Folks:
Had we scheduled the Blowing Rock count any day between last  Sunday and last Thursday or Friday, or maybe even yesterday (Sunday), we could have had a good count. But, Saturday was simply brutal along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Cone Park, Grandfather Mt., etc. -- chilly, foggy, occasional mist, windy, etc. Thus, we had to cancel the count for the year. And, we had eight folks, which could have made for the best count ever had we chosen a different day.

So -- five of us remained to try our hand at birding the Parkway south to Beacon Heights. We couldn't find a lot at Trout Lake, and even the Alder Flycatchers at the old lakebed at Price Park were nowhere to be found. We dropped off the Parkway toward Edgemont and Mortimer. Finally, at around 1:30, we saw a butterfly! By about 3 pm, we saw a bit of sun, and finally around the Boone Fork campground we got into some sunny weather. We managed to find an awful total of 20 species for all the driving of dirt roads, etc. All WERE in the count circle, but as I sent
folks home by 10 am, I am not sending in the totals for a count.
 
We did find a few goodies, and two were new for Caldwell County! All below are Caldwell:

E. Tiger Swallowtail (25)
Spicebush Swallowtail (2)
Cabbage White (2)
Harvester (1) at the campground, but never re-settled after it got flushed, so no perched views
CORAL HAIRSTREAK (1) new to county
E. Tailed-Blue (2)
Summer Azure (40)
Diana Fritillary (1) fresh male at the campground, perched for photos
Great Spangled Fritillary (1)
Pearl Crescent (1)
Question Mark (4)
Eastern Comma (3)
American Lady (2)
Red Admiral (7)
Northern Pearly-eye (1)
Silver-spotted Skipper (18)
Northern Cloudywing (1)
Wild Indigo Duskywing (1) only one duskywing!
Northern Broken-Dash (1) new to county
Dun Skipper (2)

I wish to thank Clyde Kessler, Bruce Grimes, Chris Wilson, Charlie Cameron, Gail Lankford, Rob Van Epps, and Jeff Pippen for taking the time to try to count butterflies. Several folks got some lifers at the campground and elsewhere, so it wasn't a wasted effort. And, we heard some Swainson's Warblers at close range, but they were not very cooperative! We also got some close looks at a few odes -- damselflies beyond my ID capabilities at a pond near the campground, and Gray Petaltail (2), Dragonhunter (4), among five other common species of dragonf;ies.

Well -- we'll try again next year -- I guess.
--
Harry LeGrand
NC Natural Heritage Program
e-mail: harry.legrand@ncmail.net