I had great views of what could only be a Widow Skimmer male
with its distinctive wing pattern. However, the abdomen was blue
-not white as shown in Dunkle - and there were two blue dots on the top
shoulder area of the thorax - again no white.
Is this an indication of the 'age' of the dragonfly?
On Fri. Martha Pfeiffer and I made an attempt to tally some butterflies
in the Manchester area, but activity was not great .
Black Swallowtail - 1
Cabbage White - 4 (what does that tell you?)
No sulphurs at all
Eastern tailed blue - 4 (all fresh)
Great Spangled Frit - 2
Crescent species - 26 (a big 'hatch')
White Admiral - 2
Common Wood Nymph - 9
Dun's Skipper - 1
1 Monarch caterpillar - 5th instar - it's in protective custody at
my house - currently attaching its 'button'. The interesting thing
about this caterpillar is that it was on the top of a milkweed leaf, at
the top of the plant and NONE of the leaves on that plant had been
eaten - and NONE of the leaves on the adjacent plants has been
eaten?????
On Sat during some birding in Brandon area and Dead Creek, we
saw:
Black Swallowtail - 1
Both whites and sulphurs -
E Comma - fresh
C Ringlet - 1
Monarch - 4
ruth stewart
e dorset