The first ever Hanging Rock/Stokes county butterfly count was held yesterday August 10. 3 intrepid observers weathered cloudy skies, cool temps in the 70s, moderate winds, sprayed power lines and even staff cutting down a field full of milkweed moments after we walked through it.

But still we amassed an impressive 39 species, 18 of those skippers, with 8 new park records and one new to Stokes county!!!

Some of the same misses at Surry/pilot for swallowtails and Pierids: Pipevine, Zebra, Black swallowtail, cabbage white, clouded, orange and cloudless sulphur, snout, variegated fritillary, question mark, american lady, viceroy and monarch.

With more coverage and some SUN, this count circle has some great potential, hope some of you can join us next year!

28 E tiger swallowtail
2 Spicebush swallowtail
2 sleepy orange
1 harvester
1 WHITE-M HAIRSTREAK (NEW FOR PARK and COUNTY)
1 Gray Hairstreak
2 Red-banded Hairstreak
51 E tailed blue
19 summer azure
4 great spangled fritillary
53 pearl crescent
6 eastern comma
2 red admiral
6 common buckeye
9 red-spotted purple
1 tawny emperor
5 northern pearly-eye
1 Appalachian brown
3 gemmed satyr
68 carolina satyr
2 common wood-nymph
39 silver-spotted skipper
1 hoary edge
1 southern cloudywing
2 northern cloudywing
1 horaces duskywing
18 swarthy skipper (NEW FOR PARK)
1 clouded skipper
2 least skipper
1 fiery skipper (NEW FOR PARK)
22 pecks skipper (NEW FOR PARK)
5 tawny-edged skipper (NEW FOR PARK)
6 crossline skipper (NEW FOR PARK)
5 southern broken dash (NEW FOR PARK)
11 little glassywing
22 sachem
16 Delaware skipper (NEW FOR PARK)
31 zabulon skipper
1 dun skipper

—
Brian Bockhahn
birdranger248@gmail.com