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A group of 16 people keen to see and learn about butterflies gathered at the Aspen Corner trailhead near Flagstaff on a sunny Saturday morning, July 11. We were not disappointed. The field of sneeze weed across the road from the trailhead yielded a Thicket Hairstreak and, once we hit the open area above the tank, we had an amazing assortment of blues and skipperlings. The muddy areas around the tank were also productive and yielded two species of swallowtails, a checkerspot, a Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur, and more blues. Here is a list of all 31 species that we saw. A good and butterfly-rich time was had by all.
Western Tiger Swallowtail, Two Tailed Swallowtail, Baird’s Swallowtail, Dainty Sulphur, Queen Alexandra's Sulphur, Orange Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Sleepy Orange, Checkered White, Gray Hairstreak, Thicket Hairstreak, Spring Azure, Acmon Blue, Silvery Blue, Greenish Blue, Boisduval’s Blue, Ceraunus Blue, Marine Blue, Melissa Blue, Lupine Blue, Northwestern Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary, Arachne Checkerspot, Mourning Cloak, California Tortoiseshell, Northern Cloudywing, Mexican Cloudywing, Russet Skipperling, Garita Skipperling, Edward’s Skipperling, Taxiles Skipper
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Just a reminder that five of the SE Arizona butterfly counts will take place over the next month or so and you all are invited. Consider joining one or more of these counts to find out first hand what the prognosis is for our local butterflies. Please contact the compilers for specific party assignments if you wish to participate. Compilation dinners follow most counts where you can find out what was seen by the other parties.
Sabino Canyon, Friday July 24, Compiler: Greg Greene (greenecycle at hotmail.com)- Aside from Sabino Canyon proper and other lowland areas such as Loews Ventana, and Agua Caliente Park, count covers the high country along the Catalina Highway from from Molino Vista to top of Mt. Lemmon.
Ramsey Canyon, Tuesday July 28, Compiler: Doug Danforth (dougofbis at gmail.com)- Covers the east side of the Huachuca Mountains from Ramsey Canyon to the Mexican border and east to the San Pedro River. One of the top counts species-wise in the nation.
Santa Rita Mountains summer Friday July 31, Compiler: Gerry and Vicki Wolfe (seaba_publicity@yahoo.com)- Covers many of the canyons: Gardener, Box, Florida, Madera, and Montosa along with the high country.
Patagonia, Tuesday Aug 4, Compiler: Rich Bailowitz (rbailowitz at gmail.com)- Covers Patagonia and vicinity. This count is consistently in the top three for species in the nation and most years is number one!
Portal, Friday Aug 7, Compiler: Lori Conrad (lconrad6853 at gmail.com)- Chiricahua Mountains from Portal up to Rustler and Barfoot Parks. Had the top species count in 2023 for the U.S.
Check the SEABA website (www.seaba.org/naba-counts) for further info on these counts including meeting and compilation dinner times and locations.
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The weather was very pleasant today but started a little chilly at 58F! 8 participants hiked up the col. Devin Trail from Washington Park Trailhead, taking it slow as the trail seems to get steeper each year (or are we getting older??) 27 species of butterflies were seen, with Weidemeyer’s Admiral and Thicket Hairstreak being the most exciting, but Western Green (Bramble) Hairstreak the favorite photo-op.
Total list: Two-tailed Swallowtail (4), Western Tiger Swallowtail (2), Pipevine Swallowtail (2), Checkered White (1), Dainty Sulphur (3), Orange Sulphur (4), Southern Dogface (3), Mexican Yellow (4), Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur (3), Sleepy Orange (1), Western Green (Bramble) Hairstreak (1), Thicket Hairstreak (1, pictured), Marine Blue (2), Lupine Blue (3), Spring “Echo” Azure (16), Zela Metalmark (4), Mylitta Crescent (3), Gray (formerly Common) Buckeye (7), Red-spotted Purple (2), Variegated Fritillary (1), Weidemeyer’s Admiral (3), Arizona Sister (13), Mourning Cloak (1), Funereal Duskywing (2), Silver-spotted Skipper (14), Northern Cloudywing (2), W/C Checkered Skipper (4).
I want to thank all participants for a great trip! Hope you will come out again soon!
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