So far the butterflies are rejoicing in the sun and warmth on Denman.
As early as March 27th the first Satyr anglewings (also shown in an earlier DCA post) were seen at South Brook on Denman’s southwest shores,
On Salt Spring Island, May 3rd both Satyr Anglewings and Mourning cloaks were numerous. Now Mourning cloaks can be seen in spots throughout Denman.
By April 23rd the first Cabbage whites were flying in South Brook’s garden and blues, probably Western spring azure, were visiting.
On April 25th, the first Milbert’s tortoiseshell was seen at South Brook and Denman seems to have quite a few this year.
By early May the swallowtails, both Anise and Pale were seen around Denman, also Western elfins and the Two-banded checkered skippers, shown below.
Graham Johnson saw the first checkerspot on May 9th. This one was one of 4 seen May 10th at 2 of the DCA’s transect sites (places where the DCA tracks the checkerspot population numbers).
In short it seems to be a good butterfly season so far!
