Raven Rock State Park, NC. 5th year. Center of count circle at railroad bridge over Cape Fear River in Lillington. 31 July, 2001. 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM. AM mostly clear, 90% sunshine; PM mostly clear, 85% sunshine; 64-84 degrees F; wind SE, 0-5 mph.

8 observers in 1-4 parties. Total party-hours 24.25 (16.25 on foot, 8 by car); total party-miles 130 (11.5 on foot, 118.5 by car). Observers: Brian Bockhahn, David Brown, Charles Cameron, Will Cook, John Dole, Paul Hart, Harry LeGrand, Mary Stevens.

Pipevine Swallowtail 1
Black Swallowtail 10
E. Tiger Swallowtail 14
Spicebush Swallowtail 14
Cabbage White 21
Cloudless Sulphur 6
Sleepy Orange 372
HARVESTER 1
Red-banded Hairstreak 1
Gray Hairstreak 2
E. Tailed-Blue 4
'Summer' Spring Azure 3
American Snout 38
Variegated Fritillary 5
Pearl Crescent 30
Question Mark 5
Eastern Comma 4
American Lady 42
PAINTED LADY 3
Red Admiral *95*
Common Buckeye 25
Red-spotted Purple 8
Viceroy 8
Hackberry Emperor 3
Tawny Emperor 2
Southern Pearly-eye 1
NORTHERN PEARLY-EYE 2
Appalachian Brown 4
Carolina Satyr 42
Common Wood-Nymph 2
Monarch 5
Silver-spotted Skipper 21
Hoary Edge 3
Southern Cloudywing 62
H orace's Duskywing 12
Common Checkered-Skipper 16
Common Sootywing 12
Swarthy Skipper 8
Clouded Skipper 4
Least Skipper 3
Southern Skipperling *105*
Fiery Skipper 11
Whirlabout 13
Little Glassywing 1
Sachem 3
Zabulon Skipper 6
Dun Skipper 5
Eufala Skipper 1
Ocola Skipper 1

Total 49 species, 1,060 individuals.

Field Notes and Compiler's Comments: We really lucked out on the weather for count day. It was the first sunny day in over a week of clouds and rain. But perhaps the nearly 14 inches of rain that this area has experienced in the previous two months caused the absence of some species and the low numbers of others. We had 10 fewer species than last year but had more individuals than on any previous count (602 in 2000).

The higher number of individuals can almost certainly be attributed to the increased number of participants and the resulting increased field effort. Three species were new to the count: Harvester, Painted Lady and Northern Pearly-eye, bringing the count cumulative total to 72 species. The 95 Red Admirals far exceeded the average of 5 seen on the past four counts. 104 of the 105 Southern Skipperlings seen were in a field with common Bermuda grass (a host plant) and flowering Wahlenbergia marginata (a small flower in the Bluebell family that is a favorite nectar source for this species in the park). I saw the Ocola Skipper nectaring on the Zinnias in my yard after the other participants had departed. The 5 Monarchs exceeded by 1 the grand total of that species for the past four counts. But, there were some misses. Last year, this count had the North American high count for Creole Pearly-eyes with 5 tallied. This year, none were seen. Last year, we had three roadside-skipper species. This year, none. Over the past four years, we have seen an average of 20 spreadwing and grass skippers. This year we tallied 17. But the previous four year average is skewed by the *27* spreadwing and grass skipper species we saw last year!

In summary, I think it was a good count, although there was a paucity of butterflies reported in parts of the count circle. Thanks to all our participants, who made a great effort to find the butterflies in a *somewhat off* year. We had five new participants to our count, which is very encouraging.

Paul C. Hart
Lillington, NC
harttwins@aol.com