Trip to Bobbit's Hole.

Today we visited the Eno River State Park at Cole Mill Rd. We walked the powerline looking for butterflies and dragonflies. Then took the trail at the last trail crossing to Bobbit's Hole. Didn't have the time to walk the trail that is covered up with huge American Hollies in bloom, heavenly this time of year.

We did find a lot of butterflies in the powerline clearing, although it had been sprayed with a herbicide at some point. 12 Pipevine Swallowtails (a great number here in the Piedmont), 6 Henry's Elfins, 2 Juniper Hairstreaks (see photo below) and a rare skipper called a Cobweb Skipper. These skippers are the earliest grass skippers we have here and are mostly overlooked.

 I got my first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher today eating tent caterpillars out of our cherry tree. Meg says the tent cats have been raided many times by birds in the past few days. And Ovenbirds and Northern Parulas were calling everywhere along the Eno.

Juniper Hairstreak on a blade of grass.

Here is a female Black Swallowtail with a tail broken off.
Check out the subtle differences of the dark form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
in the photo below!

Common Baskettails, the male on the top and female at the bottom. These are called baskettails because the female creates a basket of eggs on the end of her abdomen to deposit them in the water. I have seen this from a canoe at Merchant's Millpond.

This female Common Baskettail had me hoping she was a Robust Baskettail. Just a extra large one. It has been a while since I found a new dragonfly in these parts perhaps I'd been at it too long.