Delaware Skipper, Great Swamp NWR, July 6, 2013 (photo by Jonathan Klizas).

The annual Great Swamp Butterfly Count took place today in shirt-soaking heat. The list below is not of the entire count, but only of the area covered by this writer. This includes part of the Great Swamp Wildlife Observation Center (WOC) on Long Hill Road in Harding Township and properties of the Harding Land Trust. Other observers at the WOC included Jim Springer, Tom Halliwell, Fred Pfeifer and Tom from Monroe Twp. Chris Williams is the compiler of the entire count. A highlight of the morning was the 20 Horace’s Duskywings found at the WOC. Monarchs and Hairstreaks were completely absent. Some of the birds observed were Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-shouldered Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, Green Heron and Great Blue Heron and the typical species of the area in July. An abundance of Swallows, mostly Barn, and Red-winged Blackbirds are at Margetts Field in Harding Twp.

Margetts Field, Harding Twp., NJ, July 6, 2013 (photo by Jonathan Klizas).

The Great Swamp Butterfly Count is run by the North Jersey Butterfly Club, a chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA). The club lists some of the finest naturalists in the state of New Jersey as its members. The chapter recently updated its web site, and is an invaluable resource for butterflies and locations in the state of New Jersey.

Here is the list from the Great Swamp WOC and properties of the Harding Land Trust. A complete list of the count will be published when available:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Clouded Sulfur
Orange Sulfur
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Summer Azure
Great Spangled Fritillary
Pearl Crescent
Mourning Cloak
Red Admiral
Viceroy
Little Wood Satyr
Common Wood-Nymph
Silver-spotted Skipper
Horace’s Duskywing
Wild Indigo Duskywing
Least Skipper
Northern Broken Dash
Little Glassywing
Delaware Skipper
Mulberry Wing
Broad-winged Skipper
Dion Skipper
Black Dash
Dun Skipper

Summer Azure, Great Swamp NWR, July 6, 2013 (photo by Jonathan Klizas).

Mulberry Wing, Great Swamp NWR, July 6, 2013 (best-I-could-get photo by Jonathan Klizas).