Venture
to Avery County
June 30, 2007
Avery County is not on our list of oft-visited spots, but despite the somewhat unstable weather, we left Asheville a little later than usual as we waited for the clouds to part. Thankfully it did not rain on us and the butterfly activity stayed somewhat active all day. One of the most impressive sights of the day was the heavy flowered Poke Milkweed covered with a cloud of both Great Spangled and Aphrodite Fritillaries. Watching them at close range was a very good lesson in distinguishing the 2 apart. The much smaller Meadow Fritillary was also feeding with the larger 2 species, but in much smaller numbers- again, a great contrast to the larger fritillaries. The meadows of wildflowers were not very rich in butterfly species, with only a handful of Eastern Tailed Blues and Orange Sulphurs flying around. It seems as if our main butterfly quarry - the Baltimore Checkerspot has gone, but a visit to this corner of Avery County is still well worthwhile. Birding was not bad with the regularly occurring mid-elevation species being seen. A small band of warblers was in the rhododendrons including Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green and Canada.
| Birds | |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk (1) | Cedar Waxwing |
| Broad-winged Hawk (1) | European Starling |
| Red-tailed Hawk (1) | Blue-headed Vireo |
| Mourning Dove | Red-eyed Vireo |
| Chimney Swift | Chestnut-sided Warbler |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | Black-throated Blue Warbler (1♀) |
| Alder Flycatcher (Heard) | Black-throated Green Warbler (1♂) |
| Eastern Phoebe | Common Yellowthroat |
| Barn Swallow | Canada Warbler (1) |
| Blue Jay | Northern Cardinal |
| American Crow | Indigo Bunting |
| Carolina Chickadee | Eastern Towhee |
| Tufted Titmouse | Field Sparrow |
| Veery (Heard) | Song Sparrow |
| American Robin | Dark-eyed Junco |
| Gray Catbird | American Goldfinch |
| Butterflies | |
| Pipevine Swallowtail | Meadow Fritillary |
| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail | Question Mark |
| Cabbage White | Red Admiral |
| Clouded Sulphur | Northern Pearly-Eye |
| Orange Sulphur | Common Wood-Nymph |
| Cloudless Sulphur | Silver-spotted Skipper |
| Eastern Tailed Blue | Least Skipper |
| Great Spangled Fritillary | Peck’s Skipper |
| Aphrodite Fritillary | Northern Broken-Dash |
| Mammals | |
| Gray Squirrel | Eastern Chipmunk |
| White-tailed Deer | |
| Wildflowers | |
| Spiderwort | Common Milkweed |
| Deptford Pink | Carolina Phlox |
| Lesser Stitchwort | Selfheal |
| Buttercup sp | Bluets |
| Tassel Rue | Black-eyed Susan |
| Rough-fruited Cinquefoil | Yarrow |
| Common Cinquefoil | Ox-eye Daisy |
| Vetch | Common Fleabane |
| Black Medick | Sundrops |
| Red Clover | Flame Azalea |
| St. John’s Wort | Common Elder |
| Wild Carrot | Wild Hydrangea |
| Water Hemlock | Whorled Loosestrife |
| Poke Milkweed | Pale Indian Plantain |
Red Admiral
Northern Pearly-Eye
Butterflying the meadows