Record day in southeast Ohio

  As I sit here with ice on my knee, I am able to reflect on what has been without a doubt the most fun and interesting day of the butterfly year so far.  Hopefully the knee will self-repair.  THe last doc visit in February she thought I had a ligament flip in there.  She says sometimes they flip back, sometimes it takes surgery to flip them back.  Since I don't have insurance, we'll wait for it to flip back on its own!
  So anyways, I have titled today's blog Record Day.  Set the record today for most species in a day with 31.  Tied the record for most species at a site (The Ridges) with 25.  Today ties with Trimble Community Forest.  One new species for the BBY with Sleepy Orange, but several species that I was not really expecting to see.
  Started the day at The Ridges, and it started rather slowly.  Had probably walked about a quarter mile before I saw my first butterfly, a Hackberry Emperor hiding in the canopy of a cherry tree.  Couldn't see it very well, but well enough to see the diagnostic features.
  Not long after the Hackberry, I found a lifer, but not a butterfly.  I found a pot of pot!  The grower had hidden the pot behind a small clump of Wingstem.  Well of course, Mr. Butterfly nerd had to visit the clump of Wingstem because the skippers and gray hairstreaks tend to like to hang out on wingstem.  So I got pics of the container garden and UTM coordinates and will report it to my contact at Ohio University, since The Ridges is OU property.
  Some other surprises at The Ridges were the sheer number of Peck's Skippers.  In fact, I was considering titling this blog as "Peeked a Peck of Pretty Pecks", but talked myself out of it.  Tallied 51 Peck's Skippers at The Ridges.  Another surprise was a Red-banded Hairstreak nectaring on milkweed by the Dairy Lane gravel parking area.  For two years, I had seen a grand total of two of these butterflies.  I think I am now up to about ten just for this year.  Also saw Gemmed Satyr.  I have seen this at The Ridges before, but normally not this late in the season, so that was a pleasant surprise.
  After The Ridges, and my pot of pot, I swung by the bong and pipe store and got new boots.  Totally not making this up.  In uptown Athens there is a store (Import House) that has shoes and apparel on one side of the store and the other side is bongs, pipes, etc.  Was looking to get Merrell boots but their selection was very limited.  THe whole reason I go there for boots is because they are the closest Merrell dealer to where I live.  Instead got Keen boots.  First time I ever worn Keen.  We'll see how they work.

Sleepy Orange

Pot of Pot

Red-spotted Purple

Fiery Skipper

Cardinal Flower at Hope Furnace.  Not a butterfly plant, but a great hummingbird plant!

Hope Furnace

  Then lunch then a stop at the Athens/Vinton county line on OH56.  Don't normally see a lot of butterflies there, but tend to see unusual things.  Last year saw Coral Haristreak and Little Yellow around this time of year.  Sadly, the road mowing crew had gone through not long ago and mowed down all the nectar, so not hardly a butterfly in sight.  I was really hoping for Little Yellow.
  Moved on to Hope Furnace.  Normally this time of year, I would have a chance at Cloudless Sulphur and Sleepy Orange because of the large patches of Senna there.  Cloudless never showed up, but did manage to find a Sleepy.  I know in AZ I will probably see hundreds of Sleepys, but was kind of fun to get the first of the year in Ohio.
  Also at Hope Furnace I saw a couple of species that I rarely see in southeast Ohio, including American Snout and Common Checkered Skipper.  Was fun to see those.
  The complete list of today's species (in order of observation): Hackberry Emperor, Pearl Crescent, Least Skipper, Monarch, Crossline Skipper, Little Glassywing, Northern Pearly Eye, Gemmed Satyr, Peck's Skipper, Black Swallowtail, Orange Sulphur, Eastern-tailed Blue, Wild Indigo Duskywing, Common Wood Nymph, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Red-spotted Purple, Common Buckeye, Clouded Sulphur, Cabbage White, Great Spangled Fritillary, Spicebush Swallowtail, Tawny-edged Skipper, Gray Hairstreak, Fiery Skipper, Red-banded Hairstreak, Carolina Satyr, Zabulon Skipper, Silver-spotted Skipper, Sleepy Orange, Common Checkered Skipper and American Snout.