August Butterflies

Today, I did some butterflying at Arlene Koch’s property. Arlene owns a large amount of land in southern Northampton County, which she and her husband maintain for wildlife. While there today, I found 27 different butterfly species, as well as several bird specie including Orchard Oriole, Willow Flycatcher, and Bald Eagle.

After four hours of butterflying, I added three new species to my butterfly life-list: American Copper, Meadow Fritillary, and Tawny Emperor. The copper was in a section of weedy fields with lots of blooming White Clover and Daisy Fleabane.

The tiny, yet stunning American Copper was a lifer for me.

The Meadow Fritillaries were in a field of Queen Anne’s Lace and Red Clover. These beautiful butterflies were accompanied by hundreds of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (including several dark-morph females), a few Black Swallowtails, and a huge number of Peck’s Skippers.

Meadow Fritillary was another new butterfly species for me

The Tawny Emperor was along a gas-line cut through a forest. It sat perched in the open for a few minutes, but unfortunately was too far away to photograph.

Gray Hairstreak, a common butterfly in August

Tomorrow, I will be heading to West Virginia for the Appalachian String Band Music Festival!