Triad Chapter, Carolina Butterfly Society
Butterfly Walk Report
March 31, 2007
The newly-formed Triad chapter of the Carolina Butterfly Society held its
first butterfly walk on Saturday, March 31, 2007, on the Bicentennial
Greenway in High Point, NC. Despite a less than encouraging weather forecast
for the day, we actually had mild temperatures under a beautiful sunny sky
for most of the morning. The ten participants got to see the target species
for the walk, Falcate Orangetip, which flies for only a brief period early
in the spring.
The group met at 9:30 in Gibson Park, where there is good parking,
restrooms, and drinking water, at the approximate mid point on the greenway.
From the picnic area, we walked south on the paved path for about 34 of a
mile, pausing often to look at wildflowers along the way. Our first
butterfly of the day was one of the spring-flying azures.
Before long, we spotted a Juvenalıs Duskywing, one of many that we would see
later. Our second butterfly of the day was an azure, almost certainly a
Spring Azure. Then we had a fly-by of a male Falcate Orangetip, and saw
several more males along the greenway. After checking the view from the
Marsh Observation Deck, we entered the woods on an unpaved but well-marked
trail, where we saw many more duskywings. We passed through mixed woodlands,
walked along the edge of a small lake, and crossed a few open areas. In the
process, we saw more orangetips, including at least three females, an
Eastern Tailed Blue, a Sleepy Orange, a Cabbage White, and a Colias-type
sulphur that probably was a Clouded Sulphur, before coming out back at the
picnic area. One of our participants spotted an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
near the parking lot.
In all, we saw eight species of butterflies, not too bad for this time of
the year in the upper Piedmont. There are so many different types of
habitats in Gibson Park and the adjacent trails that the possibility is good
for many more species of butterflies later in the spring. Everyone had a
great time, so we decided to hold another butterfly walk at the same
location at the end of April to see what changes have occurred. The next
Triad chapter butterfly walk is scheduled for April 29, Sunday, at 1:30 am,
starting in Gibson Park, Wendover Ave., High Point.
Dennis Burnette
Greensboro, NC
deburnette@triad.rr.com
Butterfly list for March 31, 2007:
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1
Cabbage White 1
Falcate Orangetip 10
³Clouded² Sulphur (Colias sp.) 1
Sleepy Orange 1
Eastern Tailed Blue 1
³Spring² Azure (Celestrina sp.) 5
Juvenalıs Duskywing - 12
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