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| List: Carolina-Leps Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2025 16:10:40 -0400 From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinaleps Mailing List) <carolinaleps...> Subject: Results of the CBS field trip to Dare County, NC -- Sept. 6-7 |
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--000000000000bcc1a3063e4fc8a8 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Folks, The "too-far-in-advance" scheduled CBS field trip for September 6-7, 2025, as expected, was impacted by weather in two ways: 1) Hurricane Erin passed off the Dare County coast around August 20 and might have flooded most of the marshes fringing Roanoke Sound for a brief time, and 2) the Coastal Plain of NC was in a drought, with hardly any rain since around August 15, as Erin brought no rain. Knowing this, plus some advanced scouting by Audrey Whitlock, indicated that skippers, especially marsh skippers, would be difficult to find. The co-leaders, Lori Arent and me, were joined by Audrey to briefly visit a few garden sites on Roanoke Island on Friday afternoon (Sept. 5), and we had a surprisingly successful "chase" -- seeing the CASSIUS BLUE that was first found by Rachel Veal at the Aquarium on Sept. 1!!!! This is about the fourth state record (Dare, Carteret 2, New Hanover). Our Friday list is presented at the end of this post. Saturday, the leaders and Audrey were joined by 7 others -- Al Hooks, Gail Lankford, Salman Abdulali, Sven and Ann Halling -- all from NC -- and by Mark and Holly Salvato, who drove up from Florida a day or two earlier to look for Carolina Roadside-Skipper. The weather continued sunny and hot, continuing the drought, but at least was fine for butterflying while at the same time keeping the mosquitoes mostly in check. We visited three dirt tracks on Alligator River refuge but were stymied by VERY few butterflies, especially skippers, despite some nectar flowers. Just before finishing up our third road site, we found *3* WHITE PEACOCKS around some blooming Seashore Mallow (*Kosteletzkya*)! There are barely 20 state records, and the only few from Dare were all near Cape Hatteras; thus this is the northernmost state record! Some of the group were watching a huge alligator in a canal just before the White Peacocks. We hit a garden center at Manns Harbor (bland) but the Sarah Owens visitor center and rest area on Roanoke Island had a handful of things on the lantana plantings. Thus, Saturday was "saved" by the White Peacocks"! Sunday, the weather was mostly cloudy but still in the mid-70s and good for butterflying, as the storms had not hit the coast yet. We visited one garden in Kill Devil Hills that added a few species from the day before, and at the Duck area we had an awesome time at a flower garden with a number of showy species, including a most wanted E. Giant Swallowtail, a target for the area. Two fawns were feeding in the garden, barely 8 feet from us, very unconcerned! We needed to find Dukes' Skipper either on the nearby boardwalk or make the long trip to Currituck County to look for it. Luck was with us again, as several folks spotted two of them perching on their tall sedge hostplant -- *Carex hyalinolepis* [Shoreline Sedge]!! Whew again. We drove back to the first garden and had a Giant Swallowtail fly-by there also! It was approaching midday, so we returned to the visitor center/rest area one last time, and this time we were successful with a few target marsh skippers, including Aaron's. We did a final daily tally, and a few folks headed back to the White Peacock area, as a few of us had seen two Twin-spot Skippers on Saturday. Sadly, showers hit us on the drive and also there, and the trip ended by 1:45 pm, though two White Peacocks were still there. So, in summary, a few of the "scouting group" -- Audrey, Lori, and I -- found a few goodies that were not seen by most of the group, but -- despite trouble finding many of the target marsh skippers owing mostly to the drought -- we did see a very rare stray [White Peacocks], Giant Swallowtails, and a good array of skippers, though few of the target marsh ones. Also, Lori, Audrey, and I examined photos last night and today and realized that we had TWO additional marsh skippers from the visitor center that were either quite worn or mostly got away but at least got captured by cameras -- Dion and Palatka! Here is the combined Sept 6-7 listing, with the first # being Sat, Sept 6, and the second being Sun., Sept. 7: Black Swallowtail -, 2 E. GIANT SWALLOWTAIL -, 2 rare in NC but a good handful of reports yearly from the Duck area, so a fair chance to find Spicebush Swallowtail 1, 1 Palamedes Swallowtail 40, 6 Sleepy Orange 4, - Cloudless Sulphur 30, 4 Red-banded Hairstreak 28, 2 Gray Hairstreak 12, - Monarch 3, 5 Gulf Fritillary -, 3 Viceroy -, 1 WHITE PEACOCK *3, 2* despite the showers, two of the three were seen at the same place on Sunday; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/312077672 Common Buckeye 15, 2 Pearl Crescent 3, - Common Wood-Nymph 15, 4 Long-tailed Skipper -, 2 Silver-spotted Skipper 2, 3 Horace's Duskywing 2, 6 Zarucco Duskywing 1, 2 Dion Skipper ?, 1 ID after the trip by photos; very worn male DUKES' SKIPPER -, 2 major target, right where we hoped they would be; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/312360787 Dun Skipper 1, - Delaware Skipper 1, - Fiery Skipper 15, 24 Whirlabout 1, - female Tawny-edged Skipper 8, - respectable number Southern Broken-dash 5, 8 Sachem -, 2 males AARON'S SKIPPER ?, 5 at least this many, looking down on them near the visitor center; photo IDs; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/312360801 Broad-winged Skipper 5, 5 Twin-spot Skipper 2, - sadly just seen by four folks before the full group met-up; could not re-find Eufala Skipper -, 1 garden at Kill Devil Hills Clouded Skipper 3, 8 Salt Marsh Skipper 10, - Ocola Skipper 1, 5 Least Skipper 2, - 36 species Here are the totals found by Lori, Audrey, and me during scouting and rarity chasing on Friday, Sept. 5, all on Roanoke Island: Black Swallowtail 1 Palamedes Swallowtail 7 Cloudless Sulphur 8 Red-banded Hairstreak 7 CASSIUS BLUE 1 wooh https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/311798026 Variegated Fritillary 1 Silver-spotted Skipper 1 Zarucco Duskywing 1 PALATKA SKIPPER 1 ID overlooked until photos reviewed today! Major miss for the group, however Fiery Skipper 30 Southern Broken-dash 3 Broad-winged Skipper 2 Clouded Skipper 2 Ocola Skipper 1 Adding ones we found on Friday -- Cassius Blue, Variegated Fritillary, Palatka Skipper -- that's 39 species for the 3-day weekend for some. The Salvatos saw a Great Purple Hairstreak, plus another Dion Skipper, on Friday, but missed their target Carolina Roadside-Skipper. Harry LeGrand Raleigh --000000000000bcc1a3063e4fc8a8 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div dir=3D"ltr"><div>Folks,</div><div><br></div><div>The "too-far-in-= advance"=C2=A0scheduled=C2=A0CBS field trip for September 6-7, 2025, a= s expected, was impacted by weather in two ways:=C2=A0 1) Hurricane Erin pa= ssed off the Dare County coast around August 20 and might have flooded most= of the marshes fringing Roanoke Sound for a brief time, and 2) the Coastal= Plain of NC was in a drought, with hardly any rain since around August 15,= as Erin brought no rain.=C2=A0 Knowing this, plus some advanced scouting b= y Audrey Whitlock, indicated that skippers, especially marsh skippers, woul= d be difficult to find.</div><div><br></div><div>The co-leaders, Lori Arent= and me, were joined=C2=A0by Audrey to briefly visit a few garden sites on = Roanoke Island on Friday afternoon (Sept. 5), and we had a surprisingly suc= cessful "chase" -- seeing the CASSIUS BLUE that was first found b= y Rachel Veal at the Aquarium on Sept. 1!!!!=C2=A0 This is about the fourth= state record (Dare, Carteret 2, New Hanover).=C2=A0 Our Friday list is pre= sented at the end of this post.</div><div><br></div><div>Saturday, the lead= ers and Audrey were joined by 7 others -- Al Hooks, Gail Lankford, Salman A= bdulali, Sven and Ann Halling -- all from NC -- and by Mark and Holly Salva= to, who drove up from Florida a day or two earlier to look for Carolina Roa= dside-Skipper.=C2=A0 The weather continued sunny and hot, continuing the dr= ought, but at least was fine for butterflying while at the same time keepin= g the mosquitoes mostly in check.=C2=A0 We visited three dirt tracks on All= igator River refuge but were stymied by VERY few butterflies, especially sk= ippers, despite some nectar flowers.=C2=A0 Just before finishing up our thi= rd road site, we found <b>3</b> WHITE PEACOCKS around some blooming Seashor= e Mallow (<i>Kosteletzkya</i>)!=C2=A0 There are barely 20 state records, an= d the only few from Dare were all near Cape Hatteras; thus this is the nort= hernmost state record!=C2=A0 =C2=A0Some of the group were watching a huge a= lligator in a canal just before the White Peacocks.=C2=A0 We hit a garden c= enter at Manns Harbor (bland) but the Sarah Owens visitor center and rest a= rea on Roanoke Island had a handful of things on the lantana plantings. Thu= s, Saturday was "saved" by the White Peacocks"!</div><div><b= r></div><div>Sunday, the weather was mostly cloudy but still in the mid-70s= and good for butterflying, as the storms had not hit the coast yet.=C2=A0 = We visited one garden in Kill Devil Hills that added a few species from the= day before, and at the Duck area we had an awesome time at a flower garden= with a number of showy species, including a most wanted E. Giant Swallowta= il, a target for the area. Two fawns were feeding in the garden, barely 8 f= eet from us, very unconcerned!=C2=A0 =C2=A0We needed to find Dukes' Ski= pper either on the nearby boardwalk or make the long trip to Currituck Coun= ty to look for it.=C2=A0 Luck was with us again, as several folks spotted t= wo of them perching on their tall sedge hostplant -- <i>Carex hyalinolepis<= /i>=C2=A0[Shoreline Sedge]!!=C2=A0 Whew again.=C2=A0 We drove back to the f= irst garden and had a Giant Swallowtail fly-by there also!=C2=A0 =C2=A0It w= as approaching midday, so we returned to the visitor center/rest area one l= ast time, and this time we were successful with a few target marsh skippers= ,=C2=A0including=C2=A0Aaron's. We did a final daily tally, and a few fo= lks headed back to the White Peacock area, as a few of us had seen two Twin= -spot Skippers on Saturday.=C2=A0 Sadly, showers hit us on the drive and al= so there, and the trip ended by 1:45 pm, though two White Peacocks were sti= ll there.</div><div><br></div><div>So, in summary, a few of the "scout= ing group" -- Audrey, Lori, and I -- found a few goodies that were not= seen by most of the group, but -- despite trouble finding many of the targ= et marsh skippers owing mostly to the drought -- we did see a very rare str= ay [White Peacocks], Giant Swallowtails, and a good array of skippers, thou= gh few of the target marsh ones.=C2=A0 Also, Lori, Audrey, and I examined p= hotos last night and today and realized that we had TWO additional marsh sk= ippers from the visitor center that were either quite worn or mostly got aw= ay but at least got captured by cameras -- Dion and Palatka!</div><div><br>= </div><div>Here is the combined Sept 6-7 listing, with the first=C2=A0# bei= ng Sat, Sept 6, and the second=C2=A0being Sun., Sept. 7:</div><div><br></di= v><div>Black Swallowtail=C2=A0 -, 2</div><div>E. GIANT SWALLOWTAIL=C2=A0 -,= 2=C2=A0 =C2=A0rare in NC but a good handful of reports yearly from the Duc= k area, so a fair chance to find</div><div>Spicebush Swallowtail=C2=A0 1, 1= </div><div>Palamedes Swallowtail=C2=A0 40, 6</div><div>Sleepy Orange=C2=A0 = 4, -</div><div></div><div>Cloudless Sulphur=C2=A0 30, 4</div><div>Red-bande= d Hairstreak=C2=A0 28, 2</div><div>Gray Hairstreak=C2=A0 12, -</div><div>Mo= narch=C2=A0 3, 5</div><div>Gulf Fritillary=C2=A0 -, 3</div><div>Viceroy=C2= =A0 -, 1</div><div>WHITE PEACOCK=C2=A0 <b>3, 2</b>=C2=A0 =C2=A0despite the = showers, two of the three were seen at the same place on Sunday;=C2=A0<a hr= ef=3D"https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/312077672" originalSrc=3D"ht= tps://www.inaturalist.org/observations/312077672">https://www.inaturalist.o= rg/observations/312077672</a></div><div>Common Buckeye=C2=A0 15, 2</div><di= v>Pearl Crescent=C2=A0 3, -</div><div>Common Wood-Nymph=C2=A0 15, 4</div><d= iv>Long-tailed Skipper=C2=A0 -, 2</div><div>Silver-spotted Skipper=C2=A0 2,= 3</div><div>Horace's Duskywing=C2=A0 2, 6</div><div>Zarucco Duskywing= =C2=A0 1, 2=C2=A0</div><div>Dion Skipper=C2=A0 ?, 1=C2=A0 =C2=A0 ID after t= he trip by photos; very worn male</div><div>DUKES' SKIPPER=C2=A0 =C2=A0= -, 2=C2=A0 =C2=A0 major target, right where we hoped they would be;=C2=A0<a= href=3D"https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/312360787" originalSrc=3D= "https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/312360787">https://www.inaturalis= t.org/observations/312360787</a></div><div>Dun Skipper=C2=A0 1, -</div><div= >Delaware Skipper=C2=A0 1, -</div><div>Fiery Skipper=C2=A0 15, 24</div><div= >Whirlabout=C2=A0 1, -=C2=A0 =C2=A0 female</div><div>Tawny-edged Skipper=C2= =A0 8, -=C2=A0 =C2=A0respectable number</div><div>Southern Broken-dash=C2= =A0 5, 8</div><div>Sachem=C2=A0 -, 2=C2=A0 =C2=A0males</div><div></div><div= >AARON'S SKIPPER=C2=A0 ?, 5=C2=A0 =C2=A0 at least this many, looking do= wn on them near the visitor center; photo IDs;=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.= inaturalist.org/observations/312360801" originalSrc=3D"https://www.inatural= ist.org/observations/312360801">https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/31= 2360801</a></div><div>Broad-winged Skipper=C2=A0 5, 5</div><div>Twin-spot S= kipper=C2=A0 2,=C2=A0 -=C2=A0 =C2=A0sadly just seen by four folks before th= e full group met-up; could not re-find</div><div>Eufala=C2=A0Skipper=C2=A0 = -, 1=C2=A0 =C2=A0garden at Kill Devil Hills</div><div>Clouded Skipper=C2=A0= 3, 8</div><div>Salt Marsh Skipper=C2=A0 10, -</div><div>Ocola Skipper=C2= =A0 1, 5</div><div>Least Skipper=C2=A0 2, -</div><div><br></div><div>36 spe= cies=C2=A0</div><div><br></div><div>Here are the totals found by Lori, Audr= ey, and me during scouting and rarity chasing on Friday, Sept. 5, all on Ro= anoke Island:</div><div><br></div><div>Black Swallowtail=C2=A0 1</div><div>= Palamedes Swallowtail=C2=A0 7</div><div>Cloudless Sulphur=C2=A0 8</div><div= >Red-banded Hairstreak=C2=A0 7</div><div>CASSIUS BLUE=C2=A0 1=C2=A0 wooh=C2= =A0 =C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/311798026" or= iginalSrc=3D"https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/311798026">https://ww= w.inaturalist.org/observations/311798026</a></div><div>Variegated Fritillar= y=C2=A0 1</div><div>Silver-spotted Skipper=C2=A0 1</div><div>Zarucco Duskyw= ing=C2=A0 1</div><div>PALATKA SKIPPER=C2=A0 =C2=A01=C2=A0 ID overlooked unt= il photos reviewed today!=C2=A0 Major miss for the group, however</div><div= >Fiery Skipper=C2=A0 30</div><div>Southern Broken-dash=C2=A0 3</div><div>Br= oad-winged Skipper=C2=A0 2</div><div>Clouded Skipper=C2=A0 2</div><div>Ocol= a Skipper=C2=A0 1</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Adding ones we fo= und on Friday -- Cassius Blue, Variegated Fritillary, Palatka Skipper -- th= at's 39 species for the 3-day weekend for some. The Salvatos saw a Grea= t Purple Hairstreak, plus another Dion Skipper, on Friday, but missed their= target Carolina Roadside-Skipper.</div><div><br></div><div>Harry LeGrand</= div><div>Raleigh</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br= ></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div> --000000000000bcc1a3063e4fc8a8-- |
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