Birds & Butterflies at Muddy Brook WMA, Hardwick

[Wendy Howes]

Five of us looked for birds and butterflies at this interesting area, which has undergone major environmental restoration to oak-pitch pine barren habitat. Primary sources of nectar now are Joe-Pye-Weed, goldenrod and boneset, all of which were plentiful, and other scattered wildflower species. This WMA can be hit-or-miss for butterflies. Today the birding was excellent, but butterflies were scarce. 

We found 6-8 Pearl Crescents, 2 Common Ringlets, 1 Monarch, 1 Dun Skipper, 1 extremely worn Great Spangled Fritillary, 1 very gray Eastern Tailed-Blue, and--the lep highlight of the day--3 very fresh Viceroys. As we were leaving, a large black swallowtail species zipped by and evaded identification. 

Wendy Howes

Hardwick