Worcester County 4th of July Butterfly Count (7/1)

My parents and I participated in the Worcester County 4th of July butterfly count on Sunday the 1st. Our territory was Sterling. We had a pretty good day specieswise but there weren't too many individual butterflies flying. Highlights were an Appalachian Brown that we found at a marshy area along the road and Banded Hairsteaks at Sterling Peat. But the sighting of the day was a Harvester that my sister found at Sterling Peat.

It was actually a better day for dragonflies than it was for butterflies. They were everywhere... different shapes, sizes, and colors. I'm not very good at identifying odes but I knew the Ebony Jewelwing. And these guys can be frustratingly hard to photograph so I was happy to get a couple nice shots.

My father also spotted a Brown Snake in one of the meadows that we survey but I wasn't close enough to get there before it slithered off.

Speaking of snakes, when everyone returned to Wachusett Meadow to tabulate the results, my sister and I found a Milk Snake on the rock wall between the sanctuary headquarters and the road. When we came upon it, the snake appeared to be fighting a Chipmunk. I'm not sure who was the antagonist but the Chipmunk ducked back down his hole when we approached. The Milk Snake chose to stand his ground instead. I ran back to the group to see if anyone was interested and got a whole bunch of takers. Brian Cassie actually ran out and picked up the little guy before he could disappear into the wall. Initially the snake was agitated and it attempted to bite Brian several times. But, it eventually calmed down enough so that anyone who wanted to hold it got a chance. I passed but I took the opportunity to take some pictures. After a few minutes we put the snake down and let it crawl back into the wall.
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Summary of the count by organizer, Carl Kamp:

Twelve observors covered 6 routes and reported 3887 butterflies among 43 species compared to an 11 year average of 3823 butterflies among 44.8 species. I had some trouble sending the complete list and will send it when I can.
Among the species seen some showed record high numbers and others came in with record lows.

(NOTE: 2007 Count numbers listed followed bt the 11 year avearage in parnetheses.)

High numbers

Cabbage White 1968 (204)
Red Admiral 50 (6)
Little Wood Satyr 52 (18)
Long Dash 22 (4)

Low numbers
Clouded Sulphur 19 (111)
Orange Sulphur 15 (55)
American Copper 3 (633)
American Lady 2 (19)

Milkweed and dog bane were mostly in full bloom but were also surprisingly lacking many nectaring butterflies.