22 April 2010 - Butterflies at Onteora Lake In response to my post yesterday about the birds Henry Halama and I encountered in Onteora Lake, I received six requests off-list for additional information about our butterfly observations. I posted our observations to the NYS Butterflies listserve, but will repeat it here since there seems to be some interest.
While waiting for Henry in the interior parking area, I observed one first-of-season male Black Swallowtail, which is early for this typically May butterfly that overwinters as a pupa, but a number of species of butterflies, including swallowtails, are appearing early this year in our region. We then walked approximately half a mile along the main trail heading north along the west side of Onteora Lake where we observed approximately 4 Eastern Pine Elfins, 2 Juvenal's Duskywings, only one Spring Azure, and several Cabbage Whites. Weather conditions were good, with warm temperatures, mostly sunny skies, and no wind. I was hoping for a Brown Elfin, which Henry has seen in this location in the past, and would have expected more Azures (very common so far this spring in other locations) and a few of the Anglewings (Eastern Comma, Mourning Cloak) or a Compton Tortoiseshell that overwinter as adults and have been flying for several weeks in our area. I should stress that Henry and I only walked a short section of this west-side trail, and anyone with more time to explore other areas of the park might very well encountered more diversity and greater numbers. We also checked one of several woodland pools and noted over 24 salamander egg masses in several concentrations (most likely Spotted Salamander). We then headed to the higher elevations of Greene County to look for early-flying West Virginia Whites and one of the unusual Commas (Green or Gray) or a Milbert's Tortoiseshell at a location where I observed one last year. All of these species overwinter as adults and can be found flying at this time of the year. En route we observed one (probable Eastern) Tiger Swallowtail flying across Sawkill Road in Zena (Ulster County). This is also early, but I observed one in my Saugerties yard the previous day, and there have been additional reports of Tigers in southern NYS, including one observed by Lynn Bowdery from Black Creek on 08 April that may constitute a new early record for Ulster County. We did not observe any butterflies at higher elevations, along Platte Clove Mountain Road or Roaring Kill Road in Elka Park (both ~2000 ft.). The weather conditions at these sites was noticeably cooler with intermittent sun through mostly cloudy skies with a moderate breeze. Leaf-out was well-progressed in the clove, but just starting to break bud in Elka Park. Steve M. Chorvas Saugerties, NY ----- Original Message ----- From: Steve M. Chorvas To: Mid-Hudson Birds Sent: 04/22/2010 5:32 PM Subject: [MidHudsonBirds] Onteora Lake Thursday, 22 April 2010 Onteora Lake, Town of Kingston Henry Halama and I walked a very short section of the elaborate trail system at Onteora Lake this afternoon in search of early season butterflies. Birding highlights include at least four singing Black-and-white Warblers, numerous (9+) Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, several singing Blue-headed Vireos, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Louisiana Waterthrush, Barn Swallows flying overhead, singing Field and Swamp Sparrows, Brown Creeper, Pileated Woodpecker, and Red-shouldered Hawks. Two Broad-winged Hawks were vocalizing over Stoll Road in West Saugerties on my return route back to Saugerties. Steve M. Chorvas Saugerties, NY [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ To visit the Mid-Hudson Birds web site go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MidHudsonBirds Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] List owner: [email protected] Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
