Tis the season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tis the season !!!!!!!!

Most folks think that butterfly season only runs from the last day of school until Labor Day. Frass! This is Butterfly Season. From mid-August until the end of September is the best time for butterflies in Bucks County. Everything is on the wing and in good numbers.

The best place to see a lot of butterflies right now is in farm fields. If you find a few acres planted with corn then you are in business. Usually the cornfields are separated by clover fields and it is the red clover that drives butterflies crazy at this time of year. They become butterfly buffets. So as part of your mental health program set some time aside to visit one of these locations.

On a sunny day there should be a good amount of wings over the meadows. If there is not just wait a minute and adjust your eyes. Gaze at the field but don’t look for what is suppose to be there, look for what is not suppose to be there. The clover fields will be dotted with various flowers of different colors, so trying to spot a sulphur on a yellow flower will be hard for the beginner. Rather than focusing too hard, watch for sudden movements and wing flaps. Even when resting butterflies will still flap their wings occasionally to keep them exercised. If you see a butterfly hovering on a flower and the wings never seem to stop flapping, then you probably got yourself a Spicebush or Tiger swallowtail. They are jumpy and never really seem to relax. For other butterflies, scan the blooms and watch for dark triangles hanging onto the flowers. They are the other butterflies that are busy nectaring. They will stay there for a while and then hop to the next flower. If you can afford the time walk through the field and you will most likely be amazed. With every other step butterflies will begin to spring up before you. I think you will be quite surprised how many are actually there but you had over looked.

A walk through the fields should produce good numbers of various Sulphurs and Whites along with Monarchs, Viceroys, Black, Spicebush and Tiger swallowtails. Keep an eye open for the absolutely beautiful Pipevine. When the sun hits their back wings just right their beautiful blue halo will rival any rainforest Morpho. There is a good number of Fritillaries out there right now so watch for the most obvious Great Spangled as well as Aphrodite and Variegated. Red Admirals and Painted Ladies will dot the landscape but most folks over look the metalmarks, hairstreaks, and blues. Perhaps the most over looked group are the Skippers. Usually brown and drab, they are usually thought to just be moths. Sure they may not as grandiose as the larger butterflies but they are just as interesting. It is probably because of this that the blues and skippers species are usually the most threatened. They are hard to notice so they go unnoticed. If you ever have the opportunity to see an Eastern Tailed blue at close range please do so. You will see that like the other they are a work of art. Actually the are masterpieces of color and design with tiny little tails.


Now is it necessary to know the names of what you are seeing in the fields. No not really.
Just walking through the fields and enjoying the sunshine and beautiful butterflies is its own reward. It will not only help you appreciate the natural world around you but appreciate being alive. That in it’s self will make you a nice person if you are not already.

If you want to identify what you have been seeing please visit;
http://www.butterflywebsite.com/gallery/index.cfm#swa
for a full gallery of what butterflies are out there.

Butterfly Rick