August 11, 2021 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
This week I recorded 34 observations, bringing the annual total to 385. There were 11 species, including one first-of-year and two first-of-life butterflies for me on the same day.
Butterfly Sightings 8/7/2021- 8/12/2021
8/8/2021 Monarch – Danaus plexippus 1
8/9/2021 Monarch – Danaus plexippus 1
8/9/2021 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – Papilio glaucus 2
8/9/2021 Horace’s Duskywing – E. horatius 1
8/9/2021 Ocola Skipper – Panoquina ocola 1
8/9/2021 Zabulon Skipper – Lon zabulon 1
8/9/2021 American Lady – Vanessa virginiensis 1
8/9/2021 Fiery Skipper – Hylephila phyleus 3
8/9/2021 Eufala Skipper -Lerodea eufala 1
8/9/2021 Little Glassywing -Pompeius verna 1
8/10/2021 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – Papilio glaucus 3
8/10/2021 Fiery Skipper – Hylephila phyleus 3
8/10/2021 Ocola Skipper – Panoquina ocola 2
8/10/2021 American Lady – Vanessa virginiensis 1
8/10/2021 Horace’s Duskywing – E. horatius 1
8/10/2021 Silver-spotted Skipper – Epargyreus clarus 1
8/11/2021 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – Papilio glaucus 2
8/11/2021 Silver-spotted Skipper – Epargyreus clarus 2
8/11/2021 Eufala Skipper -Lerodea eufala 1
8/11/2021 Fiery Skipper – Hylephila phyleus 2
8/11/2021 Common Buckeye – Junonia coenia 1
8/11/2021 Ocola Skipper – Panoquina ocola 1
8/11/2021 Little Glassywing -Pompeius verna 1
This is the first Zabulon Skipper I have seen this year. My first recorded Zabulon in the garden was last year, August 2020.
8/9/2021 Zabulon Skipper (Lon zabulon). Male.
Here is my first ever Eufala Skipper, seen 8/9/2021 and another sighting 8/11/2021.
August 9, 2021 Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala)
August 11, 2021 Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala)
August 11, 2021 Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala)
The other new-to-me butterfly appearing on the same two days is Little Glassywing.
August 9, 2021 Little Glassywing (Pompeius verna)
August 9, 2021 Little Glassywing (Pompeius verna)
August 11, 2021 Little Glassywing (Pompeius verna)
Recently I’ve begun noticing Eastern Tiger Swallowtails flying up high into a tall pine tree just outside our back fence. One day from an upstairs window I could see a male resting/sleeping way up in the pine. Beneath the tree branches is a favorite nectar source in my garden, a butterfly bush just inside the fence.
August 9, 2021 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Digressing from butterflies for a moment: There haven’t been many bees around recently since the Green-headed coneflower went largely to seed, but this summer I have enjoyed a few visits from these clearwing moths.
August 11, 2021 Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe)
August 11, 2021 Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)
I saw several dark female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails this week. One featured for this week’s Wordless Wednesday was appallingly tattered and worn, yet actively feeding. This one is in much better condition.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Hope your garden is absorbing, satisfying and engaging this summer.
pbmGarden 
Another successful week of winged beauty sightings! I wish we had buckeyes, they are so amazing.
Seeing new species made it a bit more interesting. The buckeyes just make me smile!
I can’t believe you got that moth photo. What a shot!
Thanks Judy, they don’t stay still for long. I’ve seen both the Hummingbird Clearwing and the Snowberry Clearwing around more days than in previous years. Such cool creatures.
Beautiful butterflies and moths. Such fun! 🙂
Thanks Beth!
Fantastic photos, Susie. Your posts have alerted me to the fact that I need to pay closer attention to the distinguishing features of the skippers – I’ve tended to lump them into a single category. I’m suddenly seeing more cloudless sulpher butterflies here this week. My Senna bicapsularis is a host plant so hopefully I’ll see still more of both the caterpillars and the butterflies as the shrub moves into its bloom stage.
Kris, the distinguishing features of those skippers is very subtle. I keep having to ask for help verifying them. Haven’t seen a cloudless sulphur here this year but they should be around. Lucky you to have a nice host plant for them. I should pay more attention to providing host plants.
Wonderful photos of them, especially the clearwings. They are similar to our hummingbird hawk moths. I love the whirring sound they make as they whizz around the garden from bloom to bloom!
Thanks Cathy! I’m going to pay more attention to their sounds next time I see some. They’re fascinating.
Amazing week you had. I can’t even imagine seeing that inventory.
Yes, it was a much better week for different species. It’s taking a lot of time to try to ID some of them but is interesting.
Very impressive! For some reason I don’t see as many butterflies on the lantana here. Maybe they don’t want to fly up on to the deck? You are really excelling on your butterfly ID’s, I still haven’t named some of the more common ones here, let alone been able to catch them in a photo. I may just stick with enjoying yours 🙂
I t looks like you have lots of different things blooming in your garden so maybe they have much more choice. My garden is nearly dried up from lack of rain this summer and honestly there is not much flowering except the lantana.
I really enjoy your butterfly journals. The buckeye is one I see very rarely. I find it a little upsetting when the butterflies are so tattered.
Thanks for following the butterflies with me this summer. The journals have raised my awareness and interest. I need to consider host plants and more variety of nectar plants. The tattered butterflies are very sad to me also.