Hi all
We had fun and a good count today at the refuge. Conditions were from not too hot or humid, but sunny to partly cloudy by the time we quit at 3:30 pm.
We observed 37 species and the one that was amazingly abundant was the one I mentioned last week...the Red Admiral... with probably over 150 individuals and that was a conservative estimate! It may be closer to 200 if you take into consideration the ones we could not count in places of similiar habitat of the refuge, but we had no time to visit with just six people counting. Even though nettle is it's host plant, I don't think it was more abundant here than in past years. Some enviromental or adaptive condition must be behind the fecundity of some leps species that we see each year.
Many species uncounted were "puddling' and mineralizing on refuge roads and even the two lane asphalts going through the area. I think recent rains have helped to produce the amount of butterflies we witnessed. Not large quantities in some species but we were grateful for what we saw.
Thanks to the identification skills of Kim and Peter Coffey, Nancy and Bob Baldwin and Jim Nottke and for coming from so far to help me do this count.
Thanks also to the refuge staff and Friends of the Peedee Refuge for hosting us and the work they do to maintain this part of our public natural lands.
Also thanks to the volunteer couple staying on the refuge who opened the restrooms for us(!) and the work they do to help the staff.
Red Admiral 100-200
Zebra Swallowtail 10
Red Spotted Purple 20+
Spicebush Swallowtail 8
Black Swallowtail 5
Pipevine Swallowtail 6
Common Buckeye 10
Southern Pearly Eye 1
Creole Pearly Eye 2
Hackberry Emporer 12+
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 8
Hoary Edge Skipper 2
Silver Spotted Skipper 4
Varigated Fritillary 1
American Lady 3
Viceroy 1
Question Mark 20+
Eastern Comma 8+
Carolina Satyr 20 +
Palamedes Swallowtail 2
Sleepy Orange 40+
Orange Sulphur 40 +
Cloudless Sulphur 20+
Clouded Skipper 2
American Snout 15 +
Least Skipper 2
Little Yellow 2
Eastern Tailed Blue 2
Common Checkered Skipper 5
Pearl Crescent 2
Zabulon Skipper 1
Zarucco Duskywing 1
Southern Cloudy Wing 2
Fiery Skipper 2
Little Wood Satyr 2
Dun Skipper 3
Appalachian Brown 1 (The one we had trouble identifying even though he "posed" for over 5 minutes on a Jewelweed leaf near the edge of a creek because his underside wing markings did not exactly match the photo in Glassburg's BTB) The consensus was this id though.
A lot of butterflies were taking advantage of many buttonbush shrubs at the edge of the lakes and flooded low ground areas.
Three Red Shouldered Hawks and one Eastern King Snake. Nancy said she had two other water snakes which we were not sure of their id.
I had to watch out for numerous rabbits including some unwary youngsters I saw later in the afternoon on my own as i took a quick trip back on the wildlife drive near Gaddys Covered Bridge.
Dragonflies especially Widow Skimmers were bountiful
We saw about 20 bumble bees acting like water striders with outstetched legs as they used the surface tension of a puddle to sip water that they used in nearby mudholes to make their hives.
Jules Fraytet / Carolina Butterfly Society and South Carolina Association of Naturalists(SCAN)
Charlotte, NC
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