A trip to Rickett’s Glen State Park in NE PA provided a nice surprice for the traveling lepsters. The weather was supposed to be mostly sunny with a high in the lower 70’s. It turned out to be mostly cloudy and temps never got out of the 60’s. This however did not keep all the butterflies down as we still managed to see 18 species. The targets for the trip were Milbert’s and /or Compton Tortoiseshell. These are northern species that are in very small numbers in the mtns of SW PA, western MD and the mtns of WV. Compton had been reported in July and Barry had found a Milbert’s on a trip 10 days earlier. No luck on the Toroiseshells but we saw three Common Ringlets (assumed second flight?) as a consolation. Around the Beech Lake area we were surveying a nice field of wild flowers when there it was, a beautiful Giant Swallowtail. This was the first one I’ve seen outside of Texas so it was indeed a welcome sight. Also in the field were Aphrodite and Atlantis Fritillaries. The area was full of wild berries (Cranberry, Blueberry (high bush and low bush), Hackberry, Blackberry). We could have filled a bucket a had a three berry cobbler for dinner. The allure of the area is strong and we’ll be going back up next spring looking for Early Hairstreak.
