5/29 - Karner Blue Wildlife Conservation Habitat, Concord NH

[Barbara Volkle]

Peter Loshin joined us for a trip to Concord, New Hampshire, to visit the Karner Blue Conservation Easement.  This was a nice place to visit, with lots of butterflies.

It was partly cloudy, reaching 80 or so degrees.

We saw;

Karner Blue 7 (form of Melissa Blue)
Azure 1
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 10
American Copper 3
Cabbage White 2
Clouded Sulphur 1
Gray Hairstreak 2
Pearl Crescent 3
Juvenal's/Wild Indigo Duskywing 15
Dusted Skipper 6
Indian Skipper 1
Brown Elfin 8
Frosted Elfin 4 worn
Eastern Pine Elfin 4
American Lady 1
Common Ringlet 4

Oddly, Karner Blue were the first butterflies we saw, at about 11 am.  We didn't see any after about noon!  For more about the Karner Blue in NH: 

https://www.fws.gov/story/karner-blue-butterfly-recovery-new-hampshire

A few of Peter's lovely photos can be seen here:  https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBsCF1

Steve Moore
Barbara Volkle
Northborough, MA
bar...@theworld.com

[Madison, Stafford]

Hello,

 

Thanks for sharing this info on your Karner Blue observations!

 

Have there been any observations of Karner Blue’s in Massachusetts in the past decade, or are they considered extirpated from the state?

 

Coincidently last week I was thinking about planting Sundial Lupine in my yard (southeastern Mass.), but now I’m having second thoughts if there won’t be any KB’s to visit them.

 

Thanks,

Stafford

 

From: mas...@googlegroups.com <mas...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Barbara Volkle
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2024 7:47 PM
To: MassLep <Mas...@googlegroups.com>; nhbut...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [MassLep] 5/29 - Karner Blue Wildlife Conservation Habitat, Concord NH

 

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[Michael Newton]

I don't think there have been any observations of Karner Blues in Massachusetts.

It's not on the MA Butterfly Club list.   iNaturalist shows none.

However ... I'm sure Frosted Elfins and other legume feeders like Eastern Tailed Blue, Gray Hairstreak, Clouded Sulphur, and Silvery Blue would enjoy any Sundial Lupine plants.

--Michael

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[LisaH]

Just in case you haven't heard this info, there has been some confusion with lupines in the nursery trade, so that many people who thought they were buying Sundial Lupine were actually getting the Western lupine polyphyllus- which should not be planted. Best bet is to buy from nurseries that specialize in native plants only (though mix-ups have occurred there too).