2010 Butterfly Season
2:53 pmSellars Farm Field Trip Report
10:22 pm
Fun At Sellars Farm
Clear skies, low humidity and warm temperatures created a comfortable day for our field trip to Sellars Farm on Sat., May 30. There were 13 participants, 11 adults and 2 children. A special welcome to Bob and Cynthia Vance who were visiting from Venice, Florida, and, hopefully saw a “lifer” or two.
The wide mowed paths at Sellars made for good viewing, and the shady areas dispersed along the trail helped keep us a bit cooler. The open fields and use of a spotting scope enabled us see butterflies farther out than we might have seen otherwise. Especially beautiful were the dragonflies and the Monarch that we saw clearly.
Spring Creek, where Native American women once cultivated corn, squash and beans along the banks was useful to modern people as well, providing us a place to view wildlife, wade and rest. Hackberry Emperors, Mourning Cloaks and Anglewings found a dead tree branch to be a useful basking and puddling place. Yes, they were puddling in a tree!
Richard Connors and Rita Venable led the trip. There were 25 butterfly species seen and six species of dragonflies/damselflies.
Odonata
Common Whitetail
Prince Baskettail
Clubtail sp.
Widow Skimmer
Orange Bluet
Stream Bluet
Butterflies
Pipevine Swallowtail
Giant Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Spicebush Swallowtail
Clouded Sulphur
Orange Sulphur
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Spring Azure
Variegated Fritillary, Female laying eggs on passionvine, found 2 eggs
Great Spangled Fritillary, Looked a shade darker than usual
Silvery Checkerspot
Pearl Crescent
Question Mark
Eastern Comma
Mourning Cloak, Two baskng on a dead tree limb near water
Common Buckeye
Hackberry Emperor, Numerous
Tawny Emperor
Northern Pearly-eye
Carolina Satyr
Little Wood-Satyr, Numerous
Monarch
Northern Broken-Dash
Zabulon Skipper, Males, perching and territorial
Dun Skipper
January NABA meeting
4:08 pmAnnual Fall Meeting Thurs, Oct. 30
12:19 pmField Trip Reports
3:13 pmMontgomery Bell State Park, Dickson, TN Field Trip
The field trip to Montgomery Bell State Park had six enthusiastic adults in attendance, but as trip leader John Froeschauer admitted, the conditions were not ideal for butterflying with the clouds and windiness. There were, however, many useful discussions about caterpillar food plants and butterfly nectar plants.
The following species were seen:
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Eastern Tailed-Blue - several
Summer Azure - 4
Great Spangled Fritillary
American Lady
Common Buckeye
Red-spotted Purple - 2
Northern Pearly-eye - 2
Little Wood-Satyr - several
***
Aspen Grove Park, Franklin, TN Field Trip
Eastern Tailed-Blue on White Clover
Our first field trip venture into Aspen Grove Park in Franklin on May 31 attracted several families, many little blue butterflies and two garter snakes! The park came as a surprise, even to those who live nearby and pass it often. From the road, it appears to consist of a picnic pavilion, restrooms and a modern playground surrounded by trees. However, hidden behind the trees is a flat, paved .8-mile walking trail loop, winding through small meadows, past a wetland and over Spencer Creek. Bridges offer views of the flat rock shelf of the creek bed, darters slipping in and out of the shadows, Ebony Jewelwing damselflies hiding in the leaves and crawdads (crayfish for those of more northern persuasion) scuttling to safety. The abundance on interesting creatures and the short, mostly shady walk make it a perfect place for a family outing.
Between the creek and the wetlands, it is clear this would be a poor choice for development, but it is an excellent green space and it is heartening to see such a charming area set aside in the busy Cool Springs area. The park has a nice selection of native trees - mulberry and pawpaw as well as the usual oaks, maples, tulip poplar and sycamore. Nectaring plants were somewhat limited; it will be interesting to see what blooms here later in the year and what steps are taken to introduce more native herbaceous species.
Butterfly species we found:
Eastern Tailed-Blue - Our youngest butterfliers were especially pleased to find Eastern Tailed-Blues so engrossed in nectaring on clover that they ignored VERY close inspection!
Cabbage White
Monarch
Orange Sulfur
Hackberry Emperor
American Snout
-Nancy Garden
***
Shelby Bottoms Field Trip Report
The Shelby Bottoms Field Trip was held as scheduled on Saturday, May 17. Carter and Kelly Harkins were the able leaders and we had a wonderful time viewing butterflies and other natural things. We saw the following species:
Pipevine Swallowtail [9 caterpillars on pipevine]
Cabbage White
Clouded Sulphur [Female laying eggs on a purple vetch]
Red-banded Hairstreak
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Spring Azure
Monarch
Pearl Crescent
Viceroy
Zabulon Skipper [male, perching]
Here are a few photos from our trip:
Here are the Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars. They like to stay in groups until they get older.
Margaret studies her “Butterflies Through Binoculars - For Toddlers.”
Margaret’s dad & an assassin bug. He was quite cool during the whole experience.
Sarah and Barbara view a small butterfly along the greenway.
We saw a Clouded Sulphur laying eggs on vetch along the greenway. The eggs look like tiny footballs on end. See them?
An American Snout pays us a visit along his/her salt-seeking journey.
Regan baits an azure with a squishy cookie.
We see friends and visitors. Sarah & her new granddaughter, Rowan, who I think is going to like butterflies a lot.
A turtle delights everyone with his antics. (Just kidding, there weren’t any antics, but we enjoyed seeing him.)
We had 9.5 people in attendance. Best wishes Sarah & Trent expecting their first baby very soon and to Margaret who is expecting a little brother or sister this year!
