Butterfly Trip
| Trip leaders: Kevin Heffernan, Kathy Litzinger, Woody Merkle, Cris Ausin, and Annette Allor. Recorder: Kevin Heffernan |
Date of trip: August 9, 2025 |
| Location: Howard County Conservancy at Mount Pleasant | Number attending: 47 This is the largest number of people to date that we have had on any butterfly walk at Mount Pleasant! |
| Details: It was a pleasant day with low humidity, winds of ~8 to 12 mph, and a temperature of 80 degrees. The participants were split into two groups. The path for the less experienced group started in the Clark Garden, went to the butterfly garden, then to Hodge Podge Lodge, the Cedar Trail to the Community Garden. The second group started in the Community Garden, went down the Cedar Trail to Hodge Podge Lodge, then to the Butterfly Garden, the Tulip Poplar loop to the three Hackberry trees, then on to the Meadow Loop back to the parking lot and ended in the Clark garden. The highlights of the day were the Common Sootywing, Swarthy Skipper, four Red-spotted Purples, two Hackberry Emperors, and the 11 American Snouts. Amazingly, we found 30 species without finding an Eastern Tailed-blue. | |
Silver-spotted Skipper 30
Horace’s Duskywing 4
Wild Indigo Duskywing 2
Common Sootywing 2
Swarthy Skipper 2
Least Skipper 1
Fiery Skipper 2
Crossline Skipper 1
Tawny-edged Skipper 4
Little Glassywing 4
Sachem 4
Zabulon Skipper 30
Dun Skipper2
Black Swallowtail 2
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 18
Spicebush Swallowtail 4
Cabbage White 14
Clouded Sulphur 1
Orange Sulphur 2
Sleepy Orange 2
Red-banded Hairstreak 1
Gray Hairstreak 2
American Snout 11
Pearl Crescent 30
Common Buckeye 2
Red Spotted-Purple 4
Northern Pearly-eye 8
Question Mark 1
Variegated Fritillary 1
Hackberry Emperor 2
Monarch 10
Monarch caterpillar 3