Butterflies of MOW, Approximation 1

Last week I had the good fortune of being able to roam some highland fields. I spent most of my time in Mouth of Wilson, VA., a cultural and ecological crossroads. A variety of lifeways and pathways meet at this locality, steered by the geology and its mason, the New River. Along Wilson Creek just upstream from its mouth at the New River, summer wildflower meadows abound. This arterial waterway charts its coarse up and up, finding a multitude of spring heads upon Mount Rogers and lesser surrounding mountains and hills.

The following is a list of butterflies observed immediately along Wilson Creek in Mouth of Wilson from August 24-26, 2010. I still don't haven't ventured into the realm of skippers, so this list is far short of complete. One swampy area in particular was dancing with a variety skippers.

Eastern comma

Viceroy

Monarch

Black swallowtail

Eastern tiger swallowtail

Red spotted purple

Pipevine swallowtail

Cabbage white

Common buckeye

Silvery checkerspot

Pearl crescent

Great spangled fritillary

Meadow fritillary

Eastern tailed-blue

Wild indigo duskywing

Northern pearly eye

Spring Wildflowers, Mouth of Wilson, Va.

April 27

As you turn right onto Shady Shack Rd. (in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia), a right across the bridge at the old dam where parson's grist mill used to be... looking up you can see

trillium

, columbine, a white flower not

identified

, jack-in-the-pulpit, coming on

fiddle head

ferns and a host of other plants and flowers on the rocks and on the steep banks along Wilson Creek right before it opens up into the New River.

For all you flower lovers, all along the New River you can locate and identify a large variety of woodland wildflowers and plants. This should continue for at least another month.

-Michael wildflower