Folks:
This is the trip with the most participants (close to 15), to eastern
Clay County, NC, off US 64, in the Buck Creek area. We gathered at 9:30
am on Saturday (May 13), and spent about 4 hours as a large group at two
gated roads. After about 3 pm, groups split up, with my group continuing
on to another area in the Buck Creek region. The weather was a tad
better than on Friday, but still cool (50s to low 60s), with maybe 50%
sunshine (I'd rate a 5 out of 10 for weather, with 10 being perfect and
0 a no-go).
Pipevine Swallowtail 10
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 8
Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail 30
Spicebush Swallowtail 8
West Virginia White 4
Orange Sulphur 1
Cloudless Sulphur 1
WHITE-M HAIRSTREAK 3 brief/poor looks perched, but I picked us a worn
one to examine in the hand
Red-banded Hairstreak 2
Eastern Tailed-Blue 20
Spring Azure 1 or more very worn (See azure notes below)
Summer Azure 10 most very worn, first brood
Appalachian Azure 1 fresh male, but seen only by Derb Carter
Dusky Azure 1 very worn male
Silvery Blue 1 didn't sit long; mostly seen in flight
Silvery Checkerspot 1 Alas, no Gorgone (as usual!)
Pearl Crescent 250 or more
Mimic Crescent 25 mainly along one road
Tawny Crescent 12 only along one road, a known site
Common Buckeye 3
Carolina Satyr 4
Silver-spotted Skipper 40
Southern Cloudywing 2 (odd to get this and not Northern CW)
Dreamy Duskywing 25
Sleepy Duskywing 3 worn
Juvenal's Duskywing 125 fresh, worn, and everything in-between
Wild Indigo Duskywing 5 at and near crown vetch
Clouded Skipper 3
Peck's Skipper 1 a tad early, and a mild surprise
Sachem 1
Hobomok Skipper 10
Zabulon Skipper 10 amazing to see side-by-side with Hobomoks; no
habitat differences for two similar species
Dusted Skipper 6 very fresh; good number
Pepper and Salt Skipper 10 a good number, but this is a good area for them
We had a good number of highly worn azures that were dingy gray brown
below, such that you could almost see through the wings. Yet, we saw
some pale blue when the flew, suggesting they were NOT Dusky Azures but
were either Spring Azures or first-brood Summer Azures. The puzzlement
-- these two species occur downstate in spring, and none of us ever
recall seeing "brown" azures there. When very worn, azures in the
Piedmont appear to be pale gray if not whitish, or else we are not
seeing brownish ones. Why is this? Are these brownish ones in the mts.
all Dusky Azures? That isn't so, because they aren't females (with the
wide and complete dark rings around the wings above).
We were disappointed that there were practically no fresh azures. Derb
had the only sighting of Appy Azure, which I seldom miss along the main
area we walked. But, we were fortunate to find a late-ish Silvery Blue,
not badly worn, though it refused to perch long enough for more than 2-3
of use to see its spotting below; we did see the shimmering blue color
above in flight.
Our experience with crescents was just as confusing, though we weren't
dealing with worn bugs, just the usual great array -- males and females
of at LEAST three species, some fresh, some worn, etc. We examined a lot
of antennal clubs, top and below! We -- at least Jeff Pippen, Will Cook,
and I -- have learned that Mimics seem to predominate over Pearls where
the Tawny Crescents seem to be numerous. Where Tawnys are rare or
absent, Mimics are absent or scarce compared with Pearls. We have seen
Mimics and Tawnys only along dry roadcuts and roadbanks, where asters
are on the roadbanks. Pearls can be anywhere, and they are abundant now
in meadows, clearings, etc., as well as along dirt roads. Second brood
male Pearls were just coming out and were very fresh; all other Pearls
and Mimics had a little wear or were not super fresh. Tawnys were mostly
quite fresh.
The Tiger Swallowtails that perched well for us were mostly Appys. Most
Easterns were fly-bys, but we could tell the smaller size and more
medium yellow of them. One or two Easterns were briefly with Appys at a
puddle party, but few of us really got to study them side-by-side. At
least, we studied Appys with wings open and closed.
-----------------
Either Tom Krakauer or I will send out a final species list, maybe in a
day or two. Most or all of us aborted yesterday (Sunday), as it rained
Saturday night, was foggy in the morning, with scattered showers in
mid-morning. So, don't be expecting any Sunday lists from the mountains,
but there are other Fr-Sa lists to come -- hopefully.
--
Harry LeGrand
NC Natural Heritage Program
DENR Office of Conservation and Community Affairs
1601 MSC
Raleigh, NC 27699-1601
(919) 715-8697 (work)
FAX: 919-715-3085
e-mail: harry.legrand@ncmail.net
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