[TN-Butterflies] Totals from Soddy-Daisy, TN seasonal count, 8-3-10

From: "Bill Haley" <wgh@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tn-butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 08:43:22 -0400
Hello all;

 

What started as a field trip yesterday, August 3, 2010, for the
Tennessee Valley NABA chapter will be submitted as a seasonal count to
NABA, the first fall seasonal for the Soddy-Daisy count circle.
(Anything after August 1 is considered a fall seasonal count.) Four
people gathered to help with the Soddy-Daisy count. Temperatures ranged
from 82-97F. Despite a reported heat index of 107F in the afternoon, it
was a wonderful day spent in the field with good friends and a great
selection of butterflies. Cloud cover in the am was 45% and pm was 60%.
We began at 10:00 and I finally tossed in the towel at 5:00pm. I was
joined by Christy Jones, Philip Jones and Sean Jones. They were done in
by the heat by noon, but we got off to such a great start I decided to
keep going and see how many species I could locate. I'd like to thank
them for braving the heat and being real troopers. 

 

It turned out to be my best count of the year! All the folks who stayed
home because of the predicted temperatures or had to work, missed a
great butterfly day. We had 17 skipper species and many were found on
our second stop of the day on pink clover along a field edge on Hwy. 27
in Bakewell. That same field was also full of blooming orange butterfly
weed....and many swallowtails and monarchs. In case those reading this
are familiar with the "torture hill" area on Bakewell Mountain, yes, I
braved it by myself at mid-day, walking a good ways out, and was richly
rewarded. Unfortunately, I could find no Gorgone Checkerspots this time
around. I was also hoping for a Southern Dogface or two, but no luck
there either.

 

At one of my last stops of the day in the north Chickamauga Creek gorge,
I found an ash tree (prickly ash?) with at least 5 Giant Swallowtail
caterpillars, the first I've ever seen, other than in pictures. I'd
always wondered what their host plant was around here.

 

Totals:

Pipevine Swallowtail 14, Black Sw. 5, Spicebush Sw. 32, E. Tiger Sw. 26,
Checkered White 2, Cabbage Wh. 1, Clouded Sulphur 6, Orange Su. 43,
Cloudless Su. 32, Little Yellow 15, Sleepy Orange 19, Gray Hairstreak 4,
Red-banded Ha. 2, E. Tailed Blue 68, Summer Azure 16, American Snout 2,
Gulf Fritillary 2, Variegated Fr. 19, Diana Fr. 4, Great Spangled Fr. 7,
Silvery Checkerspot 2, Pearl Crescent 67, Question Mark 2, E. Comma 1,
American Lady 2, Painted Lady 1, Red Admiral 1, Common Buckeye 43,
Red-spotted Purple 10, Viceroy 2, Hackberry Emperor 3, Northern
Pearly-Eye 2, Carolina Satyr 4, Common Wood Nymph 4, Monarch 13,
Silver-spotted Skipper 23, Hoary Edge 11, Southern Cloudywing 2,
Confused Cloudywing 1, Horace's Duskywing 1, Wild Indigo Duskywing 33,
Swarthy Sk. 3, Clouded Sk. 1, Least Sk. 6, Fiery Sk. 5, Southern
Broken-Dash 3, Northern Broken-Dash 4, Little Glassywing 2, Sachem 31,
Zabulon Sk. 4, Dun Sk. 14, Lace-winged Roadside Sk. 2.

 

Total: 52 species, 623 individuals

 

Bill Haley, President, Tennessee Valley NABA

Hamilton County, TN
[TN-Butterflies] Totals from Soddy-Daisy, TN seasonal count, 8-3-10

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