MBC Walk, Sherborn Power Lines, Saturday August 27, 2016

[Ron Hamburger, Reading, Ma.]

Hi...Today from 10 am to noon, 4 enthusiastic  butterfliers and I walked the Sherborn power lines, just off of  Western Ave., under clear skies, with temperatures in the mid-eighties and moderate humidity. From 12:30 to 1:30 pm. we continued on  at Elm Bank Horticultural Center in Wellesley.  Lucy Merrill kindly kept the following list of all that we saw :

Cabbage White : 13

Monarch: 2 ( one fresh)

Orange Sulfur : 2

Wood Nymph : 1

Great Spangled Fritillary : 6

Black Swallowtail : 1

Peck's Skipper : 1

Sulfur sp. : 1

Fritillary sp.: 2 (likely Great Spangled)

Goldenrod, Vervain, Boneset and Joe-Pye Weed were in bloom, but not abundantly present ; there was no Swamp Milkweed (reported in error last Thursday ). Other interesting observations by various participants included : a Big Brown bat,abundant reindeer moss,  a rectangular Pileated Woodpecker excavation (old) ,and many grasshoppers and dragonflies.

   At Elm Bank the well cared-for cultivated flower beds were thriving and we saw :

Eastern Tiger swallowtail : 2 (worn)

Cabbage White : 5

Great Spangled Fritillary : 3

Monarch : 2

Clouded Sulfur :1

Spicebush Swallowtail : 1 (nectaring on phlox)

Also seen: pr. of Red-tailed hawks, 3 hummingbirds, many goldfinches

In spite of the fact that we found no Leonard's Skipper, all participants seemed to have enjoyed themselves...

Ron Hamburger, Reading, Ma.