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Nature Link

With Blake Mann

Butterfly counts

Tuesday, November 12, 2002

In recent years, butterfly "counts" have become popular. Just like bird counts, these are fun and contribute to the scientific data base. I have participated in several counts in the area in recent years and have found them rewarding. Most take place around the end of June and in July, and create a nice diversion from birdwatching. Birding can be "slow" at that time and butterflies can be just as interesting.
Pinery has a count around the end of June, and Rondeau has one in mid July. Point Pelee's is in mid August.
This year, due to the cool wet spring, butterflies were lower in numbers, as the count results found out. Little Wood Satyrs, a small brown butterfly found in wooded areas, had a notable increase though. Pinery, on June 29, was loaded with them. The same thing was noted in Rondeau on July 14. Monarch numbers were down significantly as expected, probably due to the large die-off as a result of the winter storm in Mexico.
Open areas with weeds and wildflowers tend to hold more butterflies. In Rondeau, I always cover the east side of South Point Trail each year, which has ample open area. This year we found 22 species, the most of any other group in the Rondeau count. Last year (2001) we also did well, tallying 28 species. In 2001 we had two Pipevine Swallowtails, as well as Hickory Hairstreak, some of the less common species to be encountered.
Rondeau's totals over the years have varied: 1999 (50 species), 2000 (39 species), 2001 (41 species), and 2002 (38 species).
At Pinery: 1999 (51 species), 2000 (43 species), 2001 (45 species), and 2002 (43 species).
At Point Pelee on August 10, a total of 38 species were recorded. This was the lowest (average 43) since the count began in 1996, according to Dan Dufour, compiler of the count.
In the spring, butterflies will appear on warm sunny days, perhaps as early as the end of February. In the fall, butterflies can be seen well into November. With the recent unusually mild winters, many records have been broken. Just this month, a Gray Comma was seen at Point Pelee, providing the first November record.
I was at Rondeau Park on Saturday (Nov. 9) and saw a Mourning Cloak and an Eastern Comma. These are notoriously hardy butterflies, and are the first ones you may see in the spring, as well as the last ones in the fall.
The accompanying photo is one that I took a couple of years ago of a Great Spangled Fritillary at the McKeough Dam C. A. This is a large, fairly common butterfly.

TROPICAL KINGBIRD update: The now famous kingbird was still present at the end of Lagoon Road in Chatham-Kent at time of this writing, Nov. 9.