August 05, 2020

Zabulon Skipper - Female

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 80°F, partly cloudy and breezy at 2:00 PM on August 05, 2020.
• This week's trail report covers the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.
• Quite the storm passed through the day before, with many still without power and not expecting it soon.
• In butterfly news, they were out and hungry today.

The Trails

• An eastern tiger swallowtail was the first to greet me in the Old Hayfiled behind Gifford House.
• Invasive spotted knappweed looks a bit like a thistle and was popular with many butterflies.
• Normally a dusty lavendar, wild bergamot, in one little patch, was white. It was there last year, too.
• A spicebush swallowtail was working on the standard variety, with forewings blurred in constant motion.
• Along the edge of the field berries were ripening.
• In the back, horse nettle was in bloom.
• More and more goldenrods were blooming, attracting some unusual looking wasps...
• ... and some more familiar.
• There were a fair number of northern broken-dashes and a few dun skippers, but it paid to keep looking: a female Zabulon skipper was in the mix.
• Apparently, a wild turkey had been through.
• The second brood of least skipper had started up.
• If you find black swallowtail caterpillars eating your dill or parsley, they can be moved to Queen Anne's Lace.
• I don't know if I've ever seen the path worn so bare.
• The second brood of common ringlet had started up, too.
• Pearl crescents were courting on spotted knappweed. The male, below, has uniform orange on the forewing above; the female is lighter toward the margin.
• On the Sedge Meadow Trail, what may be mock orange was developing fruit. We shall see...
• A shadow flitted across in front of me; I stopped and looked up. What seemed to be a wingtip was hanging over the edge of a leaf.
• Careful repositioning revealed a convincing silhouette.
• Reeeaaalll slow now... a hackberry emperor!
• In a moment it was gone spiraling up in the air with another, maybe two. It settled down way up on some sunny walnut leaves.
• How different they look in different lighting.
• At the high point of the Sedge Meadow Trail, a yellow dot streaked across the path into the gray dogwood.
• It was a Zabulon skipper - male. Compare that to the female seen earlier.
• Although the air was cool, the sun was warm. It was nice to enter the shade over the boardwalk.
• A silver-spotted skipper was basking in a sunny patch.
• Appalachian browns were still patrolling the open areas.
• The bergamot in the back Old Hayfield was active, even in the shade.
• A spicebush swallowtail gave a great view of its underside, the characteristic missing orange spot clearly visible.
• Right along side was a male tiger swallowtail. He doesn't have as much blue on the hindwing margin as does the female.
• Speaking of blue, several eastern tailed-blues were darting about in the tall grass.
• Goldenrod was open for business with five different insects dining on one head.
• Tiny, but spectacular orange mint moths were all around the wild bergamot, of the mint family, of course.
• Seeking privacy in the bergamot was a pair of mating spicebush swallowtails.
• Back on the Sedge Meadow Trail, a Zabulon skipper and eastern comma were arguing about rights to a sunny spot in the woods.
• A second comma joined the fray. It looked like it had stories to tell.
• With patches of sun and shade, the path through the Old Pasture promised more butterflies.
• There was a blur in the air as the path dipped down towards the Wappinger Creek. It seemed to pass behind a tree but not come out on the other side. There... on the trunk.
• It was the resident northern pearly-eye.
• Down in the floodplain, I wondered if that was a new tree across the creek or not.
• An ebony jewelwing perched in silence.
• Next week: The Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.

Sightings