Our Natural Adventures

Tag: plants

  • August 2, 2025 Adventures

    August 2, 2025 Adventures

    We hit a couple places today because the weather was so perfect! High 70’s with a bit of a breeze and full sun. You can’t really beat that for a butterfly day.

    We started that day at the Westfield Conservation Area in Taunton, MA. It’s only the second time we have gone there, and really we were just checking for wooly alder aphids on the alder trees to see if there could be a population of Harvester butterflies. There were none, so we have to assume there is not a population there. There were a few species flying, but honestly not as much as I had thought there would be. Probably the best thing we saw was an Evergreen Bagworm moth caterpillar (photo above). We had seen the cocoons quite often, but never the caterpillar. That was pretty cool. Butterflies were few and far between, with a couple Monarchs, Wood Nymph, Peck’s Skipper, Least Skipper being the best sightings. The area is quite nice with very well maintained trails though.

    We continued on from there to Borden Colony in Raynham, MA. This is a place we have visited a handful of times over the years. It almost always has several flying species but they are usually hard to get at for a photo. This was not the case today because of the land management that has gone on there this year. I am guessing they were mowing down all invasive grape and other species of plants. This made all the overgrown areas grow back as beautiful fields which were full of flowering Common Milkweed and Joe Pye Weed, Clover, etc. Great butterfly conditions!

    Borden Colony field
    Milkweed at Borden Colony

    Although the butterflies were all basically common species, the numbers were nice and high. Sulphurs topped the chart at well over 50 (probably over 100) with a mix of mainly clouded sulphurs with some orange sulphurs in there too.

    Orange Sulphur
    Courting Clouded Sulphurs (yellow male and white form female)

    There were also over 20 Monarchs, 8 Common Buckeyes, several Eastern tailed blues, 2 Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (first of the year for us) a Red-banded Hairstreak, a Viceroy, etc. All common, but great to see!

    Tomorrow’s weather looks to be a bit of the same so we will see what adventures we can get into!

    Red-banded Hairstreak
    Snowberry Clearwing Moth
    Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
    Common Buckeye
  • July 23, 2025 – Middleboro, MA

    July 23, 2025 – Middleboro, MA

    I took a trip to the Nemasket River Archaeological Preserve today to look for any of the sedge loving butterflies that should have been there. Although I didn’t find even one of the species I had expected to find (Appalachian Brown, Mulberry Wing, Black Dash), I did find quite a few different species, a nice variety of plants to continue to check on as the years go by and a very cooperative Snowberry Clearwing Moth (photo above).

    Monarch
    Eastern Tailed Blue (without tails)
    Clouded Sulphur
    Common Wood Nymph
    Cabbage White
    Dogbane Leaf Beetle

    When I got home, I even had a first of the yard species waiting for me, a Common Ringlet!

    Common Ringlet
  • July 12, 2025 – A tale of Two Fields

    July 12, 2025 – A tale of Two Fields

    It was the best of fields, it was the worst of fields. Well, something like that anyways.

    I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Joint Base Cape Cod, a once bustling military base, but now an active shared base with the Army, Coast Guard, National Guard, etc. This enormous parcel of land, situated in the center of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, is an example of just how to manage land for different habitats and do it well!

    Our target species for the day was the Acadian Hairstreak. In Massachusetts, this is most likely the last place that these butterflies exist. Although we found none in 2024, they are relatively predictable to be in the same location every year. Having seen none last year, we were a bit concerned about this year, but were pretty quickly rewarded in our search with one individual, and it was a beauty!

    Acadian Hairstreak

    Along with this excellent find, we found several other butterfly species like Edward’s Hairstreaks, Coral Hairstreaks, Monarchs, several Skipper species, etc. The place is loaded with some great tiger beetles, bees, birds of all types, etc. We also were able to find a few Walsh’s Digger Bees. Just a bee, right? Wrong. This location, through the great environmental restoration and management is one of two (the other is on Martha’s Vineyard island in MA) locations that this bee exists, east of Michigan. They are so incredibly specific where they live! They need a location that is sandplain grassland with yellow wild indigo growing. JBCC offers the perfect habitat for them and it is no surprise that they are there.

    Walsh’s Digger Bee (Anthophora walshii)

    That was the best of fields…

    From there, I went on to visit Nasketucket Bay State Reservation in Mattapoisett, MA. Here I found the worst of fields.

    This location once was a fantastic place to see butterflies all season long. Mismanagement of the property has allowed more non-native invasive plants to take over the “pollinator field” and all along the entire walking trail system. Finding a butterfly is like a needle in a haystack. I did manage to see one Monarch and a couple of skippers and an eastern cottontail rabbit, but not much else. I am always hopeful when I go here, but lately it is a let down. My last guided walk of the season is there on Wednesday and I don’t particularly look forward to it. Hopefully I can show people what NOT to do and teach them about butterflies more than show them butterflies.

    Little Wood Satyr – Nasketucket
    Eastern Cottontail – Nasketucket
  • June 15, 2025 – Middleboro, MA

    June 15, 2025 – Middleboro, MA

    We were finally able to visit the Nemasket River Village Archaeological Preserve together! It is a place I wrote about a couple weeks ago when I scouted it one afternoon. The weekends have been so terrible this spring that we haven’t had a lot of adventures together, so it was nice to finally be at it again.

    The day turned out to be quite nice weather-wise. I am not quite sure of the temperature, but it was comfortable, upper 60’s probably and mostly sunny.

    The first time I scouted the area, I found a lot of Long Dash skippers, so I expected to see a bunch again today. There were less than I had expected, but the skipper activity was quite high along all of the trails with a few surprises thrown in.

    We saw Cabbage Whites, Peck’s Skippers, Long Dash Skippers, European Skippers, Least Skippers, Zabulon Skippers, a few Red-banded Hairstreaks and a Monarch! We also were able to see a couple Red Admiral caterpillars on False Nettle.

    I also spotted a Garter Snake (photo above) which was perched up in the high grasses. I’m still not sure how it was keeping itself up there.

    The place is a bit of a gem that seems to be lightly visited, so it will most certainly be a place we check out throughout the season.

    Red-banded Hairstreak
    Monarch
    Least Skipper
    Cabbage White
    Mating European Skippers

  • June 6, 2025 – Erwin Wilder WMA and MSSF

    June 6, 2025 – Erwin Wilder WMA and MSSF

    Spent part of the morning looking for big butterflies (Swallowtails, Monarchs, etc) and Wild Indigo Duskywings. The day was a hazy sun, with temps in the lower 80’s and not much wind.

    I started out at the Erwin S. Wilder Wildlife Management Area in Norton, MA. This is a pretty good place for big butterflies with all of the Swallowtails seen there at one point or another. But not today. In fact, there were less butterflies flying there than I had ever seen. The typical Sulfurs, a Peck’s Skipper or two, a Least Skipper, two Red-spotted Purples flyover, a couple Zabulon Skippers and about 30 European Skippers. That seems to be how the European Skippers work. One day there may be none and the next there are several dozen. Strange species.

    European Skipper

    After this disappointment, I decided to go to Myles Standish State Forest where Wild Indigo Duskywings always fly at this time of year. Except today. I went to all the usual locations, Torrey Pond Road, Kamesit Road, etc and I saw 2 Duskywings. One was so worn that there was no telling what it was and one flew off into the woods never to be seen again.

    I did manage to see a Fowler’s Toad (photo above), a few Red-spotted Purples, 2 of which were taking turns at a pile of scat, 2 Indian Skippers, one worn but still flying strong Frosted Elfin, and one Eastern Tiger Swallowtail flyover.

    Red-spotted Purple enjoying a scat lunch
    Frosted Elfin

    So it was a bust of a day as far as getting the species that I wanted and I now believe that the cold May we just got through had quite an effect on the species that should be flying right now. I haven’t even SEEN a Spicebush Swallowtail. I’m not at a level of concern for these species right now, but it does seem like it could head in that direction if this keeps up.

  • May 5, 2025 – Fairhaven and Marion, MA

    May 5, 2025 – Fairhaven and Marion, MA

    I went quickly to a couple places today, mainly to see if I could get a Least Skipper at one of them.

    In Fairhaven, the location I went to is called Carvalho Farm and run by the Buzzards Bay Coalition. It is a really nice area with a very large field at the beginning (photo above), and a path that winds through the woods down towards a saltwater marsh. The area I was interested in today was the back end of the field where I had seen Least Skippers last year, just before it turns into the marsh grasses.

    The area where it turns from field to a wet, marshy area.

    On the way down to that end of the field, I had expected to see a lot of grass skipper activity amongst the buttercups and clover flowers which are all over the place here. I saw two Peck’s Skippers and 5 Clouded Sulfurs. Pretty disappointing overall.

    It took me some time to find a Least Skipper, but I eventually flushed one out of hiding and followed it as it flew for probably 5 minutes straight. Eventually it landed and gave me a clean look at it for a few photos. My first of the year!

    Least Skipper

    I also saw one nice looking Viceroy while chasing the Least Skipper all over the field and was able to get a couple photos of it.

    Viceroy

    Since it was super hot today (upper 80’s and humid) I decided to pack it up after finding the Least Skipper and head over to a place that I check out every year despite having over 100 ticks on me the first year I went there. I haven’t had even one tick since so I figure I must have just stepped in a “nest” at some point on that first walk.

    The area I went to is called Grassi Bogs in Marion, MA. It is a very nice piece of property. Old Cranberry bogs with a nice pond and great trails around and through it all.

    Well, that is until Mower McKillsItAll comes by and mows the entire width of the path from tree line to tree line and leaves not one shred of nectar plant. I haven’t been to a place where there were no bees OR butterflies ever, until today. What a disaster. A true 0/10 rating for butterflies. I won’t be returning this year.

    A complete mow. Must be paid by the hour.
    The area does have some nice views though!

    All in all a bit of a bummer of a day, but I am quite happy with the little Least Skipper and Viceroy!

  • June 4, 2025 – Middleboro, MA

    June 4, 2025 – Middleboro, MA

    I went to a couple places in Middleboro, MA today to see what I could find. I don’t go there often, so I waited for a nice warm and sunny day. It was well into the 70’s and sunny, although hazy from the Canada wildfire smoke, I’m told.

    The first place I went to was the Peter Oliver House which has trails behind it that lead to the Picone Farm fields which the town just recently bought. I had hoped for Least Skippers in the fields, but no luck with that. It is a little bit early, but I have seen them at this time in years past. As soon as I got on the trail, I came across a female Zabulon Skipper. A good sign, I thought…

    Well, the rest of the trail, including the beginning portion where we see Red Admirals pretty regularly, had nothing. When I got to the field, I wasn’t overly impressed either. What usually has a lot of skippers at the very least, had only a few Tawny-edged Skippers and a couple Zabulon and Peck’s Skippers. I did have one Monarch flyover and found what iNat is telling me is an Argus Tortoise Beetle (photo above). Not much to speak of.

    Tawny-edged Skipper

    On the way back, I took a different side trail which is something that they have cut out since the last time I went.

    The two trails with the new one to the right.

    This trail led to a different part of the field. As I got to the end of it, I did have a Red-spotted Purple fly over and land near me which was great since it was the first of the year for me.

    Red-spotted Purple

    In that part of the field, there was much of the same as the other part. A couple skippers and not much else.

    From here, I went over to the Oliver Mill area to see what might be there. One Peck’s Skipper. I’m out.

    I remembered there was a spot that is relatively new to the public nearby. It is called the Nemasket River Village Archaeological Preserve.

    The area immediately looked cool with a lot of fields and nicely mowed paths.

    I started up the trail and immediately saw some skippers which were a lot brighter orange than others I had seen. I assumed correctly that these were Long Dash Skippers. I saw several of them along the sides of the trail. They are a nice looking skipper and probably using the Vetch that is throughout the fields as a host plant. Just a guess.

    Long Dash on vetch

    I didn’t come across a lot of other species here, but the area looks to be certainly worth a revisit in the near future. I did find Zabulons, Peck’s, Pearl Crescents and a Common Ringlet. I also found one Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillar. That was a nice surprise.

    We’ll see what tomorrow brings. The temperature is supposed to be well into the 80’s for the first time this year. Maybe it will pop out some nice new species!

  • June 1, 2025 – Breakneck Hill – Southborough, MA

    June 1, 2025 – Breakneck Hill – Southborough, MA

    Based on a report we saw on the Massachusetts Butterfly Club Google group page, we decided to go to Breakneck Hill today. We had never been and it is only an easy hour drive from home. Our target species were Silvery Blues and Northern Cloudywings.

    The weather was questionable. Although somewhat sunny, it was very windy and the temps were only in the mid 60’s. If nothing else, we would be able to check the place out and plan future trips.

    Breakneck Hill

    As soon as we got there, we found a Peck’s Skipper and another unknown Skipper laying low in the grass away from the wind. This was to become a common theme throughout the walk. The report we read said “more than 400 Little Wood Satyrs”. We know the people who reported that very well, so we had no reason to doubt it, but couldn’t imagine it. Within about a half hour of arriving, we knew it was an undercount of the amount flying there! They were everywhere. At times, we walked through clouds of them and did our best to not step on them. It was insane.

    Little Wood Satyr

    The location is, like it says, a hill. There are several trails going up and down the hill so it never gets boring.

    One of the views on the hill

    We were able to get a good lay of the land and ended up with several species seen in the end. We saw: Little Wood Satyrs, American Coppers, Silvery Blues, Hobomok Skippers (unexpected), Zabulon Skippers, Peck’s Skippers, one Tiger Swallowtail flyover, one Spring Azure, one Northern Cloudywing, one European Skipper, 2 Tawny-edged Skippers and a few dozen Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars (photo above). A great day considering most of them weren’t flying much other than the Wood Satyrs.

    Silvery Blue

    Northern Cloudywing
    Female Zabulon Skipper and Male Hobomok Skipper
    European Skipper
  • May 28, 2025 – Francis Crane WMA

    May 28, 2025 – Francis Crane WMA

    We took a quick trip to Francis Crane Wildlife Management Area in Falmouth, MA today since it was supposed to be cloudy and instead it was sunny! Not an ideal day with quite a stiff breeze going on, but temps in the upper 60’s and sun, and we are going SOMEWHERE!

    Our main target species were Cloudywings. Northern and Southern regularly appear here, although I suspect that Northern are declining somewhat rapidly at the location for some reason. We also wanted to check out the Cicadas (Brood XIV is emerging this year) and the Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars to see how they were both doing. Turns out they are doing quite well! There were hundreds of each, so no worries there.

    Cicadas on Baptisia
    Cicada
    Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillar

    We did manage to find some Cloudywings and all were Southern Cloudywings. That was great, but furthers my concern for Northerns. One thing we did find was one Southern looking for a place to lay eggs. It was searching all over and paid no attention to us. When a butterfly does this, it is typically a female looking for a suitable host plant to lay it’s eggs on. This one did find a plant it liked and laid an egg. I was reluctant to change lenses to my macro to get a photo of the egg, but I am glad I did.

    Southern Cloudywing
    Southern Cloudywing egg

    We also managed a few other species on the walk. American Lady, Common Buckeye, Dusted Skippers (photo above) and others were seen. Another halfway decent day in the field and we were only there about a little over an hour!

  • May 27, 2025 – Zabulons are back!

    May 27, 2025 – Zabulons are back!

    We took a quick walk down at the Great Neck Audubon in Wareham today. There wasn’t a lot flying, but I was there to find the early grass skippers and not much else. I was a little surprised to find a Peck’s Skipper right away, even though it is certainly possible for them to be out already.

    Peck’s Skipper

    After a bit more walking around, we found a couple Little Wood Satyrs that are quite common in this location at this time of year.

    Little Wood Satyr

    On the way back, we found a few Zabulon Skippers. These will become quite common in the next couple weeks, but it is always fun to find the first of the year. The females are the best looking, but only the males are out so far it seems.

    Male Zabulon Skiper

    We also found the tiniest Eastern tailed-blue I have probably ever seen, it made the flower of a plantain look big! Photo above.

    A very successful trip all things considered!