In July I made a quick trip to Florida to see my step-daughters in Gainesville with the usual stops at Savannah NWR and Harris Neck NWR. I enjoyed seeing dragonflies, bugs, toads, and wildflowers in addition to birds and butterflies. I especially liked the beautiful Gulf Fritillaries.
Gulf Fritillary at Harris Neck NWR
In Gainesville, the animal highlight was Debbie’s new horse, Charlie, who is just as sweet as she said.
Liz watches Casey and Debbie take Charlie for a walk
After a few days with the girls and their families, it was time to head back home. At Savannah NWR, I was able to snap a shot of this Purple Gallinule as it was running away from me. This is one of the birds that I remember from the early 1980’s in South Florida and it’s still one of my favorites.
Purple Gallinule at Savannah NWR
Back home, it was time to leave the deck light on at night again. I was quickly rewarded with The Hebrew (moth). I love the simple, elegant black and white pattern.
The Hebrew
A week later, I saw my first Monarch of the year – in my own yard. I don’t have milkweed as a host plant (too much shade), so I felt bad that I didn’t have a place for her to lay eggs. I don’t have many flowers for nectaring either, so I was surprised and very happy to see this butterfly, especially during a year in which they have been rather scarce.
Monarch (female) on Summersweet, Clethra alnifolia
All things lepidoptera heated up in August. I photographed this Common Buckeye (which really is common) in a friend’s yard.
Common Buckeye in the Schepker/Schneider yard
My favorite photo of the summer is probably this Little Glassywing. Gene tries to get me to photograph skippers from the side to get all the field marks, but I love the face shots.
Little Glassywing
August 15 was a very exciting day for moths. First, I discovered this gorgeous Imperial Moth outside my front door. You can see how big he was – almost as “tall” as a brick and he appeared to be in perfect condition.
Imperial Moth (male)
Later that same day, my friend Cynthia called to say that she was watching a Luna in the weeds at one of our local birding spots. Of course, I ran right over to get my “lifer” Luna Moth. He was missing an entire hindwing, but he was still beautiful to me.
Luna Moth
The next day, August 16, I participated in the Iredell County NABA count in Statesville, NC, led by Gene Schepker. We were at Allison Woods when Gene spotted a Harvester. Before anyone else could see the butterfly, a truck came driving up the gravel road. Gene’s immediate response was, “I’m going to stop those guys.” I have no idea what Gene said, but the truck stopped and three men got out, two of them in National Guard uniforms. In the meantime, the rest of us had lost track of the butterfly. One of the men pointed to a branch on a nearby tree and there it was! They patiently waited 10-15 minutes while we admired and photographed the butterfly.
Harvester at Allison Woods
The Harvester flew to the road and began puddling. Gene explained that he was collecting nutrients to include with his sperm in a special package (a spermatophore) that he would deliver to the female when they mated. The nutrients in this special “gift” enable the female to produce and lay eggs. Gene also shared the fascinating fact that Harvesters are America’s only carnivorous butterfly (in the caterpillar stage). The only food source for Harvester caterpillars is wooly aphids. Thus, they grow quickly and have only four instar stages instead of the typical five stages for most butterflies. The men from the truck listened attentively as did the rest of us. This was more education that one usually gets on a butterfly count and it added to the fun of the day.
Harvester
Later in August, Gene joined Cynthia and me to look for butterflies at the little wetland where Cynthia had found the Luna Moth. Gene found Least Skippers, a new species for me, in grasses by the water’s edge. They were tiny and liked to hide, so I didn’t get a very good look at them. The next day I went back to try for a photograph, but I couldn’t even find the skippers. Fortunately for me, Cynthia stopped to help when she drove by and saw me. She found the skippers and I was able to get this photo, one of the most challenging of the summer.
Least Skipper
Summer isn’t officially over yet and neither is moth or butterfly season, but it’s fall migration, so birds have priority now. In addition to watching birds near home, a trip to India is coming up soon and a trip to Alaska is in the works for summer 2015.
More of my moth photos can be seen on Flickr in the Moths of Forsyth County, NC album. My butterfly photos are in the Butterflies album.
Birding for Life 