Monarch 9 (+1 cat) + 6 = 15 +1 cat
Northern Cloudywing 1 + 0 = 1
Fiery Skipper 3 + 2 = 5
Sachem 10 + 3 = 13
Species: 15 + 3 = 18
Showy wildflowers over the weekend included the
following:
Centaurea maculosa, Spotted Knapweed
Cichorium intybus, Chicory
Cirsium vulgare, Bull Thistle
Clematis virginiana, Virgins Bower
Coreopsis
pubescens, Coreopsis
Daucus carota, Queen Annıs Lace
Dianthus aemeria,
Deptford Pink
Eupatorium rugosum, White Snakeroot
Helenium autumnale,
Common Sneezeweed
Ipomoea purpurea, Purple Morning Glory
Lobelia
cardinalis, Cardinal Flower
Spiranthes cernua, Nodding Ladiesı Tresses
Solidago spp., Goldenrod species
Symphyotrichum spp., Aster species
Verbesina alternifolia, Wing-stem
Verbesina occidentalis, Crown-beard
Vernonia noveboracensis, Iron Weed
Trees showing significant autumn leaf
color included:
Acer rubrum, Red Maple
Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood
Liriodendron tulipifera, Tulip Poplar
Nyssa sylvatica, Blackgum
Oxydendrum
arboreum, Sourwood
Sassafras albidum, Sassafras
This was our third
autumn trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and one of several
that we have
conducted as joint excursions of the Triad Chapters of the
Carolina Butterfly
Society and the NC Native Plant Society. Weıre planning
to continue this new
tradition next year. Friends and guests are welcome to
join us.
Dennis
Burnette
Greensboro, NC
Guilford County
deburnette@triad.rr.com
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