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| List: Carolina-Leps Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2026 22:03:00 -0400 From: Heather Rayburn (via carolinaleps Mailing List) <carolinaleps...> Subject: Great day in my Asheville yard 6/1/26 |
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--Apple-Mail=_99D0BF2D-D897-4D77-8DAB-7644514BF292 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Hello Friends, I had a very good day in my yard. I live just north of downtown Asheville a= nd garden for wildlife. I only mow a few times a year now =E2=80=94 to make= trails so I can see who=E2=80=99s visiting the plant collection. While mow= ing this afternoon, I noticed a Snout whizzing around a willow. (I don=E2= =80=99t have room for a willow, so I keep it pruned down in the =E2=80=94 t= o-date, failed =E2=80=94 hopes of attracting Viceroys.) I stopped the mower= to look at the Snout just as a small dark hairstreak landed in the same tr= ee. I figured it would be a Red-banded, but I=E2=80=99ve also been hoping t= o see a Striped Hairstreak. This is the time for them and, two years ago, I= found my very first one on the sidewalk <https://www.flickr.com/photos/190= 206870@N03/55308678085/in/datetaken/> a couple of blocks from my house. It = was dead. Then I spotted one later that summer, alive (yay!), in Haywood Co= unty with Gail Lankford and my husband, Ben. This is a rarely reported butt= erfly, so I felt like hot stuff that year on the Striped Hairstreak front. = But when would I get to see another one? I slowly moved the hairstreak=E2=80=99s branch to eye-level and did my best= to angle it out of the glare of the sun. =E2=80=9COh, you=E2=80=99re kiddi= ng me! Do not move, you little potatohead. I think you are indeed a Striped= .=E2=80=9D I ran into the house, checked my butterfly book and grabbed my phone, Papil= lios, and good camera. Back at the willow, the hairstreak had disappeared. = Nooooo!!!!!! I went back to mowing and checked again eight minutes later an= d, hello, it was back! I managed one bad phone photo before it took off, bu= t it was good enough for me to zoom in and verify the markings. The little = hairstreak zipped over the nearby fence festooned in blooming Virgin=E2=80= =99s Bower and Trumpet Vine. Could I be lucky enough to have it land on the= other side? Oh, yes, I could be that lucky! <https://youtu.be/vbCH5lnZ6sA?= si=3DgNGXAShe8NpLw4mr&t=3D156> This rare (and super-fresh) little butterfly= allowed me a good long look and a mini-photoshoot. Unfortunately, it flew = off just as Ben pulled up.=20 Later, I checked Butterflies of NC and learned that food plants include che= rries, blueberries, heath family plants and ... willow. All available on my= lot. I read that it also enjoys nectaring on Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum)= , which I also have in abundance as I love me some Dogbane Beetle <https://= www.flickr.com/photos/190206870@N03/55308968483/in/datetaken/>! I hope it s= hows up tomorrow for some nectar. Here=E2=80=99s the round-up of all species observed today in the yard: Cabbage White STRIPED HAIRSTREAK (iNat photos <https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3= 67515424> and my best ones that I put on Flickr <https://www.flickr.com/pho= tos/190206870@N03/55308678085/in/datetaken/>) Summer Azure Snout Monarch Great Spangled Fritillary Bonus: FOY Gulf Fritillary in my neighbor=E2=80=99s front yard. P.S. We=E2=80=99ve had lots of rain lately =E2=80=94 thank goodness! Cheers, Heather Rayburn Asheville= --Apple-Mail=_99D0BF2D-D897-4D77-8DAB-7644514BF292 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 <html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" content=3D"text/html; charset= =3Dutf-8"></head><body style=3D"overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mod= e: space; line-break: after-white-space;">Hello Friends,<div><br></div><div= >I had a very good day in my yard. I live just north of downtown Asheville = and garden for wildlife. I only mow a few times a year now =E2=80=94 to mak= e trails so I can see who=E2=80=99s visiting the plant collection. While mo= wing this afternoon, I noticed a Snout whizzing around a willow. (I don=E2= =80=99t have room for a willow, so I keep it pruned down in the =E2=80=94 t= o-date, failed =E2=80=94 hopes of attracting Viceroys.) I stopped the mower= to look at the Snout just as a small dark hairstreak landed in the same tr= ee. I figured it would be a Red-banded, but I=E2=80=99ve also been hoping t= o see a Striped Hairstreak. This is the time for them and, two years ago, I= found my very first <a href=3D"https://www.flickr.com/photos/19020687= 0@N03/55308678085/in/datetaken/" originalSrc=3D"https://www.flickr.com/phot= os/190206870@N03/55308678085/in/datetaken/">one on the sidewalk</a> a = couple of blocks from my house. It was dead. Then I spotted one later that = summer, alive (yay!), in Haywood County with Gail Lankford and my husband, = Ben. This is a rarely reported butterfly, so I felt like hot stuff that yea= r on the Striped Hairstreak front. But when would I get to see another one?= </div><div><br></div><div>I slowly moved the hairstreak=E2=80=99s branch to= eye-level and did my best to angle it out of the glare of the sun. =E2=80= =9COh, you=E2=80=99re kidding me! Do not move, you little potatohead. I thi= nk you are indeed a Striped.=E2=80=9D</div><div><br></div><div>I ran into t= he house, checked my butterfly book and grabbed my phone, Papillios, and go= od camera. Back at the willow, the hairstreak had disappeared. Nooooo!!!!!!= I went back to mowing and checked again eight minutes later and, hello, it= was back! I managed one bad phone photo before it took off, but it was goo= d enough for me to zoom in and verify the markings. The little hairstreak z= ipped over the nearby fence festooned in blooming Virgin=E2=80=99s Bower an= d Trumpet Vine. Could I be lucky enough to have it land on the other side?&= nbsp;<a href=3D"https://youtu.be/vbCH5lnZ6sA?si=3DgNGXAShe8NpLw4mr&t=3D= 156" originalSrc=3D"https://youtu.be/vbCH5lnZ6sA?si=3DgNGXAShe8NpLw4mr&t=3D= 156">Oh, yes, I could be that lucky!</a> This rare (and super-fresh) l= ittle butterfly allowed me a good long look and a mini-photoshoot. Unfortun= ately, it flew off just as Ben pulled up. </div><div><br></div><div>La= ter, I checked Butterflies of NC and learned that food plants include cherr= ies, blueberries, heath family plants and ... willow. All available on my l= ot. I read that it also enjoys nectaring on Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), = which I also have in abundance as I love me some <a href=3D"https://ww= w.flickr.com/photos/190206870@N03/55308968483/in/datetaken/" originalSrc=3D= "https://www.flickr.com/photos/190206870@N03/55308968483/in/datetaken/">Dog= bane Beetle</a>! I hope it shows up tomorrow for some nectar.</div><div><br= ></div><div>Here=E2=80=99s the round-up of all species observed today in th= e yard:</div><div><br></div><blockquote style=3D"margin: 0 0 0 40px; border= : none; padding: 0px;"><div>Cabbage White</div><div><b>STRIPED HAIRSTREAK <= /b>(<a href=3D"https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/367515424" original= Src=3D"https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/367515424">iNat photos</a>&= nbsp;and my best ones that I put on <a href=3D"https://www.flickr.com/= photos/190206870@N03/55308678085/in/datetaken/" originalSrc=3D"https://www.= flickr.com/photos/190206870@N03/55308678085/in/datetaken/">Flickr</a>)</div= ><div>Summer Azure</div><div>Snout</div><div>Monarch</div><div>Great Spangl= ed Fritillary</div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Bonus: FOY Gulf Fritill= ary in my neighbor=E2=80=99s front yard.</div><div><br></div><div>P.S. We= =E2=80=99ve had lots of rain lately =E2=80=94 thank goodness!</div><div><br= ></div><div>Cheers,</div><div>Heather Rayburn</div><div>Asheville</div></bo= dy></html>= --Apple-Mail=_99D0BF2D-D897-4D77-8DAB-7644514BF292-- |
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