We ran a day ahead of T.S. Gaston, so the weather for the Wilmington
count on Sat., August 28 was "normal" -- about 60% sun, fairly light
wind, and sticky/humid; no rain. Jeff Pippen, Will Cook, Parker
Backstrom, and Mike Smith (from VA) helped. With 2 parties, we covered a
good amount, and we had a nice day, though the finish was a
disappointment (see Salt Marsh Skipper).
12 Black Swallowtail
1 Giant Swallowtail a great surprise on the mainland at Castle Hayne
4 E. Tiger Swallowtail
4 Spicebush Swallowtail
91 Palamedes Swallowtail
31 Cabbage White
4 Orange Sulphur
225 Cloudless Sulphur
3 Little Yellow
11 Sleepy Orange
1 Great Purple Hairstreak
1 Juniper Hairstreak
29 Gray Hairstreak
42 Red-banded Hairstreak
5 Summer Azure
2 Little Metalmark Rare in the area
25 Gulf Fritillary
5 Variegated Fritillary
30 Pearl Crescent
4 American Lady
1 Red Admiral
36 Common Buckeye
4 Red-spotted Purple
1 Viceroy
1 Southern Pearly-eye
10 Carolina Satyr
100 Silver-spotted Skipper
5 Long-tailed Skipper
7 Horace’s Duskywing
10 Zarucco Duskywing
10 Common Checkered-Skipper
4 Swarthy Skipper
52 Clouded Skipper
23 Least Skipper
4 Southern Skipperling
140 Fiery Skipper
1 Tawny-edged Skipper
16 Whirlabout
14 Southern Broken-Dash
4 Delaware Skipper
13 Byssus Skipper
40 Broad-winged Skipper
11 Dion Skipper
50 Dukes’ Skipper previous NC record = 11; close to national high
2 Dun Skipper
4 Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper maybe new to count
4 Eufala Skipper
6 Twin-spot Skipper
5 Brazilian Skipper excellent total; several sites
2 Salt Marsh Skipper 350 last year; Figure Eight I nearly devoid of
butterflies
39 Ocola Skipper
Total species = 51
This was a great count, maybe a record species total (I haven’t checked
previous counts). Even so, I am thinking of running a count at
Southport/Fort Fisher next year to replace this – as after 7-8 years, I
get bored with the same count circle.
Report by Harry LeGrand.
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