From Scott: Hi - had a great day as usual. Thanks to Jeff Pippen and Harry LeGrand
for their help. We ended up with 43 species before a thunderstorm hit
about 3:30pm. Non-lep highlights for me were two 3 1/2 - 4' canebrake
rattlesnakes. Both were on the south side of Lake Phelps within 50 yards
of each other. Sadly no bear or red wolves this year.
From Jeff: I wanted to post some photos from the
day. As always, it was a very fun day in the field with LOTS of showy butterflies! We tallied several thousand butterflies including hundreds
of things like Zebra Swallowtails, American Ladies, and Sleepy Orange. And we likely set a National count day record for Dion Skippers!
Here are some photos from the day (all links open in new window):
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/zebraswallowtail.htm
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/palamedesswallowtail.htm
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/variegatedfritillary.htm
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/viceroy.htm (darn bug wouldn't
un-bury his head!)
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/cloudedskipper.htm
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/fieryskipper.htm
(mated pair)
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/dionskipper.htm
(several
individuals, giving an idea of variation in appearance due to wear and
lighting)
From Harry: Folks:
Scott forgot the only new county record for the Pettigrew count -- a
Pipevine Swallowtail that Jeff and I saw nectaring on verbena in Tyrrell
County. Maybe Scott was working off a pre-existing list of species on
the count?
For whatever reason, Dion Skippers were everywhere -- weedy fields, etc.
And, yes, the 82 tops the previous record set last year from
out-of-state (but I forget how many). Prior to last year, Pettigrew held
the national record for Dion, and it still holds the national record for
a number of species. Nobody comes close to Zebra Swallowtails, etc. And,
the Sleepy Oranges were thick as flies this year -- soybean fields
danced with golden-orange color!
The best bird of note for Jeff and me was a singing Horned Lark; no
Dickcissels this year.
From Scott:
Zebra Swtail 625
Black Swtail 7
Tiger Swtail 30
SpiceBSwtail 12
Palamedes Swtail 95
Cabbage 28
Orange Sulphur 350
Cloudless Sulphur 45
Sleepy Orange 2,900
Red B Hairstreak 4
Gray 3
Eastern T Blue 50
Summer Azure 4
Snout 1
Varigated Frit 525
Pearl Crescent 260
Question Mark 18
Comma 1
American Lady 600
Painted Lady 2
Red Admiral 80
Buckeye 525
Red Spot Purple 145
Viceroy 82
Southern Pearly Eye 1
Carolina Satyr 32
Common Wood Nymph 2
Monarch 1
Silver spot skipper 76
Horaces Dusky Wing 22
Checkered Skipper 10
Common Sootywing 4
Clouded Skipper 6
Least Skipper 45
Fiery Skipper 250
Whirlabout 1
Yehl Skipper 1
Dion Skipper 82 Could
be national record.
Dun Skipper 5
Lace Winged Rdside Skipper 1
Carolina Rdside Skipper 1
Ocola Skipper 1
Scott Hartley
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