I’m not sure whether the hard winter had anything to do with it but it seems that Diana’s are tougher to find this year in the southern areas of WV as no one I’ve contacted had seen of any or knew of any reports thus far this season. I’m hoping this isn’t a continuation of the apparent shrinkage of thier range. Time will tell. But, thanks to some good info from birding buddies Mindy and Allan Waldron I received sighting reports from Tazewell county, VA. So…. Barry Marts and I saddled up on Saturday in search of Diana Fritillary which would be a lifer for both of us. You can look at photos and fields guides but words can’t really describe the inherent beauty of this butterfly. Very large and striking in appearance it draws your attention immediately upon coming into view. Overall for the day the species diversity was rather low (16) but we did not visit much diversity in habitat so that was to be expected. Milkweed stands were few and far between and even the ones we did find had scant offerings. It was a long drive for a day but the weather was great and the effort worth every mile!
Click on any image below to enlarge.
