2007 Results

This has been a very good year for butterflies, both in terms of numbers and in terms of diversity.  The consistent warmth and relative dryness has helped their populations.  And for this year’s Rochester count we covered more areas, and had more knowledgeable area leaders.  The combination of factors led to us smashing our previous records.

We saw 41 species of butterfly – breaking our previous high of 31 species.  We saw 4 new species, bringing our composite 9 year total to 53 species!  The new species were Acadian Hairstreak, Gray Hairstreak, Silvery Checkerspot, and Gray Comma.  Also new this year was the number of species documented with digital photographs – it is the way of the future!

We had high counts for 12 species, and tied the previous high for 3 others.  Especially notable were large numbers of Monarchs (227), Eastern Tailed Blue (223) and Red Admirals (145).  And although not as numerous, we had unusually high counts for American Coppers (22), Edwards Hairstreaks (13) and Common Buckeyes (26).

We saw a total of 1240 individual butterflies (excluding 6 caterpillars and 2 eggs spotted by younger folks with good eyes) easily breaking our previous high of 1022 in 2001.

Thanks to Bill Bruins, Nora Dooley, Terry and Joyce Grier, and Greg Munson for independently covering areas and leading novices.

The species count information is available here.

2008 Results

2008 has been a modest year for butterflies, with a cool slow spring and early summer.  So butterfly numbers had been noticeably low.  But our team of butterfly counters came through with a nice diversity and number of butterflies.  We saw 38 species of butterfly – almost as good as last year’s record 41, and well above our 10 year average of 29. 

Nora found 1 new species, Hickory Hairstreak, bringing our composite 10 year total to 54 species.  Having knowledgeable area leaders really helps!

Surprisingly, we had record high counts for quite a few species: Banded Hairstreak (16), Striped Hairstreak (8), Northern Crescent (4), Silvery Checkerspot (2), Eastern Comma (5), Mourning Cloak(18), Red-spotted Purple(5), Hackberry Emperor(100, Little Wood Satyr(12), Common Wood Nymph(146), European Skipper (85 – previous high 1!) and Delaware Skipper (5).  Numbers were low for several common species. 

We saw a total of 737 individual butterflies.  This is well below our smashing high of 1248 in 2007, but good enough for 3rd alltime. 

Thanks to Bill Bruins, Nora Dooley, Terry and Joyce Grier, Greg Munson, and Ruthann Yaeger for independently covering areas and leading novices.

The species count information is available here.

The 2009 count will be on Saturday, July 18.  Put it on your calendar now!  You can also check the ZVAS calendar of events to learn of other butterfly hikes and pre-count events.  We hope to see you there next July!