4/18/2026 - Spring Azures + Mourning Cloak, Gloucester, MA

[Paul Seaman]

It was 50 degrees and sunny yesterday, so I went over to Tompson Street Reservation in Gloucester to search for butterflies, mainly looking for Brown Elfin. The sunny + rocky outcrops here have some large stands of lowbush blueberry and the Red Maple Swamp is surrounded by huge patches of Sheep Laurel, so the habitat seems overall quite good for Elfins. I suppose it's a bit early still for them to be flying- I was here a few days ago (4/16/2026) on a cloudy afternoon and didn't see any butterflies. Yesterday I saw two Mourning Cloaks and five Spring Azures, which were all spaced pretty far apart. I was sad to see one Spring Azure with crumpled wings that probably emerged incorrectly. 

Totals:

Mourning Cloak 2x

Spring Azure 5x

Here is the full list of the birds I saw alongside a few photos for those who are interested. The highlights were four Little Blue Herons hunting together, nine Broad-Winged Hawks migrating overhead, my first House Wren of Spring, and a few good sized flocks of warblers. It was a lovely walk, all things considered. 

Paul Seaman

Ipswich, MA