[TN-Butterflies] Re: 2010 Season Summary
- From: "Steve Stedman" <birdsongteam@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bjones7777@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <tn-butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 09:35:32 -0600
Hi Bart,
Thanks for summarizing the butterfly season from your end of the state.
Checkered-skippers were more abundant during late October and early November
than during any previous season since 2001 here in Putnam County and in many
surrounding counties.
Best for the season, Steve Stedman
Cookeville (Putnam County)
----- Original Message -----
From: Bart Jones
To: tn-butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 6:38 PM
Subject: [TN-Butterflies] 2010 Season Summary
For me, the 2010 season was the best season I've seen since becoming involved
in butterflying. Yes, the spring started a little late and a little slow, but
from the end of June onward, it seemed to just snowball until by the end of
summer it was absolutely phenomenal.
Memphis Area: Spring was late and butterfly numbers seemed to lag behind
other areas for a couple of months. By June things were picking up and then
the swallowtail explosion occured. On several visits to Meeman-Shelby Forest
State Park I witnessed hundreds of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails. The numbers of
Pipevine Swallowtails were very good, also, especially in the late spring.
Zebras and Spicebush Swallowtails had fairly normal years here. On the July 3
count date, we picked up 3 Dainty Sulphurs, a very early date for this species
to show up. This was just a prelude to what was probably the largest irruption
of Dainty Sulphurs the state has seen in many years. By the end of summer when
the first Daintys usually pop up, there were literally hundreds shimmering
around the edges of fields and roadsides. After a very slow start, Cloudless
Sulphurs also became very numerous in late summer. Zabulon Skippers were more
abundant than normal, but other skippers were average to below average. Phaon
Crescents had another late appearance this year, but by the end of
summer/beginning of fall, the numbers were quite nice. Without a doubt, the
highlight sightings for Shelby County this year were Richard Connors' Bronze
Copper record and another glimpse of a Funereal Duskywing.
Decatur County: Of all the West Tennessee sites that I visit, Decatur County
definitely had the best early spring. There were very nice numbers of Juniper
Hairstreaks and Juvenal's Duskywings. Often there would be 3 or 4 Juniper
Hairstreaks "battling" for territory on a single cedar. Henry's Elfins also
seemed to have a better than average year here. Red Admirals were quite
numerous, as at many locations across the state, but there seemed to be more
here than at the other West Tennessee sites. On the down side, there were very
few Cobweb Skippers in the barrens. As with all summer reports, Eastern Tiger
Swallowtails had a great year here as well. By the fall, the Common Buckeyes
were extremely abundant, as well as Gulf Fritillaries, Common
Checkered-Skippers, and the most Swarthy Skippers I've ever seen at one time.
Reelfoot Lake: This year I visited Reelfoot twice. The count on June 26 had
a great showing of Zebra Swallowtails with over 100 seen. The other
swallowtails that are normally seen were average to better than average. It
was also very good for Southern Dogfaces and Checkered Whites. Eastern
Tailed-Blues were on the higher side, too. Another Funereal Duskywing county
record was added for Lake County during the count.
Jackson: The late July date for the Jackson count picked up good numbers of
Little Yellows and especially Variegated Fritillaries and Common Buckeyes.
Fiery Skippers made a good showing which continued for many areas throughout
the summer. Creole Pearly-eye, Appalachian Brown, and Common Wood-Nymph were
seen again on the count and seemed to be consistent here, even with the
flooding in the spring that appeared to have caused the numbers of the
Satyr-like species to decline.
Lower Hatchie: The area of the Hatchie River near its confluence with the
Mississippi River continues to be a very reliable butterfly spot, but this year
was truly exceptional. The count date of July 31 produced over 3000
individuals, and the density was so great in most areas that us 4 observers
couldn't even get to several areas that we normally cover during the day. In
and around the cultivated fields, we counted about 350 Eastern Tailed-Blues,
over 200 Dainty Sulphurs, over 100 Cloudless Sulphurs and Little Yellows, and
62 Southern Dogfaces. Also in the fields were abnormally high numbers of
Common Sootywings. In the low woods of the Anderson-Tully WMA, we were met
with dizzying numbers of Tawny and Hackberry Emperors, with nearly 300 and 700
respectively counted. There were also over 200 Red-spotted Purples and nearly
70 Question Marks, two species that typically are numerous here. Additionally,
there were nice numbers of Viceroys mixed in with the Red-spotted Purples. We
also had another Funereal Duskywing record, the third new one for the state in
2010.
In summary:
Good Year:
Juniper Hairstreak
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Zebra Swallowtail
Dainty Sulphur
Little Yellow
Southern Dogface
Gray Hairstreak
Red Admiral
Silvery Checkerspot
Common Buckeye
Hackberry Emperor
Tawny Emperor
Red-spotted Purple
Viceroy
Funereal Duskywing
Lace-winged Roadside Skipper
Swarthy Skipper
Common Checkered-Skipper
Common Sootywing
Zabulon Skipper
Down Year:
Red-banded Hairstreak
Pearly-eye spp.
Carolina Satyr
Clouded Skipper
Cobweb Skipper
Leonard's Skipper
Bart Jones
Memphis, Shelby County
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