Stunning weather with temps in the lower 80’s highlighted a couple of hikes within the northern areas of Sleepy Creek WMA in Berkeley/Morgan counties. My favorite group of butterflies is the Gossamer-wings and today marked FOY sightings of Brown Elfin and Henry’s Elfin. The elevation of the Brown Elfins was 1,000 ft and the Henry’s was spotted at 1,475 ft. Also of note in the same area of the Henry’s was a fresh American Copper. The Copper sighting was by far my earliest of the species as other seasonal first sightings have all previously been in mid-May. I only had my smart phone on the second hike so the image isn’t the best but it shows enough detail to confirm the identification. Thus far the season is progressing above my expectations and hopefully we can sneak in some much needed rain in the coming weeks to continue the trend.
