The 2024 North Northampton County Butterfly Count was conducted on a warm and cloudy Sunday in early August. Two teams of four Eastern Shore Master Naturalists (ESMN) identified 243 individual butterflies from 28 species.
This annual count is conducted to support the North American Butterfly Association’s (NABA) butterfly monitoring efforts. Butterflies are in peril due to ongoing habitat destruction, climate change, and other threats, so hosting and participating in these counts directly contributes to their protection.
NABA has amassed the largest database of butterfly occurrences and abundances in the world.
The data are used by scientists to study butterfly population trends, to answer questions about butterfly biology and are relied upon in major scientific publications.
Thanks to ESMN members Paul Anderson, Peter Fisher, Abby Gale, Julie Head, Sharon Osborn, Kellie Piekarsky, Ann Quigley, and Marlene Richard for making this count a success!
The teams visited both public and private locations including Brownsville and Seaview Preserves and private properties in Exmore and Franktown.
Unfortunately, only one monarch was observed. Spicebush (52) and black swallowtails (32) were observed the most while only single examples were observed from 11 species. Counts for identified species are below.
| Black Swallowtail 32 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 17 Spicebush Swallowtail 52 Palamedes Swallowtail. 3 Cabbage White 12 Clouded Sulphur 6 Orange Sulphur 1 Cloudless Sulfur 28 Sleepy Orange 4 Red-banded Hairstreak 1 E. Tailed-Blue 5 ‘Summer’ Spring Azure 3 American Snout 4 Variegated Fritillary 6 |
| Question Mark 1 Painted Lady 1 Red Admiral 6 Common Buckeye 19 Red-spotted Purple 16 Viceroy 1 Hackberry Emperord 6 Tawny Emperor 1 Monarch 1 Silver-spotted Skipper 12 Clouded Skipper 1 Least Skipper 1 Zabulon Skipper 1 Dun Skipper 1 |
If you have not had the privilege of participating in one of these counts, I highly recommend checking it out. It doesn’t require expertise and it is a day spent in the outdoor beauty of our shore while contributing to a critical citizen science effort.
We hope to see you next year!
All photos by Ann Quigley.